GambleAware Newsletter

We are fast approaching the end of our fiscal year and a lot has happened since our last newsletter. I wanted to use this opportunity to share some highlights and reflections with you from the past few months.
As the Government moves closer to completing its White Paper on the Gambling Act review, there has understandably been a flurry of intense lobbying activity. It is imperative that this does not get in the way of the broader need to continue to deliver comprehensive prevention and treatment services for gambling harm and do not undermine public confidence and trust in the hard work of the third sector and the services it delivers.

I would like to take this opportunity to be very clear that the industry has absolutely no input, influence or engagement in any of our activity. GambleAware has an extremely robust system of governance processes in place and is accountable to the Charity Commission. We are guided by a Board of trustees, most of whom work in the NHS and public health sector, and none have any connection to the gambling industry. DCMS, DHSC, OHID and the Gambling Commission all recognise our integrity and independence and work closely with us on an array of key projects.

Indeed, we welcomed the news of the new additional NHS clinics, to be funded directly by the NHS and look forward to continuing to work with them and supporting the roll out of the clinics, thereby continuing to provide an integrated solution to preventing and treating gambling harm. We have long advocated for gambling harm to be treated as a serious public health issue that requires a collaborative approach involving the third sector and the NHS, as with other addiction services.

The inquest this month into Jack Ritchie’s death, highlighted the significant need for greater understanding of gambling related harm, which affects all areas, across healthcare, education and regulation. GambleAware is committed to continuing with our important work to address the inadequacies of the current system where we can, with our limited funding, whilst working closely with the Government, the Gambling Commission, NHS and other treatment providers, including GamCare, to prevent and reduce gambling related harm. As part of this, we continue to work with DHSC to develop an integrated approach to gambling harm and the establishment of the Gambling Treatment Pathway Task & Finish group, led by OHID.

Meanwhile, we started the year with the launch of our first prevention campaign aimed at women. Raising awareness of the warning signs to look out for, such as losing track of time, money and hiding gambling activity from others. The activity also promoted the support available to all women who engage in gambling and encouraged them to visit BeGambleAware.org or call the Helpline for support. The campaign was designed and developed in collaboration with those with lived experience of gambling harms and achieved over 1,500 pieces of media coverage across broadcast, national print and online, marketing, healthcare and gambling trade. This cut-through, along with paid media activity, led to a 22% increase in visits to the BeGambleAware.org website during the launch week. We were also pleased to have support from Gambling Minister Chris Philp MP, Health Minister Gillian Keegan MP, and colleagues across gambling harm prevention in the health sector. A tracking study will monitor the performance of the campaign and we look forward to sharing these with you in the next update.

As the charity committed to keeping people safe from gambling harms, GambleAware continues to commission prevention and treatment services as well as leading on public health campaigns. Over the last few months, we have been working closely with Citizens Advice Scotland, England and Wales to upskill their frontline staff to better understand gambling harms. In addition to this and following the success of the Scottish Education Hubs, we will be expanding the Hubs to England and Wales later this year. Every year we fund access to free treatment for nearly 12,000 people and over 40,000 calls to the National Gambling Helpline. Since 2018, an estimated 137,000 people have accessed the help they need via GambleAware commissioned treatment services.

Our latest Annual Statistics for the National Gambling Treatment Service show that most (92%) people who completed their scheduled treatment improve their condition through a reduction to their Problem Gambling Severity Index score. However, with up to 2.9 million people in Great Britain who could be at risk of gambling harm, it is important we continue to work together to address gambling.
At this time, the conversation must stay open, and we need to collaborate and engage with each other, to deliver better outcomes in an ever-changing landscape. I look forward to the publication of the White Paper, to welcoming its recommendations and with this, working with you to achieve our vision of a society where everyone is safe from gambling harm.

- Zoë Osmond, CEO

Women’s prevention campaign
On Monday 31 January, GambleAware launched a major new public health campaign to raise awareness of the gambling harms women experience, with new research showing up to one million women could be at risk of gambling harm.

The campaign highlighted how to spot the early warning signs of harmful gambling, while also signposting the steps women can take to keep their gambling under control.
The campaign ran across TV, BVOD, digital and social media and achieved blanket media coverage, achieving over 1,500 pieces of coverage across broadcast, national print and online, consumer, regional, marketing and gambling trade media.

We welcome any support you can give to the campaign through your own networks or via promotion on social media. The campaign toolkit, with social media assets, is available to download on our website.

The education of children and young people remain a key focus, and in November 2021, we announced the recommissioning of the Scottish Gambling Education Hub delivered by Fast Forward. In addition to this, we will also be delivering an expansion to the Gambling Education Hub programme. Building on the success of the Scottish programme, we are now committed to funding Gambling Education Hubs in England and Wales from April 2022. Details on the outcomes of the Scottish Gambling Education Hubs will be published later this month.

Meanwhile, our work with Citizens Advice in Scotland, England and Wales continues, with the overall aim to upskill frontline staff to better understand and respond to clients presenting risks of gambling harms. From its inception in April 2020 to December 2021, Citizens Advice Scotland held 216 training sessions with 1,844 participants, approximately 95% of whom felt satisfied with the training. Citizens Advice across England and Wales has from 2019-2021 delivered 858 training sessions to 8,620 professionals and 2,150 Citizens Advice staff completed e-learning modules. As a result, Citizens Advice screened 35,286 people across England and Wales for gambling harms, with 228 going through a full assessment and 179 people referred to the NGTS for treatment.

Increase to Treatment and Support services
In the period November 2020 – December 2021, GambleAware increased treatment and support services to meet the needs and numbers of people seeking treatment and support for gambling harm more effectively. This activity included:

Enhanced pre and post residential wrap around care within Gordon Moody, in response to the demands of the pandemic;
Increased the grant to Gordon Moody for residential and retreat and counselling services, to reduce waiting lists and address capacity issues in October 2021;
Increased the capacity of the National Gambling helpline which now operates 24/7, in response to the number of calls that were incoming after midnight;
Provided additional funding to CNWL and the Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to improve case management for those more complex cases who need to be served by other parts of the system in July 2021.
In late 2021 Adferiad joined the NGTS to provide residential provision for people presenting with complexities/comorbid issues. The organisation provides detox provision as well as intensive treatment programmes for people presenting with acute needs that are not met within the community.
GambleAware commissioned a pilot project in January 2022 to extend residential rehabilitation provision for gambling disorder. As part of this, Adferiad and Gordon Moody combine their expertise of medicalised need with the experience and knowledge of gambling specific interventions. Within the first month of mobilisation, they are already working with more people than originally anticipated within the scoping work that preceded the procurement of this service.

In December 2021, GambleAware held its first hybrid conference on the theme of 'Collaboration in the Prevention of Gambling Harms'.

The GambleAware conference included opportunities to hear from Gambling Minister Chris Philp MP and Andrew Rhodes, Interim Chief Executive of the Gambling Commission, and those within the lived experience community and across the research, prevention, and treatment sectors in Britain.

The conference is available to watch again online here. You can also download the speakers’ presentations in the resources section through this link.

In November 2021, GambleAware published the National Gambling Treatment Service (NGTS) Annual Statistics for 2020/21. The report showed that most (92%) of people who completed their scheduled treatment, improved their condition through a reduction to their Problem Gambling Severity Index Score.

Since 2018, GambleAware has supported an estimated 137,000 people getting the support they need. These annual stats demonstrate the impact treatment can have, however, there remains a strong need to continue to work in collaboration with leading organisations and experts, including the NHS, to ensure that people get the information, support and treatment they need.

The 2020/21 report is accessible to download on our website.