The funding will contribute to the expansion of the Gambling Education Hubs across England and Wales after a successful pilot in Scotland.
GambleAware partnered with Scotland’s national youthwork organsation Fast Forward to deliver locally focused prevention programmes that reached more than 15,800 young people.
In the pilot, the Scottish Hub delivered gambling education to almost 3,000 professionals and volunteers working with young people, as well as young people themselves, parents and carers.
The scheme resulted in 92% of practitioners in Scotland saying they felt confident in identifying the signs of gambling harm, compared to just 35% pre-training.
Zoë Osmond, CEO at GambleAware, said: “At a time when young people are increasingly exposed to gambling, the delivery of local focused programs for gambling education and prevention of harms has never been more important.
“With young people in the UK now growing up being widely exposed to gambling marketing and advertising, these projects represent a meaningful step towards delivering a society where all children and young people are protected from the risks of gambling related harms.”
Following a competitive tender process, the grant to deliver the Education Hubs has been won by GamCare, in partnership with YGAM, ARA, Aquarius, Beacon, Breakeven and Neca to carry out the work in England, and by Adferiad Recovery, which will carry out the work in Wales.
Anna Hemmings, chief executive of GamCare, said: “We are delighted to be receiving this grant to deliver gambling Education Hubs across England.
“We work in collaboration with a number of organisations who bring unparalleled experience of working with young people around these issues, including; Young Gamers and Gamblers Education Trust (YGAM), Addiction Recovery Agency (ARA), Aquarius, Beacon, Breakeven and Neca, to deliver Education Hubs across England.”
“Both GamCare and our partners passionately believe that information on the risks associated with gambling and gaming should be a key part of young people’s education, gaining parity with other risky behaviours such as drugs and alcohol.”
Leon Marsh, director of Hospital and Residential Services at Adferiad Recovery said: “We were delighted to hear that we had been selected to be the providers of Wales’s Gambling Education Hub and are looking forward to replicating the success of the project currently being undertaken in Scotland.”
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/gambleaware-spends-2-5m-to-expand-harms-prevention-education-scheme/
