People's Postcode Lottery

Since 2019, funds raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery have provided regular, life-changing help to some of the worlds’ most vulnerable people.

This vital support enables HI’s teams to free land of mines, prepare vulnerable populations for emergencies, and carry out inclusive emergency responses.

Thank you to players of People’s Postcode Lottery

So far, players of People's Postcode Lottery have raised more than £1.1 billion for charities and good causes - an incredible impact.

A world free of mines: Land Release, Victim Assistance, Risk Education, and Advocacy

With 100,000,000 landmines and items of explosive ordnance (EO) around the world, the job for us a as a humanitarian and mine action operator is immense.  We witness the impact of EO contamination lasting years, even generations. It causes death, injury or permanent impairment, and restricts access to essential services like health, education, water, and the return home of displaced people.

The help of players of People's Postcode Lottery will allow millions of people to return to a safe daily life. 

Disaster risk reduction and emergency response

The world’s poorest people are hardest hit by climate change. An estimated 20% of this population are people with disabilities, who are particularly vulnerable in the event of a disaster. They may face serious difficulties evacuating their home, reaching a secure shelter and accessing humanitarian assistance. Even so, they are often left out of disaster contingency plans and left unsupported.

Thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery, HI teams around the world will be supported in our work to minimise the impact of disasters on the lives of people with disabilities and marginalised communities.

Building futures

^{In response to intense cyclones devastating communities in Madagascar earlier in 2022, HI teams distributed household kits, hygiene kits, dignity kits and cash assistance to 1,024 households, targeting individuals with disabilities and other vulnerable people. Here, a woman receives a household kit including cooking utensils, blankets, candles and more. | © H.Andrianjatovo / HI}

Madagascar is one of the most prone countries to extreme weather hazards in the world, and the third most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Frequent flooding, tropical storms, cyclones and droughts have devastating impacts on the population and humanitarian needs throughout the island. Climate change is further increasing both the frequency and strength of extreme weather events over time.

“We can’t prevent the wind, and we can’t prevent the rains. But we can keep natural events from becoming natural disasters by predicting where they may strike, anticipating their impacts on lives and livelihoods, and by acting accordingly ahead of time to prepare communities.”
Lili Bazin, HI Disaster Risk Reduction technical specialist

► Read more about our work in Madagascar

The difference it makes

^{Justiniano Pencué in his coffee plant nursery in the region of Inzá, Cauca department, Colombia. | © J. M. Vargas / HI}

Every day, our demining teams change the lives of people affected by conflict.

For 10 years, fear of the presence of landmines on his land prevented Justiniano Pencue, a farmer from the Nasa indigenous community in Inzá municipality, Colombia, from extending his coffee plantation.

Finally, on July 26, 2022, after two and a half years of land release activities, we declared the municipality of Inzá free of suspected contamination by landmines, explosive devices and unexploded ordnance.

Through HI’s demining operations, his plantation is now flourishing.

► Read more about our demining work in Colombia