Michael Gracey’s winning film for the National Lottery

It’s easy to forget that the mass gambling gig which, every week, turns ordinary folk into dazed, gurning rookie millionaires, clutching those giant fake cheques, was founded to raise funds for good causes. 

Beautifully crafted, with delicious rainbowy colour, The Magic Number, was produced by Partizan UK and champions some of the initiatives that have come to fruition thanks to the £40 billion the UK National Lottery has raised since it began in November 1994.  

Set to a remix of the track Three Is A Magic Number, the film showcases how Lottery money has enabled an impressive list of magic numbers – including five Oscar-winning films, 20 species saved from extinction and 8,000 sports centres – and features an epic cast of beneficiaries, from a disabled singing troupe, to veterans, recording artists and Team GB Olympians and Paralympians.

Keith Moor, Camelot CMO, said: “National Lottery players raise around £30 million every single week [for good causes] so we knew straight away that should be the focus of the 25th birthday campaign. The inspiring people and projects that feature in the ad really bring this to life.”