The total was 34.0% higher than the £34.7m pledged in the previous financial year, with the charity noting that the four main operators in the UK – Flutter, Bet365, Entain and William Hill – contributed to 92% of all donations in the year to 31 March.
The amount pledged by the quartet reached £42.9m, with each of the operators having committed to donating 0.1% of their gross gambling yield each year. This rate is due to increase to 1.0% for 2023-24.
Flutter donated more than any other operator, pledging £18.0m across a number of brands during the year. Paddy Power Betfair and Sky Betting and Gaming each donated £8.2m, while Tombola pledged £943,133 and PokerStars £650,000.
Entain followed with £15.2m in donations from its Ladbrokes Coral brand, then Hillside, the operator of Bet356, with a total donation of £5.0m, split into smaller pledges of £2.4m, £1.7m and £907,000.
William Hill donated £4.6m, while Camelot UK Lotteries, operator of the UK National Lottery, committed £445,000, and Betfred £194,633.
Other stand-out pledgees included Rank Group, which donated £392,464 to the charity. This was split between a £196,605 donation from Rank Interactive, £122,967 Mecca Bingo and pledges of £22,106 and £50,786 from Grosvenor Casinos.
In addition, 888 pledged £190,000 and BetVictor £188,772.
“As the leading independent charity and strategic commissioner of gambling harm prevention and treatment across Great Britain, funding is key to ensure the effective delivery of the National Gambling Support Network and our many other programmes of work to address and prevent gambling harm,” GambleAware chief executive Zoë Osmond said.
“We welcome government plans to introduce a statutory levy as outlined in its Gambling White Paper, which will help provide stable funding. We hope that changes will be made swiftly, as any significant delay in moving to the statutory levy risks slowing down the pace at which we have been, and plan to continue, transforming prevention and treatment services as outlined in our five-year organisational strategy.”
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/social-responsibility/gambleaware-donations-reach-46-5m-in-2022-23/
