A syndicate is a group of players who, rather than play the Scottish Children's Lottery individually, combine their funds and purchase shared tickets through one nominated player account.

Playing in a syndicate is a fun and exciting way to increase your chances of winning as part of a group.

The first thing you need to do is decide who you'd like to have on your syndicate team - whether that's family, friends, or colleagues, or a mix of all three!

Exactly how you play is entirely up to your syndicate team, but it's important to decide in advance how many lines you'd like in each draw, how frequently you'll play and, of course, which numbers you'd like to enter. Your team members may have some ideas for specific numbers that you should play on a regular basis, or you could simply choose a Fast Pick for a random selection.

As syndicate manager, you'll be responsible for collecting the money needed to buy your group's lottery tickets, making the purchases, updating the team on the results, and distributing any prizes won.

Once you've agreed on the number of lines you'll be playing and collected the money from your team members, the next step is to purchase the tickets for your syndicate.

Should your syndicate decide to play by subscription, you'll need to collect the funds both for the initial purchase and every time your lottery ticket is automatically renewed by Direct Debit or your debit card.

If your syndicate prefers to play on a draw-by-draw basis without a subscription, you should collect the funds from your teammates before buying new tickets ahead of each draw's cut-off point.

If you intend to also play the Scottish Children's Lottery alone, you'll need to keep track of which purchases belong to you, and which belong to the syndicate. We recommend buying your syndicate tickets in one transaction to make this easier.

As syndicate manager, you're responsible for sharing any prize between your team members. We recommend that the way in which the prize money will be distributed is agreed before you begin.

This is entirely up to you. More people generally equals more lines in each draw - and therefore more chances to win - but remember that you'll need to share the dosh with more people should your numbers come up!

As syndicate manager, you'll be responsible for buying tickets on behalf of the group, so it's worth bearing this in mind and keeping the number at a level you're comfortable with.

Ideally your syndicate team will be made up of people you trust and are in regular contact with, just to make rounding up the money that wee bit easier. It's always best to collect the funds before you make any purchase.

If you have a larger syndicate, or some team members would like to contribute more, don't worry - each ticket can contain up to 100 lines, and you can purchase multiple entries into each draw.

After you've decided on your team members, the next step is for everyone involved to sign the syndicate agreement form. You'll find this enclosed with this pack.

This form is an informal contract between your team, and simply acts as a written agreement about how the syndicate will be run and, looking ahead, how the prizes will be distributed should you win. Every member of the team should read and sign the agreement before you buy your first tickets.

It only takes a few minutes to complete, but it means that everybody's clear on the next steps and could save you time in the future.