At the annual “Goed Geld Gala” of the Dutch Postcode Lottery, held at Amsterdam’s Carré Theatre on March 4, Rewilding Europe received a contribution of 900,000 euros. This will allow Rewilding Europe’s efforts to be significantly scaled up.
Representatives of Rewilding Europe attending the annual “Goed Geld Gala” (“Good Money Gala”) of the Dutch Postcode Lottery were surprised and thrilled to receive a cheque for 900,000 euros last night. Rewilding Europe has been a regular beneficiary of the lottery since 2013, receiving 500,000 euros every year. This year’s increased level of funding will allow wild nature, wildlife and local communities to benefit from scaled up rewilding efforts across Europe.
“This substantial increase in the annual contribution has completely surprised us,” says Frans Schepers, managing director of Rewilding Europe, who received the cheque from Humberto Tan, a lottery ambassador who visited two of Rewilding Europe’s operational areas in 2017. “This will make a huge difference to our initiative and help us to realise our new ambitions and growth towards 2025. We are extremely grateful to the Dutch Postcode Lottery for this fantastic support for a wilder Europe.”
Every year millions of euros in charitable donations are made possible by the 3 million people who participate in the Dutch Postcode Lottery (half the price of every ticket goes to charity). Increased revenues this year mean the lottery was able to give away 370 million euros to 117 non-governmental organisations.
“Nature on our planet is under great pressure due to climate change and the deterioration of ecosystems,” said Dorine Manson, managing director of the lottery, at the gala. “The Postcode Lottery has been supporting charity organisations that are committed to a better world for years. We are proud to be able to support some of them today with additional donations thanks to our loyal participants. They make the difference.”
The Dutch Postcode Lottery has been raising funds since 1989 to support organisations working towards a fairer and greener world. It has grown steadily to become the biggest charity lottery in the Netherlands, disbursing over 5.8 billion euros to beneficiaries since foundation.
A full overview of all Dutch Postcode Lottery grants can be found here. Rewilding Europe would like to thank all lottery participants for making this fantastic donation possible.