2009 Channel Islands Christmas Lottery

The first prize in the 2009 Channel Islands Christmas Lottery has risen to £312,000.

The draw takes place on Thursday 17th December.

David Farrimond, Chairman of the Association of Guernsey Charities said: "This is a great start to the Christmas lottery and will give a massive boost to all charities that may benefit from the proceeds as so many local services are supported by the charitable sector."

They could make a lot more for local charities if they held the draw a little closer to Christmas and produced more tickets. Every year its the same old thing - everywhere runs out of tickets long before the draw. They could probably sell at least another 100,000 every year.