2012-02-14 : Dutch Postcode Lottery doubles their contribution

African Parks receives €1 million from Dutch Postcode Lottery

Peter Fearnhead receives a €1 million cheque from Marieke van Schaik, Managing Director of the Dutch Postcode Lottery at the Goed Geld Gala last week

The Dutch Postcode Lottery handed African Parks a €1 million cheque last week as part of an announcement that it will double its current contribution to African Parks of €500 000 a year.

The announcement, made at the annual Goed Geld Gala in Amsterdam last Thursday, means that African Parks will receive up to €5 million Euros from the lottery over a five year period. This funding is flexible in nature and gives a significant boost to African Parks' ability to manage and grow its portfolio of parks.

In 2011 African Parks became one of the designated multi-year beneficiaries to be supported by the Dutch Postcode Lottery, which donates 50% of its income to charities in order to create a fairer greener world. The Lottery will distribute a record €284 million this year to 85 charities.

African Parks CEO Peter Fearnhead, who attended the Goed Geld Gala in Amsterdam, said he was thrilled that the Postcode Lottery had shown such faith in African Parks. "This donation substantially boosts our ability to manage and expand our portfolio of seven parks. We are delighted that the Dutch Postcode Lottery is impressed by our conservation work on the ground.''

The Dutch Postcode Lottery was founded in 1989 to support charitable causes and today 2.5 million people in the Netherlands play the lottery. Half of the price of each lottery ticket goes to charities working in the areas of development cooperation, human rights, nature conservation, the environment, and social cohesion in the Netherlands. Since its establishment, the Postcode Lottery has given more than €3.5 billion to human and environmental causes and its holding company Novamedia Postcode Loterijen is the third largest private charitable donor in the world.