The leading charity focused on problem gambling in the UK – GambleAware – revealed that it plans to spend a total amount of £32 million over the next couple of years as part of its efforts to tackle gambling-related harm. The details about the charitable organisation’s intentions have been revealed in the new Strategic Delivery Plan for the period 2018-2020 and include a significant increase in the company’s investments that are to be made across all aspects of the National Responsible Gambling Strategy’s delivery.
As revealed by the charity, it plans to divide the funding between the different aspects of problem gambling prevention. The largest part of the funding – £14.3 million – is to be spent for treatment of gambling addiction. Then, an amount of £9.8 million is planned to be spent on research and evaluation, followed by £5.6 million set to be invested in education. As mentioned above, the commitment of GambleAware to spend more money on prevention of problem gambling is part of the charity organisation’s efforts to improve its services and invest more efforts in a better understanding of gambling-related harm prevention.
The major goal of GambleAware will be delivering qualitative prevention services at a greater scale than before. In order to do that, the problem gambling charity is set to announce collaborations with new partners on the territory of England, Scotland and Wales in the weeks to come.
GambleAware to Fund New Problem Gambling Initiatives
The problem gambling charity organisation is also set to invest some money in a number of new initiatives, including the development focused education campaigns and initiatives that would especially target more vulnerable people, as well as gambling operators, public and third sector groups, social media platforms and sports teams.
In addition, the development of a so-called “knowledge hub” is also planned, with the hub set to include a number of modules specially designed to help education teams working with younger audiences. As far as gamblers with severe or complex needs are concerned, GambleAware plans to fund an extended access for multi-disciplinary treatment beyond the country’s capital.
As revealed by the organisation, the new level of expenditure surpasses the minimum target for voluntary donations which has been agreed with both the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (RGSB) and the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) and has been estimated at £10 million.
As reported by Casino Guardian in June, the charity organisation had revealed a new 3-year agreement with GamCare for the period from 2018 to 2021, under which GambleAware would redirect a total of £14 million to GamCare in three years. The amount set to be awarded by the gambling charity is set to be used for the delivery of the National Gambling Helpline.
Previously, GambleAware has called for some changes to be brought in terms of the voluntary donations made by the local gambling operators to the charity. During the annual Harm-Minimisation Conference of the organisation in December 2017, the charity’s Chair Kate Lampard criticised the UK gambling industry’s attitude toward problem gambling at a time when the concerns related to gambling addictions constantly rise. At the time of the conference, Ms. Lampard said the gambling companies deserved criticism for the aggressive behaviour of the operators and called for some changes in the country’s gambling industry.
- Author
Olivia Cole
