A lottery scheme committed to good causes has announced an extra £20 million in donations for organisations protecting the environment.

From now on, anyone playing the People’s Postcode Lottery will be helping support 12 charities tackling the climate and ecological emergency, including The Wildlife Trusts, WWF and Greenpeace.

Income from the Postcode Climate Change will be used to fund nature restoration projects, such as those coordinated by The Wildlife Trusts. The charity says that wild habitats has a huge role to play in climate action, as it hopes to halt emissions and maximise carbon storage by locking it in peatlands, meadows, wetlands and in sea.

Craig Bennett, chief executive at The Wildlife Trusts, said:

We’re extremely excited that funding raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery will enable us to restore more places for nature. When you re-wet a peatland and stop it from drying out, it locks up vast amounts of carbon. This new fund means The Wildlife Trusts can make this happen on a huge scale.

As part of the new challenge announced, each month players will be invited to take part in an environmental challenge to raise awareness of the issues.

The lottery scheme already has a proud record of supporting environmental causes, handing out more than £127 million since it was launched in 2005.

Laura Chow, head of charities at People’s Postcode Lottery, said:

For 15 years our players have been supporting environmental charities, and we’ve seen significant impacts from the work of those charities in that time. But more needs to be done urgently, which is why an additional £20 million in funding raised will specifically support climate action this year.

To find out more about People’s Postcode Lottery, please visit www.postcodelottery.co.uk.

Image by David Parkyn Cornwall Wildlife Trust