BGC: Grand National Bet campaign raises £13,500 for UK good causes  

The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has declared that good causes up and down the country are the big winners of the ‘Grand National Bet’ charity campaign.

The campaign saw over 40 MPs participate by placing a bet on Saturday’s Grand National at Aintree, helping the BGC guarantee winnings of £13,500 to the MPs’ charity of choice.

The winning MPs were Labour Shadow DCMS Minister Alex Davies-Jones MP, Pete Wishart MP from the SNP and Caroline Nokes MP, Philip Davies MP, and Miles Briggs MSP from the Conservatives, who backed 8/1 favourite Corach Rambler, ridden by Derek Fox.

Further winning MPs who placed each-way bets included Mark Pawsey MP, Dr James Davies MP, Mark Tami MP, Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Nigel Evans MP and Alex Stafford MP.

Good causes selected by winning MPs included Guide Dogs for the Blind, Age UK and various regional foodbanks as every nominated charity will receive at least £250 pledged by leading highstreet bookmakers  William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral, Paddy Power and Betfred

Michael Dugher, the BGC’s Chief Executive, said: “I want to pay tribute to all the thousands of people who work in betting shops to help support hard-pressed high streets and local economies, it was great to see MPs from across the political divide – more MPs than ever before – visiting bookies across the country supporting more good causes than ever before.”

The BGC underlined the continued success of the Grand National, watched on TV by a UK audience of 7.5 million, with 13 million people placing bets and an estimated 600 million more watching worldwide.

The marquee event for UK racing helps betting shops support 42,000 jobs and contributes £800m a year in tax to the Treasury and another £60m in business rates to local councils.