Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) members, including the likes of Flutter, bet365 and Entain, will donate a total of £277,000 ($352,000) to share between six UK charities; following their pledge to donate all profits from the Britannia Stakes race at Royal Ascot.
Last year, the race raised £1.2m for selected charities, but when the race results came in and made it a loss overall, the bookmakers decided they would still ensure the charities don’t walk away empty-handed.
Michael Dugher, Chief Executive of the BGC, said: “It’s great news that BGC members have once again made such a huge donation to a range of good causes.
"I am sure that the money we raised will once again make a massive difference to the incredible work done by all the charities involved.
“I am delighted that BGC members have now raised close to £6m for charities up and down the country.”
This makes for the fourth year in a row that BGC members have donated profits from the Britannia Stakes race.
Tim Lawler MBE, Chief Executive of SportsAid, said: “We are very grateful for this substantial donation.
“And we are very proud to have been involved with such an exciting initiative as part of the prestigious and quintessentially British Royal Ascot meeting.”
This isn’t the only time that an event has resulted in less-than-expected profits for charity.
Earlier this year, William Hill announced that it would donate 100% of its profits from the Eurovision Grand Final to the humanitarian organisation Support Ukraine.
When bookie-favourite and Swedish contestant Loreen won, William Hill announced that it would be donating £200,000 to the charity.
This was despite the figures showing that betting had increased on the event by 23% when compared to the previous year.
