Safer Gambling Week has just passed and, while some people might not have heard of it, for others it will have been the lifeline that they needed.
What is Safer Gambling Week?
Founded in 2017, Safer Gambling Week is a cross-industry initiative in the UK that seeks to help problem gamblers get the support and advice that they need. The event also provides education for young people, their parents, teachers and social care workers around the dangers of developing a problem with gambling in the hopes that they will be able to recognise the signs in future. In addition to this, Safer Gambling Week hosts a series of webinars that discuss new ways that bookmakers and casinos can protect gamblers and train their staff to notice the signs of problem gambling. The event was created by big names in the industry, like the Gamble Aware charity and the UK Gambling Commission.
How Does Safer Gambling Week Help?
Safer Gambling Week employs a number of tools to help achieve its goals. Throughout the duration of the event, gambling firms that have agreed to take part in the initiative drastically increase signage and advertising that promotes responsible gambling and getting help when you need it, both in-store, on their websites and on their social media. Safer Gambling Week also helps to increase the capacity of existing gambling support hotlines to handle the increased number of calls. Safer Gambling Week has been such a success that the charities that usually offer support find themselves overwhelmed, so providing extra support to increase the capacity that gambling support hotlines can handle is vital.
What Did Safer Gambling Week Look Like This Year?
This year Safer Gambling Week has been hailed as the biggest success to date with a huge increase in engagement surrounding the event, compared to the previous year’s figures. The social media campaign generated 25 million social media impressions, which represents a 19% increase from the same week in 2020. Safer Gambling Week itself also saw an increase, with an impressive 75% spike compared to the previous year, reaching a whopping 1.4 million impressions. In addition to this, in the last year, the percentage of the population identified as problem gamblers dropped from 0.6% to 0.3%. The number of people classified as at a “moderate risk” of gambling-related harm dropped from 1.2% to 0.7% of the population.
With this huge spike in interest and engagement with Safer Gambling Week, a lot of people are wondering what the next 12 months is likely to have in store for the industry.
Gambling has become an increasingly contentious topic over the past year, with mass protests calling attention to the industry’s issues. While gambling programmes advertising before 9 pm has been banned for decades, a loophole allowing bookmakers to sponsor a team’s uniforms has led to indirect advertising during football matches.
How Can Gamblers Stay Safe?
Any reputable online casino will have steps in place to ensure that the wellbeing of their players is paid attention to. For example, many will have a team that will monitor the pattern in which players participate in gambling to ensure that they are betting responsibly. However, users do need to take some responsibility for their own wellbeing too – so for example, signing up to services like GamStop if they find that their gambling is becoming an issue.
For those that do want to place bets online, making sure they use a reputable casino is a must. This helps to make sure that they are only sharing their personal details with companies that it is safe to do so. Not only that, but it gives peace of mind that prizes are given fairly and that there are no claims of jackpots being made that are unobtainable. Sites like TopRatedCasinos look to protect gamblers in a number of different ways, from highlighting blacklisted operators to providing gambling help and advice online
The Future of Gambling
A lot of industry leaders believe it’s only a matter of time until teams will no longer be allowed to have official gambling partners. Some teams have already taken it upon themselves to remove gambling companies from their shirts, with big names like Arsenal, Aston Villa and Chelsea just a few that have ditched the industry.
The government is expected to publish a white paper this winter that will outline much stricter gambling regulations in what is being referred to as “the gambling reform”. The government has already rolled out a tighter limit on individual bets in Fixed Odds Terminals and introduced a ban on using credit cards for gambling. The white paper is expected to introduce a ban on front-of-shirt logos for gambling companies. A wider ban on advertising in sport, including pitch side hoardings and TV adverts, is also being given consideration but isn’t likely to be put into place at this stage.
After decades of having a flutter being a Great British pastime, it takes time to make a change – both in attitudes and legislation. It takes around 2 years for what’s published in white papers to go through parliament and get put into law. What’s clear, however, is that even without legal backup Safer Gambling Week, Gamble Aware and the UK Gambling Commission are making a difference. The rate of problem gambling in the UK is decreasing, and with big changes coming in the next 1-3 years, it’s clear that this is just the beginning.
While we can’t say for certain what the future of online gambling will look like, it is likely that safe gambling and ensuring that casinos operate responsibly is a theme that will continue. Safer Gambling Week has had some great success rates in the past and as such, the annual event is one that is set to continue – highlighting every year the possible dangers surrounding gambling and helping to ensure that those who do choose to participate in gambling do so within a safe environment. This will help the gambling industry to grow and continue to be successful, as people won’t be put off by the industry being potentially damaging.