YGAM to educate Unison members on gambling harm

The Young Gamers and Gamblers Education Trust (YGAM) has joined forces with Unison on a new initiative to provide members of the UK trade union with expert training on gambling and related harms.

Supported by the National Gambling Education Programme, a £10.0m (€11.1m/$13.1m) project backed the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), YGAM is providing free workshops and resources to anyone who works with or cares for young people.

The workshops cover key information on gaming and gambling in the UK, with the resources to provide Unison members with tools to help safeguard young people from gambling-related harm. These include lesson plans, activities, signs to look out for and information on where to go to access support.

Unison, which has over 1.3m members, has initially organised for YGAM to run a number of national sessions, with the aim of following this up with a series of regional training through its education teams across the UK.

“We are really pleased to have developed this relationship with YGAM, their training and resources are really excellent and will be an invaluable resource to our members to support them in their work with young people across public services,” Unison’s head of learning and organising Teresa Donegan said.

YGAM operations director Kev Clelland added: “We are constantly listening to the needs of practitioners and young people and it is very clear from these conversations that the workers that Unison represents need and appreciate our resources more than ever. 

“YGAM’s vision is for all young and vulnerable people to be safe from gaming and gambling related harms and this collaboration will help us reach thousands of young people to raise awareness of the potential risks of gambling and gaming related harm.”

The new partnership comes after YGAM last month partnered research teams from Newcastle and Loughborough Universities to launch Parent Hub, a portal that aims to educate parents and carers about the risks of loot boxes. The hub features resources, information and activities to help safeguard children online.