The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has approved funding for a new regional public health programme to reduce gambling harms in Yorkshire and the Humber.
The three-year programme will be led by Public Health directors in Yorkshire and the Humber and is supported by an £800,000 regulatory settlement approved by UKGC. The programme will focus on education and prevention and provide access to support and treatment for individuals and their families experiencing problem gambling. It will improve identification of problem gambling through training in workplaces, direct gamblers to self-management and support, protect high risk and vulnerable groups from gambling-related harm, and work with individuals and communities to raise awareness and reduce stigma.
“We welcome this ambitious project across Yorkshire and Humber. A well-planned, cohesive public health approach to tackling gambling harms is exactly what the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms was designed to stimulate. We are pleased to be able to approve the funding, which was agreed through regulatory settlements, as part of the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms,” Tim Miller, Executive Director of UKGC, said.
Greg Fell, Chair of the Yorkshire & Humber harmful gambling working group, said: “We aim to deliver a gold standard programme that can be replicated across the UK. We are in the unique position of having a diverse population across city, town, rural and coastal environments, which offers the potential for an effective activity blueprint that could be used by other regions.
“We know high deprivation areas and low income workers are disproportionately negatively affected by gambling, so this will be our focus.”
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