Ping Pong Merrily On High

The National Lottery is one of the most widely played games across the UK. Operated by the Camelot Group it has been active since 1994 when it was first established by the then Conservative Government. Still as popular as it has ever been, the now standard 'Lotto' game is supplemented by a number of offshoots working on the same kind of theme. These include the Thunderball, Lotto Hotpicks, and Millionaire Maker. The common principal being that a player buys a ticket in the hope that their chosen numbers will drawn from the machine for which they will then win a cash prize ranging from tens to millions of pounds. Aside from purely being a means for people to gamble, the National Lottery uses a significant portion of the money it receives to invest and donate in good causes. In fact just under 30% of all money which is paid by players is diverted to any number of these causes, which are defined and awarded by Parliament. Quite miraculously this translates to around £34million per week being raised through the National Lottery which is then used to support initiatives such as those aimed at young people, and those which promote and support the health and wellbeing of older people. In total, since 1994 over £4.6billion has been raised through the Lottery. One of the community projects that has benefited from National Lottery funding is Greenhouse Sports. This is a London based charity which aims to support and develop young people through the medium of sport. Through engagement and interaction through sport based projects, it hopes to provide young people with a means to better themselves, and instil a sense of ambition and responsibility. Included among all the sports which Greenhouse looks to promote is Table Tennis. To illustrate the power of sport to bring people together, a recent match was set up between players from Greenhouse Sports and those from VETTS (Veterans English Table Tennis Society). One of those matches took place between 15 year old Nabilah, and former veterans world champion, 83 year old Grandfather Geof Bax. Nabilah cites Greenhouse Sports as providing her with the skills and confidence needed to help her progress at school and in maturing as a person. As a result she has since put her name forward and been selected to be Head Girl at her school. Geof has been playing the sport since he was just a year older a 16. Now 66 years on he places emphasis on table tennis as a reason why he still manages to keep both his mind and body active. Watch the video above to see what happened when the VETTS came up against Greenhouse Sports. And head on over the National Lottery website for more details on how to play.