Support on hand – Safer Gambling Week 2024
Safer Gambling Week, the Betting and Gaming Council’s annual campaign now in its 8th year, kicks off next Monday 18 November. The initiative is essentially a mix of rallying call and reminder for the industry, stakeholders and wider public about the importance of responsible gambling.
As the industry grows so does, proportionately to a degree, problem gambling. The real value in initiatives like Safer Gambling Week is the vastly increased awareness it generates both within and outside the industry. The campaign wording will vary from year to year but the overarching message is the same: support is on hand and we will help guide you to it.
Safer Gambling Week is growing, with 2023 exposure up 70% against 2022. A further increase can be expected this year.
Practical advice for gamblers
Safer Gambling Week not only raises awareness but offers practical tips and tools for those experiencing problem gambling. Families and friends of those affected can also tap into these resources as well anyone who just wants to know what to look out for. This includes:
- Identifying warning signs about possible problem gambling
- What help/support is available and where to get it
- Managing your gambling – habits, limits etc
3 areas of focus for Safer Gambling Week in 2024
This year’s 3-pronged focus for Safer Gambling Week is:
- Let's Talk About Safer Gambling
- Take Action: Safer Gambling Tools
- Get Gambling Support: Advice and Helplines
Let’s look at them separately and consider the benefits they offer:
Let’s Talk About Safer Gambling
‘It’s good to talk.’ As someone once said on a famous TV advert. Never a truer word spoken when someone is having a problem or facing a challenge.
Let’s consider a few points recommended to help you enjoy your gambling, to help you take control:
Overall, you’re never going to win. Gambling is about having a bit of fun – it’s a game of chance. Sometimes you win, occasionally you’ll bag a tidy win but over a longer period of time the casino/bookie/operator wins. You won’t make money gambling.
Set some limits – for how much you’re prepared to spend, how long you want to play for and how much you want to win. When you reach the first of those limits, it’s time to stop.
Recognise and acknowledge the warning signs, which can include:
- Being more interested in gambling than other social activities and hobbies
- Being more interested in gambling than friends, family and work or study
- Lying about your gambling with family and friends
- Spending more than you budgeted or can afford when gambling
- Using food, bills or rent money to gamble
- Borrowing money to gamble
- Chasing losses
- Struggling to stop gambling and thinking about gambling too much
- Listlessness and losing interest in other activities and people
- Changes in health, behaviour and wellbeing, which could include:
Depression, anxiety, worry, irritation or anger, feelings of guilt
Experiencing any of these things? Support is readily at hand:
GamCare online forums and live chat and GamCare self guided resources Dedicated services and self-help tools in Ireland can be found at GamblingCare Ireland
And a few tips to consider:
- Take a break now and again
- Only bet what you can afford to lose
- Pause for a moment if you think you’re ‘on a roll’ and don’t increase your stakes or up the ante just because you have had a couple of good wins
- What does ‘affordable’ mean? This is worth a read: What Do We Mean by Affordability?
Take Action: Safer Gambling Tools
Problem gamblers aren’t just left to their own devices, to work it out for themselves. There are support functions to tap into and a range of tools to help them manage their gambling habits. These tools include:
Setting time limits
Apart from keeping an eye on the clock or watch or setting an alarm on your phone there are 2 main options that support setting a time limit.
Reality check timers are on-screen alerts that show you how long you have been playing. Gambling time trackers will tell you how long you have been signed in and act as a prompt to take a break or stop for the day.
Setting time limits will only help you take control if you stick to them.
Set online deposit limits
Get out of a ‘see how it goes’ mindset and set a firm limit on how much you are prepared to spend. Deposit limits are a good way to manage your gambling spend and keep on track. It’s simple to do – find the safer gambling section of the website and follow on-screen instructions to set the limit.
400,000 deposit limits are set every month – they’re clearly working for some people!
Self-exclusion schemes (incl multi-operator)
If problematic gambling behaviours reach a worrying point you can consider self-exclusion.
It’s exactly what it sounds like it is. There are different ways to self-exclude, though it’s largely a similar process. You’ll need to reckon on:
- Exclusion for a minimum of 6 months
- No early exit from the self-exclusion scheme
- You’ll come off casino marketing databases
- You’ll need to go through an ID check
- Your personal information being shared with other operators in the scheme
- Staying out of any brick-and-mortar gambling venues that you self-excluded from
- GAMSTOP. Once signed up you won’t be able to access gambling websites and apps operated by GB-licensed companies. You set the time period.
Blocking software for gambling websites
You can go further and stop seeing gambling websites completely. Look at:
BetBlocker. Free, on as many devices as you need to, blocks 15,000 sites, you set timescale.
Visit the Bet Blocker website.
Gamban. Free, blocks thousands of websites and apps, can put it on up to 15 devices.
Call the GamCare Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or use the chat function on the GamCare website.
GamBlock®. Designed to prevent underage gambling, gambling in schools and workplaces.
Further support & advice
Free, confidential support and advice, call the national gambling helpline on:
UK 0800 8020 133
NI 08000 886 725
IRL 1800 936 725
Visit the GamCare website
Visit the National Gambling Treatment Service at GambleAware
Limit the gambling content you see
Follow the links below provided by the UK Gambling Commission:
X / Twitter:
Controlling Gambling Related Content You See on Twitter
Facebook:
Controlling Gambling Related Content You See on Facebook
How to Control the Ads You See on Facebook
Updating your Facebook Ad Preferences Using the Ad Preferences Tool
YouTube:
How to Opt-Out of Seeing Gambling Related Adverts on YouTube
Block gambling payments with your bank
Many banks offer options to limit/manage/block your gambling spend. Each bank offers a different service with a similar outcome. Contact your bank for details.
Get Gambling Support: Advice & Helplines
Support ranges from advice on managing your gambling to stopping completely. Advice can be tailored to individual needs. All organisations listed provide free, confidential advice.
UK & Northern Ireland
The National Gambling Treatment Service
A network of organisations providing confidential support in England, Scotland and Wales. Telephone, online and face-to-face support offered.
Call free on 0808 8020 133 – 24/7/365
Visit: National Gambling Treatment Service website
GamCare
GamCare provides of information, advice and support for gambling harms.
Call free on 0808 8020 133
24 hours a day, every day of the year
You can also visit the following online GamCare support services:
GamCare Live Chat
GamCare Forum
GamCare Group Chat
GamCare GameChange Course
Northern Ireland National Helpline
Run by Dunlewey Substance Advice Centre.
Free, confidential counselling and mentoring for people experiencing difficulties with their own, or others’ gambling.
Call free on 08000 886 725
9am-11pm, 7 days a week
Support for Young People
GamCare offers a gambling information, advice and support for young people
Call free on 0808 8020 133 – 24/7/365
Visit the Big Deal website to find out more.
Republic of Ireland
National Helpline
Run by Dunlewey Substance Advice Centre
A free, confidential counselling and mentoring programme for people experiencing difficulties with their own, or others’ gambling.
Call free on 1800 936 725.
9am-11pm, 7 days a week
Helplink National Gambling Addiction Service
Helplink works with the Gambling Awareness Trust (Gambling Care) to provide a free gambling addiction / dependency counselling service available 7 days a week.
Call free on 0818 99 88 80
9am-9pm weekdays
12pm-6pm weekends
Gambling Care
Gambling Care is funded and administered by the Gambling Awareness Trust, an independent charity funding research, education and treatment services to help minimise gambling related harm in Ireland.
Summary
Safer Gambling Week is an important reminder about responsible gambling for the 100,000+ people working in the industry and the nearly 50%+ of UK adults who gamble each month.
A Betting and Gaming Council initiative, Safer Gambling Week reinforces that help and support is at hand for people experiencing problems – and this extends to their families and loved ones. ‘Problems’ is a large umbrella when it comes to gambling behaviours and ranges from a few simple tips to get focused and in control up to self-exclusion.
Safer Gambling Week acts as a portal of sorts for a whole range of support options and tools to improve gambling experiences for thousands of people. It’s an initiative that should be welcomed and supported by the public, regulatory bodies, the industry, health and counselling services, and the media.