Tag: UK

Following a competitive tender, GambleAware is awarding £2.5m to GamCare, YGAM and partners, and Adferiad Recovery to expand The Gambling Education Hub Service across England and Wales as part of its commitment to help reduce gambling harms among young people
The Gambling Education Hub (The Hub) is a gambling education programme which includes toolkits, training and peer-based theatre performances, is aimed at professionals and volunteers who work with young people and families and at young people, parents and carers themselves.
The expansion follows an independent evaluation[1] of the GambleAware commissioned Scottish Gambling Education Hub (The Hub) by IFF Research, which reveals success of its early intervention and prevention methods leading to dramatic improvements in gambling harms awareness and understanding
The Hub, which is primarily for practitioners, educators and youth workers, uses early intervention and prevention methods to reduce gambling harms among children and young people, working holistically within local communities, to promote a safer environment – especially for those most at risk

GambleAware has today announced the expansion of its Gambling Education Hubs across England and Wales, following a successful pilot in Scotland. The Hubs, which help prevent gambling harms among young people through early intervention and education, resulted in 92% of practitioners from the Scottish Hub saying they felt confident in identifying the signs of gambling harm, compared to just 35% pre-training. The Hubs also resulted in more than eight in ten young people from the Scottish Hub saying they were more aware of the consequences of gambling and 84% felt confident about where to turn to for support if needed.

This investment from GambleAware comes at a critical period, with the Hubs designed to reach all communities across the nations by engaging at a local level in a way that central Government sometimes cannot. Young people are increasingly exposed to easily accessible gambling through the growth of online gaming and social media. GambleAware research published in 2020 showed that 94% of 11-17-year-olds in Great Britain had been exposed to gambling adverts in the last month, seeing six adverts on average[2]. This data directly led to recent caps and restrictions imposed on industry advertisers to further curb their appeal to children and youths.

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. GambleAware partnered with Scotland’s national youthwork organisation Fast Forward[3] to deliver the locally focused prevention programme. An independent evaluation of this project by IFF Research found that the Hub:

• improved knowledge and awareness of youth gambling harms and gambling education among practitioners, and
• reached over 15,800 young people resulting in increased awareness of the consequences of gambling and confidence in asking for support.

Building on this success, GambleAware has today announced the award of a £2.5m grant to expand the Hub Service to both England and Wales. Following a competitive tender process, the grant 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.

We are looking forward to building on the successes of our work with young people, their parents and professionals in a new programme aimed at increasing visibility of both local and national education and support, and to working with GambleAware and our partners towards our shared aspiration of reducing gambling-related harms for young people.”

Leon Marsh, Director of Hospital & Residential Services at Adferiad Recovery said: “We look forward to working with GambleAware on this great initiative to help reduce gambling-related harm caused to young people and to provide comprehensive training, education and resources to key stakeholders to reduce the risks associated with gambling addiction. 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. Our extensive knowledge and experience in young people services puts us in a good position to be able to effectively deliver this project in Wales, and we are excited to be able to offer young people this valuable service.”

GamCare, together with YGAM and other partners, brings over nine years’ experience delivering services for thousands of young people, including relevant skills, local knowledge, and stakeholder networks. Meanwhile, Adferiad Recovery is an industry leader in the fields of addiction, mental health, and young people’s services. Each organisation is best placed to carry out the expansion of the Hub Service in their own region. The new Hubs will also reflect differences in curriculums, languages, regions, need and demand, and political and other contexts, specific to each nation.

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. We hope to see the positive short-term impacts from the Scottish Education Hub’s activities replicated in our newly commissioned English and Welsh Education Hubs, and we are excited to have awarded this grant to these two highly experienced organisations.

“As the lead commissioner working to prevent gambling harms, GambleAware is committed to working with local organisations and stakeholders to fund and establish tailored, best-practice prevention programmes. 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.”

The Hubs across all nations will incorporate input from people with lived experience of gambling harms in the development of training content, service delivery, and any supporting tools or resources. GambleAware expects that equality, diversity and inclusion policy and procedures to be at the heart of the service design, provision, and day to day operations.

Innovative Technology have announced that Andy Bassam, one of their established customer support personnel based at their UK had office, is celebrating 10 years’ service with the company this month.  Following a series of promotions over the years, Andy now holds the position of VP of Customer Support.

Innovative Technology is an international cash handling and biometrics solutions provider for several industries including gaming, amusement, kiosk and retail.

Commenting on this long-standing commitment Andy said, “When I first joined ITL, I started as a Senior Support Engineer and was responsible for providing technical support for our retail and kiosk customers. In December 2012, after a short period of six months, I was then promoted to Customer Support Manager and four years later, I was delighted to accept the position of VP of Customer Support.”

Tony Morrison, Group Sales Director for ITL said, “Andy has been in the cash handling industry for over 20 years and his technical expertise and overall industry knowledge is exceptional.  He is responsible for our group support and service divisions, supervising two Support Managers and a team of over 30 staff from around the world, including China, Thailand, Europe, and the UK. He is valued by his team and is an integral part of the business.”

Concluding Andy said, “I get to travel a lot, it’s one of my favourite parts of the job, meeting clients and interacting with customers at trade shows. Collaborating with our Sales Managers to drive new business and product introductions is also a key part of my role that I enjoy. ITL is a fantastic place to work, we are continually bringing new innovations to market to ensure organisations have the best cash handling products – I look forward to seeing how we continue to grow and develop over the coming years.”

Low6, a leader in sports mobile gamification technology, has announced the renewal of its partnership with leading motorcycle race series, Bennetts British Superbike Championship (BSB), which begins its 2022 season with Round 1 at Silverstone in Northamptonshire, UK, from April 15 – 17, 2022. The partnership is activated through the Free-To-Play (FTP) mobile game, BSB Superpicks, which, in 2022, will feature four contests per round of the 2022 BSB Championship. The first contest is open to fans for the Superpicks 12 at Silverstone, entries can be made now.

BSB Superpicks sees players competing against each other to make as many correct qualifying and race predictions as possible throughout the BSB season. Among the venues featured on the BSB 2022 calendar are Donington Park, Oulton Park, Thruxton and many more legendary UK circuits.

After the season-opening races at Silverstone, a further 10 legs of the Championship then take place through till October, with the season concluding at Brands Hatch. Cash prizes are up for grabs in BSB Superpicks throughout the season, starting with a £700 prize pool on offer for the three days of action at Silverstone in April.

The full breakdown of Silverstone’s contests prize pool is as follows:

• Friday Superpicks 12 £100
• Saturday Qualifying £100
• Saturday (Race 1) £250
• Sunday (Races 2 & 3) £250

Low6 are also offering hospitality for two on Sunday April 17 at Silverstone to one early entry into the first contest of the season. To be in with a chance to win, users need to make their Silverstone Friday Superpicks 12 selections by the time of the first practice event to be in with a chance of winning. The winner will be randomly drawn and contacted on Friday April 15.

Jamie Mitchell, CEO and Co-Founder of Low6 commented: “Low6 is excited to be back for our third season with the British Superbike Championship. Last year, we saw both high quality racing and record numbers taking part in the BSB Superpicks game via the app. This year we’ll be offering four contests every race weekend and each contest is now completely free to play. It will give the fans the ultimate test in pitching their skills against other BSB fans in what will no doubt be another thrilling season ahead.”

Stuart Higgs, Bennetts British Superbike Championship Series Director, said: “I am delighted that we have extended our partnership with Low6 ahead of next weekend’s much-anticipated season opener at Silverstone.

“BSB SUPERPICKS really gives our supports the chance to get involved throughout every stage of a race weekend, from the build up to Friday’s free practice sessions through to the chequered flag after the final Superbike race. We have an extremely knowledgeable and passionate fan base and they now too can have the opportunity to experience that winning feeling!”

Peter Hannibal, Chief Executive of the strategic body the Gambling Business Group, has described ICE, which takes place next week at ExCeL London (12^th/13^th/14^th April), as being an ‘unbeliveable source of inspiration and an unparalleled shop window for the international gambling industry.‘

Hannibal, who will be attending his 40^th edition of ICE and its predecessor ATEI, explained: “The gambling industry is one of the fastest adopters of new technology and ICE is the event at which innovators unashamedly choose to launch their newest and most progressive products and services safe in the knowledge that they will be able to engage with a truly international audience of gambling industry buyers. As a consequence I think it’s fair to say that the majority of great gambling innovations have been seen if not launched at ICE London.”

However, the importance of ICE goes beyond just the launch of innovative new gambling products and services: “From my first show back in the early 1980’s ATEI, as it was then, was the place where the industry met, networked and educated themselves as to what else was going on” stated Peter Hannibal. “Much of the discussions surrounded pending legislation changes and I’m certain that will be the case next week when there is sure to be intense speculation on the forthcoming UK Government Whitepaper on gambling reform.”

“Initiatives such as The Consumer Protection Zone, that Clarion introduced to the ICE show floor in 2018, are great examples of how the industry is working in partnership with safer gambling and treatment charities – a progressive partnership which helps explain why problem gambling rates in the UK as calculated by the Gambling Commission sit at their record low of 0.3%. This industry is at its best when it is able to meet face-to-face and discuss products, consumers, trends and the future direction of travel for gambling. I believe the bounce-back for the land-based gambling sector begins at ICE London.”