Allwyn reveals more details on its new Innovation Award for retailers

National Lottery operator Allwyn has revealed further details about its Local Retail Champions 2025, including the news retailers will be able to enter a new Innovation Award category from today (29 September).

London Hilton Syon Park has also been named as the venue for this year’s evening awards ceremony, which will take place on Thursday 20 November.

Local Retail Champions 2025 is once again recognising National Lottery retailers who go that extra mile to support their local high streets and communities. The main awards nomination period opened earlier this month for the national and regional award categories and has already amassed almost 1,100 customer nominations.

Retailer-submitted entries for the new Innovation Award have opened today. The category will “celebrate the impact of local National Lottery Good Causes and the significant role National Lottery retailers play in raising money for these Good Causes by selling tickets,” Allwyn said

All retailers have to do to enter is visit www.TNLPartners.co.uk and share suggestions on how to bring local National Lottery Good Causes to life in their store. The two retailers with the best ideas will each win £2,500 cash, and up to £2,500 to implement their idea.

Examples of ideas about how to bring good causes to life include a retailer having a community mural painted on the side of their shop to highlight them, or perhaps hosting a street party celebrating the local community and local causes.

Allwyn has also added a new function to TNL Partners Hub which allows retailers to view a page which lets them see how much they’ve raised so far this year. This gives them real-time information on the positive impact they’re having on National Lottery-funded projects up and down the UK.

Allwyn’s director of commercial partnerships and retail sales, Alison Acquaye-Acford, said: “By introducing the new Innovation Award category, we’re celebrating local good causes and their impact on communities while also recognising just how important National Lottery retailers are in generating the funding that powers these projects.”

Local Retail Champions is being enabled by using part of Allwyn’s dedicated Social Value Fund, which is £1m the company has committed to investing annually to help communities and high streets across the UK and Isle of Man to thrive.