GC approves £800,000 gambling harm prevention programme in Yorkshire

The three-year scheme will focus on education and prevention, providing support and treatment to those affected by problem gambling in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Gambling Commission executive director Tim Miller said: “We welcome this ambitious project across Yorkshire and Humber. A well-planned, cohesive public health approach to tackling gambling harms is exactly what the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms was designed to stimulate. “We are pleased to be able to approve the funding, which was agreed through regulatory settlements, as part of the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms.”

A recent survey conducted by the Commission suggested that gamblers had limited knowledge of the safer gambling tools available to them.

The novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has also had an impact on people’s betting habits, including an increase in suspicious activity reports.

Greg Fell, chair of the Yorkshire & Humber harmful gambling working group, added: “We aim to deliver a gold standard programme that can be replicated across the UK. We are in the unique position of having a diverse population across city, town, rural and coastal environments, which offers the potential for an effective activity blueprint that could be used by other regions.

“We know high deprivation areas and low income workers are disproportionately negatively affected by gambling, so this will be our focus.”