What a night! The National Lottery’s Big Bash saw hosts Vernon Kay and Fleur East joined by some of the year’s biggest stars including Perrie, KSI, Olly Alexander, Craig David, Ella Henderson.

The massive celebration, which was held at the OVO Arena Wembley on Wednesday 4th December 2024, also shone a light on the year’s big moments such as the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games and The National Lottery’s 30th anniversary. It included surprise contributions from Richard Armitage and Jason Isaacs.

From a sensational performance of Cupid’s Bow by Olly Alexander, to a surprise appearance from the presenters of TV’s Loose Women and the cast of Mamma Mia celebrating both shows’ 25th anniversaries, the Big Bash showcased some unforgettable moments from 2024. Perrie started the show with an incredible rendition of her new hit You Go Your Way, whilst KSI wowed the 8,000-strong crowd with his latest single Thick of it.

Other incredible performances included Craig David’s medley of hits which got the crowd up on its feet. Ella Henderson’s mash up of Alibi/Filthy Rich also raised energy levels in the arena and there was a spectacular exclusive performance from Cirque du Soleil’s CORTEO.

Meet our final two Game Changers

Thanks to National Lottery players, more than £30 million is raised every week for Good Causes, funding over 700,000 projects across community, heritage, sport and the arts in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

In addition to changing the face of communities throughout the nation, more than 7,400 millionaires have been created and over £95 billion paid out in prizes since the launch of The National Lottery in 1994.

To mark the 30-year anniversary and impact of £50bn in Good Causes funding, 28 Game Changers have been celebrated through for iconic installations across the UK, showcasing the remarkable stories of individuals that have done amazing the things with National Lottery funding.  A further two individuals have received their Game Changer award during the broadcast of The National Lottery’s Big Bash.

Elvire Mavusi Matu

Elvire  grew up in Barking and Dagenham, one of the poorest London Boroughs, and watched as local community centres closed and gang violence overwhelmed the area, with friends and neighbours being shot and stabbed. At 14, she didn’t feel like there were any safe spaces left for her and her peers to go, and so created Konverse Dance Crews.

Konverse, which started in 2012, is a community dance space that aims to serve the underserved. It runs dance classes for children and adults, and has welcomed over 900 members of the community through their doors. As well as providing a safe space, Elvire also seeks to provide opportunities to adults in the community. She provides paid employment, training opportunities and pays for qualifications in order to upskill people and prepare them for future opportunites.

Along with running Konverse Dance Crews, Elvire actually works full-time in a school in Barking and Dagenham, mentoring young people who are close to exclusion and working with their families and their teachers to keep them in education long term. Elvire devotes every evening and weekend to keep Konverse running and is clearly a pillar in her local community, where she has lived since she was born with her Mum and siblings.

Konverse Dance Crews has received £9,951 of Lottery Funding which Elvire describes as completely invaluable. Elvire uses this money to pay for space hire, staffing, qualifications and training for her staff as she tries to keep the costs affordable and accessible to the community.

Craig MacLellan

Former Marine Craig MacLellan, who has been helped to survive post-traumatic stress disorder by the companionship of his pet Labrador, set up Veterans with Dogs in 2012 to help others like him.

His journey of recovery from the debilitating effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD – a condition he is still living with) is a powerful story, with “assistance dogs” at the heart of it. During a six-week residential treatment programme for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Craig witnessed his dog moving around the room and remaining close to the person who was feeling the most anxious at any particular time. Seeing these behaviours led to some long conversations and extensive research about the need for further development of this kind of work, to bring the positive benefits of dog ownership to a wider audience whose needs were based on mental health conditions resulting from trauma.

Since developing this method of support for people living with PTSD, Craig has helped change the lives of hundreds of veterans. The programme is the first of its kind in the UK – specifically training dogs for the mental health needs of trauma resulting from military service. The dogs are trained in task-work unique to each individual and their needs. This can be from medication reminders and retrieval, grounding techniques and calming measures for panic attacks or heightened anxiety, turning lights on during nightmares, waking up the handler and guiding their owner to a safe place.

The National Lottery’s first ever grant to VWD in 2014 allowed Craig to run his pilot scheme, he says without that money Veterans with Dogs wouldn’t exist today. Veterans with Dogs have had 3 grants since 2014 worth more than £37,000. Most recently they were awarded £20k in January 2024 for their Paws for Support project to support on going costs of canine-assisted therapies. The project aims to bring together veterans and the broader community using the training of assistance dogs improve the wellbeing of veterans with mental health challenges.