Postcode Lottery Group CEO Sigrid van Aken has been admitted into the Order of the Légion d'Honneur. The honour coincides with the Group’s continued partnership with the Paris Peace Forum to advance solutions to pressing global issues.

Photo: Justin Vaïsse Director General of the Paris Peace Forum, Imme Rog, Member of the Executive Board and CMO, Postcode Lottery Group, Sigrid van Aken, Member of the Executive Board and CEO, Postcode Lottery Group, Laurence Tubiana European Climate Foundation CEO and Michiel Verboven, Member of the Executive Board and COO Postcode Lottery Group.

On the eve of the Paris Peace Forum, 28 October, Prof. Laurence Tubiana, CEO of Postcode Lottery charity partner, European Climate Foundation and Dean of the Climate School/SciencesPo, welcomed Sigrid van Aken, into the Order of the Légion d'Honneur. The event took place at the French Foreign Ministry and highlighted the importance of a strong civil society.

Sigrid van Aken, said: "It's a profound honour to accept this distinction - on behalf of the Postcode Lottery Group's 1,500 colleagues, our 15 million players and the charities we partner with. Our goal is simple: make the world healthier, fairer and greener by turning postcodes into community fundraisers. With our charity Lotteries, neighbours win together and raise money for charities together. Today, we generate €1 billion every single year, supporting 500 long-term partners and 1000s of grassroots initiatives worldwide.

"I see this recognition from the French Government as an invitation to bring our unique Lottery model to new markets, raise more funds and help charities have a positive impact on the world."

Meaningful progress
Now in its eight edition the Paris Peace Forum, supported by the Postcode Lottery Group since 2022, centred around seeking new coalitions for peace, people and the planet. In her speech, Sigrid van Aken echoed the words of Justin Vaïsse, Founder and Director General of the Paris Peace Forum: that in a world of tightening budgets and growing fragmentation, meaningful progress is still possible when coalitions are built around shared priorities, cooperation is alive and solutions within reach.

Sigrid van Aken, added: "As we’ve learned from over 35 years of experience: charities truly thrive with multi-year, unrestricted support that enables them to use funds where they’re needed most. This is needed now more than ever, in communities all over the world."

One of these charities is the European Climate Foundation – a Postcode Lottery partner since 2010 – that uses the unrestricted funding it receives to empower people across society to create a net-zero world.

European Climate Foundation CEO, Laurence Tubiana, said: "We are living through a time when social, economic and political pressures test our capacity for cooperation. Where public resources are constrained, yet the list of important causes needing funding has never been higher. In this context, philanthropy can and must step up.

"The Postcode Lottery Group puts this into action and has become one of Europe’s most dynamic philanthropic institutions, that turns everyday participation into collective impact – neighbours winning together, communities benefiting together."

€1 billion a year for charity
With Lotteries in the Netherlands, Sweden, Great Britain, Germany and Norway, the Postcode Lottery Group is proud to announce that it will soon reach a major milestone – €1 billion raised for charities in a single year.

However, much more is possible. A new study by the Association of Charity Lotteries in Europe (ACLEU) together with Civil Society Europe, highlights the potential for charity lotteries across Europe. In France alone, this potential could be over €500 million a year.