The amount donated in the nine months to 31 December was 255.6% more than the £4.5m pledged in the same period last year, though the previous year was hampered by the novel coronavirus (Covid-19), meaning operators did not donate as much as usual.
Bet365 remained the leading donator with a total of £4.2m sent to GambleAware, though all of this was sent during the first two quarters, with no further funds added in Q3.
Entain doubled the £2.0m it pledged in the first half, bringing the total amount donated to the charity in the nine-month period to £4.0m.
The only other operator to donate a seven-figure sum to GambleAware was William Hill, though the £1.0m pledged to the charity was all recorded in the first half of the year.
The three operators, alongside Flutter pledged to donate a total of £100m to improving treatment services for problem gamblers by the end of 2023. Flutter is yet to donate any funds so far in the current fiscal year.
Other notable donations included £93,715 from Petfre Gibraltar, £92,000 from Unibet and £80,000 from TSG Interactive Services. Betway donated £60,000, while Playtech Software committed £51,768 and both Videoslots and Zecure Gaming £50,000.
Star Racing made two separate donations of £20,720 and £26,069, while White Hat Gaming pledged a total of £47,230 in the period.
Currently, under guidance by the Great Britain Gambling Commission to deliver the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms, GambleAware asks all businesses that profit from gambling in Britain to make a minimum annual donation of 0.1% of gross gambling yield to the charity.
All funds donated go towards activity delivered against the charity’s main commissioning objectives, and is supportive of a collaborative, whole-system approach to the prevention of gambling harms.
“GambleAware’s vision is for a society safe from gambling harms,” GambleAware said. “To achieve this, the charity is currently delivery more than 40 workstreams of work against each commissioning objective.
“This activity includes services and programmes of work, including the National Gambling Treatment Service, Annual Treatment and Support Survey and Gambling Education Hubs.”
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/gambleaware-donations-reach-16-0m-in-first-three-quarters/
