Welcome to the GambleAware November Newsletter. In this month’s edition, we are focusing on our campaign work and reflecting on the launch of the second phase of the National Gambling Treatment Service Campaign and the Safer Gambling Campaign. We will also share an update on the latest developments in research, prevention, and treatment.
As new national restrictions began on 5th November, we would like to reiterate that our team has continued to work remotely at GambleAware, as per government guidelines. If you wish to get in touch with any member of our team you can do so at the contact details here.
We are pleased to announce the date for our 2021 Conference focusing on ‘Treatment of gambling harms: collaborating on a long-term plan’, which is Thursday, 28 January 2021 9:30 – 12:30. This year the conference will be held virtually and will report on recent developments in the treatment of gambling harms and explore priorities for the future. Registration details will be released on our homepage shortly.
It was announced in August that our Chief Executive, Marc Etches, is stepping down from his position at GambleAware at the end of March 2021. Under his leadership of almost a decade, GambleAware has evolved to become the primary commissioner of services designed to prevent and reduce gambling harm in Great Britain. The process of selecting a new Chief Executive will be overseen by GambleAware's trustees. For more details see the press release.
Finally, this month we have also published our updated briefing document which provides an overview of GambleAware priorities and objectives, alongside a summary of the work we are currently doing.
The second burst of activity for the campaign, titled: ‘Start to regain control’, focused on the all-consuming nature of gambling with the line “when you’re there, but not there” and was designed to raise awareness of the National Gambling Treatment Service.
The content draws upon the insight that people with gambling problems feel disconnected from their family and friends and is based on promoting confidence that treatment is easy to access and will help them overcome their struggles with gambling. The campaign launched in early July and ran until the end of August, with content appearing on radio, digital platforms and in national and regional press.
The new activity, which was targeted at men aged 25-54 years old, with a specific focus on men aged 25- 34 years, aimed to:
Signpost people to the National Gambling Treatment Service and build awareness of the 24- hour National Gambling Helpline.
Increase awareness of the support that is available to help moderate risky gambling behaviour and to treat problem gambling behaviour.
Increase knowledge of the signs that someone may be suffering from gambling related harms.
Tracking study results (Ipsos Mori) highlight an increase in awareness of the NGTS of 9% amongst high risk and problem gamblers and a 10% increase in the number of high-risk gamblers who would be likely to contact treatment services since the start of the campaign (23% vs 13%). We have also seen an 18% increase in calls to the Helpline (impact of COVID-19 is seen to be a key factor) year on year to July 2020.
We are currently in early stages of planning for a third stage of the campaign which will run in December through to the new year. This stage will have specific localised targeting to align with the Treatment Needs and Gap Analysis research. To learn more about the campaign click here.
Safer Gambling Campaign
The second phase of the Bet Regret campaign launched in September, which introduces a behaviour change technique encouraging people to pause and reconsider before they place a bet they may regret. The campaign is directed at male sports bettors aged 18-34 years, providing advice to “Tap Out” for timeout to avoid Bet Regret
The campaign was researched at three stages and received a highly positive response at each stage, with impact, differentiation, appeal, relevance, comprehension, and motivation marked as ‘high’ (Outsiders Research).
The first burst of campaign activity ran across TV, radio, digital and was supported on social by LADbible throughout September and October. Tracking Study results just in indicate a positive uplift in prompted and unprompted recognition with the key outtake being the tap out behaviour. More details will be published on our website in due course. The campaign continues with a digital always on presence and a second burst will run in February / March 2021.
The key campaign visuals are below and you can watch the TV assets here.
To learn more about the campaign please click here.
Other news
We have launched a new monthly webinar series, which are a chance for people to learn more about the work we do and the projects we commission. The next webinar is titled "Ethnicity & Gambling: building an understanding of demand for and access to treatment and support across Great Britain" and will be held on 9 December at 10am. You can register for the event here. Past webinar topics include Lived Experience, Women and gambling and the National Gambling Treatment Service Annual Statistics for 2019/20, which you can watch on our events page. If you would like to know more about the research discussed in these past webinars, please see our research publications page.
We have commissioned a second annual GB Treatment and Support Demand Survey. The survey will run concurrently with three other commissioned surveys. Read the full announcement here.
We launched a report on the National Gambling Treatment Service which reveals treatment helped 90% of service users who complete treatment reduce their problem gambling score. It also found 60% of service users who were defined as “problem gamblers” at the start of their treatment were no longer in that category at the end of treatment. Read the press release & view the 2018/19 & 2019/20 reports & infographic.
GambleAware has released an invitation to tender for the design and creation of a GB-wide network of people with lived experience of gambling harms. This is part of GambleAware's Lived Experience Programme 20/21, which includes an aim to provide a network that has a meaningful impact on all levels of service delivery, research, policy and legislation formation. Read the announcement here and the ITT here.
We have published research into the effect of COVID-19 lockdown measures and gambling. It shows half of gamblers say they gambled the same amount during initial months of lockdown, while one in five "problem gamblers" state they gambled more. Read the press release here and the report here.
GambleAware has teamed up with CNWL Trust Addiction service to provide funding for a new service across the Surrey prisons estate to help people with gambling problems within the criminal justice system. Read CNWL's announcement here.
Fundraising
We are currently accepting donations for the 2020-21 financial year. We have published all donations and pledges received up until the end of September on our website. To see a full list please see our Q2 financial report.
We are deeply grateful to all those who have donated and pledged. Those donations allow us to continue to do the work we do and to help us reach those who need help, so thank you.
We urge all those with a gambling license to donate. You can either donate online or download the 20-21 Donation Form to donate via bank transfer. Information on donating can be found on our fundraising section of our website and if you have any queries please contact fundraising@gambleaware.org directly.
A reminder for operators that we are currently accepting donations for the 2020-2021 financial year. We ask all those who profit from gambling in Britain to donate annually a minimum of 0.1% of their annual Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) directly to GambleAware. We ask those with an annual GGY of less than £250,000 per annum to donate a minimum of £250. Information on how to donate can be found here.
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