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Camelot Group plc
Camelot is the operator of The National Lottery, operating exlusively in the UK. Camelot is responsible for developing and marketing the full range of National Lottery games, which includes our draw-based-games — Lotto, Lotto Extra, Lotto HotPicks, Euromillions, Daily Play and Thunderball — as well as online Instant Win Games and National Lottery Scratchcards. In additions, Camelot manages and develops the lottery infrastructure, provides services to players and winners and works in partnership with the retailers that sell lottery products to players.
Our license
Camelot operates under a seven-year license awarded by the National Lottery Commission, a non-departmental public body.
This license has three principal objectives:
- to maximise returns to Good Causes
- to ensure that the lottery is operated with all due propriety
- to ensure that the interests of participants are protected.
Our first license was granted in May 1994 and the first draw-based tickets went on sale on November 1994. In December 2000, Camelot was awarded a second license, which came into force in January 2002.
- Our policy on disability
- Employee policy
- Players and winners policy
- Protecting vulnerable groups
- The Camelot Foundation
Our policy on disability
Camelot has established a Diversity Forum to review its policy and practice across all areas of diversity, including disability. The Forum includes a range of senior managers who explore diversity-related practices in their area of the business. The HR Director has responsibility for the aspects of this policy relevant to our people and the Commercial Director has responsibility for the aspects of this policy relevant to game accessibility, information and support services.
Monitoring and Reporting
The company monitors its progress in these areas which is reported in our social report. We review our policy on disability and its implementation every two years through our Diversity Forum and in consultation with groups working with disabled people.
Employee policy
As an employer committed to equality of opportunities in all its employment practices, policies and procedures, Camelot seeks to create a climate where every individual is judged on his / her own merits and on his / her ability to do the job and assumptions are not made about disabled people. Camelot will take all reasonable steps to remove disadvantages which might prevent disabled people from achieving their full potential in the workplace. Helping all employees to develop their full potential will maximise the efficiency of the company.
Camelot aims to
- raise awareness of disability issues among staff involved in the recruitment and selection process
- take all reasonable steps to ensure that the working environment does not prevent disabled people from taking up positions for which they are suitably qualified or achieving their potential within those positions and maintain a central audit of all adjustments made
- review and develop recruitment procedures which encourage application from, and the employment of, people with disabilities
- ensure that disabled people have the same opportunity as other staff to develop their full potential within the organisation
- offer employees who become disabled the fullest support to maintain, or return to, a role appropriate to their experience and abilities within the company
- ensure that access to its key facilities for employees and members of the public is suitable for disabled people and make reasonable arrangements for special support when required
Case Study 1: To change company culture and improve opportunities
The Company has undertaken disability awareness training for all employees and is now developing its training for managers in understanding the need to make reasonable adjusments when the need arises for their team members. We have made reasonable adjustments for a number of employees who have chronic back conditions and changed a car for an employee who had prosthesis. We have provided special equipment to support partially-sighted employees.
Case Study 2: To involve disabled people
In developing our disabilty policy we consulted Mind, Greater London Association for Disabled People, Radar, SCOPE, RNID, RNIB, and The Camelot Foundation. Organisations responded with written suggestions for improvement and participated in a discussion group. With employees we are setting up an employee Consultative Forum in which the views of disabled employees will be heard on all issues of concern.
We are planning to go further by ensuring that all our sites have facilities to support people with a wide range of disabilities
- making improvements to buildings where this is feasible within lease terms and conditions based on a full audit of all buildings in order to plan improvement over time
- improving the quality and quantity of information about disabled employees within Camelot as part of our equal opportunities monitoring and evaluating this to help us better understand and meet support needs
- becoming more pro-active in attracting disabled people to the company
- maintaining a central register of any changes than an employee reasonably requires to carry out their day to day work, ensuring all employees who need such adjustments to be made know how to request them and that all managers respond positively.
Players and winners policy
To ensure the success of The National Lottery, Camelot seeks to make games, information and services available to all those eligible to play, while at the same time protecting those who might be vulnerable.
For players
Camelot offers a range of services and information for our players and potential players with disabilities. Camelot aims to
- ensure that all staff who deal directly with members of the public, players and winners are trained appropriately and aware of services we provide to players with a disability
- make key National Lottery games available through channels more easily available to disabled people who cannot get to retailers' premises (internet, interactive TV, play by text, and subscription service)
- work with relevant partners to improve the accessibility of the National Lottery web site for people with visual impairments
- Offer the “Lucky Dip” service and a facility where selected numbers can be given verbally to retailers for keying into the terminal to help who cannot fill in their own play slips
- offer a Minicom service for players who wish to use the National Lottery Line (number 0845 9100000)
- make game rules available in Braille, large print or on audio tape
- provide information, advice and training to support our retailers in meeting their responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act via retailer training and articles in our dedicated magazine for retailers; and train retailers to manually produce a ticket when a player is not able to full in a play slip but knows what numbers they want
For winners
We have developed a range of servces for winners who have disabilities. Camelot provides:
- visits to the homes of people with disabilities that prevent them from visiting the regional centre for validation or arrange suitable travel and accomodation that meets their individual needs
- all major winners with access to a panel of specialist financial and legal advisers. Where a winner with special needs would rather have an advisory at his / her own home arrangements are made to arrange this subject only to meeting conditions on protecting a winner's anonymity from third parties
- access to communication for visually impaired people via Typetalk, an agency that has its own confidentiality code
- winners' information in Braille, on audio tape and in larger print
Protecting vulnerable groups
Camelot aims to protect vulnerable groups who might be at risk from National Lottery products – which might include young people, those on a low income, those who might experience problem gambling and those who might be vulnerable because of a particular disability. We aim to understand how best to balance making games accessible with protecting those who may be vulnerable through consultation with relevant groups
The Camelot Foundation
The Camelot Foundation is an independent grant giving foundation, established in 1997 by Camelot Group plc. At the heart of its work are young people who have slipped out of the mainstream of society, or are in danger of doing so.
The following four groups are at the heart of all the Foundation's programmes:
- Young people with mental health problems
- Young parents or those at risk of becoming young parents
- Young disabled people
- Young asylum seekers
The Camelot Foundation has awarded over £pound;1.7 million to a range of organisations working on disability issues since 2001. The Camelot Foundation focuses on supporting 16–24 year olds who are on the margins of society into mainstream life – this included a focus on young disabled people. For more information, please see www.camelotfoundation.org.uk
4front Awards
The 4front Awards are a partnership between The Camelot Foundation and a group of remarkable young people drawn from all over the UK. The aim is to search out, and develop young people with dreams to achieve. Each year the 4front Awards recognise young people who:
- Are willing to stand out from the crowd
- Have a dream that will make a difference to other young people
- Have the determination to make things happen
The application process is as distinctive as the awards: young people are invited to send in a five minute video about their dream. Award winners are chosen by a decision-making panel made up entirely of young people. In 2004 the innovation and excellence shown in the development of the 4front Award programme was recognised when The Camelot Foundation won a prestigious Charity Award for its work.
Winners of the 2003 and 2004 4front Awards with specific projects around disability have been:
Case Study 1: ‘Real things’ (London)
Sean and Faisal, who have learning disabilities, will use their award funding to make an animated comic based on a real event following an incident in a fast food restaurant. They want the comic to show the real things that young people with learning difficulties can and do face. They hope this will help other young people in similar situations to be treated with the respect they deserve.
After receiving the 4front Award, Sean and Faisal commissioned an animator to help them with the technical aspect of creating their comic. ‘Respect’ was recently completed and Sean and Faisal premiered their comic at the Hammersmith and District Disability Week event. They are planning to put the comic on the web and have it shown to local schools and colleges. Now that this challenge has been received and with extra support from The Camelot Foundation, Sean and Faisal are working hard with a counsellor to achieve independent living.
Case Study 2: ‘There's No Sound Underground’ (Exeter)
A project to buy musical instruments and equipment to enable young people recovering from mental health problems to relax, reduce stress and learn new skills.
Case Study 3: ‘Fun for All’ (Cornwall)
The aim of the project is to create a guide by young disabled people to leisure facilities and attractions in this popular tourist area, for use by disabled residents and tourists.