Lately, the UK gambling sector has been repeatedly suffering one blow after another, as an increasing number of charity organisations and anti-gambling campaigners have been insisting that the industry should be forced to make larger contributions to tackle the possible negative effects of gambling-related harm.
A recent publication by The Guardian claims that the country’s gambling industry has seen its revenue triple its size but that has not resulted in a significant increase in the monetary donations to GambleAware – the largest gambling charity in the UK seeking to actively reduce the gambling-related harm suffered by British gamblers.
Reportedly, the overall amount contributed by the 680 licensed gambling companies that currently operate in the country has been estimated at almost £35 million.
The largest part of this overall amount originates from the largest and best-performing gambling giants, while the rest of the licensed gambling operators have chosen not to make voluntary contributions. This is exactly the reason why GambleAware has called for the local Legislature to make sure that the legal gambling industry in the UK makes not only voluntary donations but is forced to donate regularly to the research, education, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harm.
The Four Largest Gambling Companies Make Most of the Contributions
According to campaigners, the current rate of donations is far from sufficient to tackle the problems linked to gambling and its legalisation across the country. Liz Richie, the co-founder of the charity Gambling with Lives, believes that the British gambling companies could do much more to make sure they mitigate the negative impact they inflict on local customers.
Ms Richie confirmed that gambling operators paid whatever they wanted whenever they wanted and could withdraw funding for health information, research or problem gambling treatment they were found unsatisfactory. She argued that the implementation of an obligatory tax levy will make them more engaged with the negative effects gambling could have on their customers, not to mention the bigger resources provided to charity organisations to directly address the issue and protect vulnerable British players from the harmful impact of the sector.
According to reports, the largest contributors to good causes from the gambling industry are still Entain, bet365, Flutter Entertainment, and William Hill. The four companies are still honouring their engagement to dedicate 1% of their gross gambling revenue (GGR) to good causes in order to fund the research, education, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harm caused to local people.
As previously reported by Casino Guardian, most gambling companies in the UK, however, decided they do not have to take part in the initiatives that aim to tackle problem gambling and gambling-related harm from being inflicted on British people, which is why they chose not to make any voluntary donations to good causes. Although the four largest companies, also known as “the Big Four” continue to make contributions, it is not fair to them to be left alone in this initiative, so charities continue to insist on the introduction of a mandatory levy for the entire sector.
The trade body of the UK gambling industry – the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) – has noted that the sector has already made considerable improvements in terms of problem gambling, with gambling addiction rates in the country being reduced. The BGC, which has been known as a lobbyist for the industry further noted that the local gambling companies have provided additional funding worth £100 million for problem gambling research, education and treatment since 2019.
- Author
Daniel Williams
