Big shoes to fill: what happens after GambleAware?
For more than a decade, GambleAware (formerly BeGambleAware) has sat at the heart of the UK’s approach to gambling harm reduction. But all this is set to change by April 2026. The charity will formally shut its doors with a new statutory levy system replacing it.
Baroness Twycross, Minster for Gambling, views this as a big step forward: “The new levy system will build on the successes of the current system to improve and expand efforts to further understand, tackle and treat harmful gambling.”
How the levy is expected to work
The levy is expected to raise around £90 to £100 million per year, collected from UK gambling operators’ gross profits. The rates vary depending on the category that an operator is in, but are roughly as follows:
- 1.1% for online casinos and sportsbooks
- 0.5% for most land-based operators
- 0.2% for bingo and arcade halls
- 0.1% for lotteries
The funding will be divided up and allocated, broadly to three key areas as listed below:
- 50% on treatment
- 30% on prevention
- 20% on research
A charity that met its goal
GambleAware launched in 2012 and has advocated for gambling harm to be treated as a public health issue since then. Now? That vision is becoming a reality. You could argue they’re closing for the best possible reason, because they succeeded; they met their objectives.
To see government funded organisations taking over GambleAware’s work is bitter sweet. These incoming organisations will be properly and consistently funded, but, personnel-wise, they might not initially have the same level of expertise as GambleAware accumulated over its 13 years.
GambleAware’s lasting impact
GambleAware has supported tens of thousands of people, alongside its third-sector partners and the voluntary work of people with lived experience.
It coordinated the NGSN (National Gambling Support Network), a coalition of more than a dozen third sector partners (like GamCare, and the Beacon Counselling Trust). This coalition helped thousands across the UK get access to free, confidential treatment and advice.
GambleAware's self-assessment tool reached over 100,000 users in its first year alone.
Concerns around the statutory levy
On the whole, the levy has huge support. However, there is a risk that the new levy may not be as effective as GambleAware’s work. A spokesperson for the Betting and Gaming Council stated that the introduction of the levy ‘must not mean handing control to a narrow group of anti-gambling campaigners… driven by ideology rather than evidence’.
Shake-ups like this one can have teething problems. Initially money can get tied up in ‘start-up’ costs, admin and bureaucracy. With GambleAware being demonstrably excellent at what they did, there’s a worry a new system could lose momentum or dilute expertise.
A new structure
Structure and process-wise it’s very clear as to how the new levy will be used, but it’s distinctly different from the way that GambleAware has operated. The charity had a single leadership structure, the new structure involves multiple different commissioners, which brings with it potential for stalls.
Will a government led system continue to prioritise lived experience voices? Could a more fragmented structure slow down decision making?
What next?
The move to a statutory levy is a step forward. It guarantees funding and makes gambling harm a formal, public health concern. The hope is that the government can take that funding and deliver services as effectively, or even more effectively than GambleAware has done.