UK Gambling Companies donated £34.7 million in 12 months

UK Gambling Companies donated £34.7 million in 12 months

The British charity Gamble Aware, which offers prevention and treatment to people in the UK who can’t control their gambling, has released a list of the donations received over 12 months, ending on 31 March 2022. The organization has received a total of £34.7 million.

Zoë Osmond, CEO of GambleAware, said: “These donations fund essential services for the prevention of gambling harms, helping build a coalition of expertise to tackle and prevent gambling harms across Great Britain.”

A significant majority of the funds, £30.9 million, comes from the four biggest operators in the UK. Some of the bigger donations have come from Sky Betting and Gaming (£ 6.18 million), Betfair Limited (£6 million), William Hill Group (£4.58 million), Entain (£4 million), Hillside (£4.21 million), and Ladbrokes (£4.76 million). In total, the donations nearly doubled from the previous 12 months.

“We welcome the commitment from the ‘Big Four’ operators to increase their donations over the coming years, however, there remains an inconsistent approach to funding across the wider gambling industry, which leads to uncertainty and instability”, said Zoë Osmond. 

Gambling Aware claims that the approach to funding is uncertain and inconsistent and is therefore calling for a mandatory funding model for all gaming operators in the UK.   

“That’s why we are calling on the Government to introduce a mandatory levy on the gambling industry as a condition of licence. The gambling industry should take the necessary and responsible steps by matching its success to the scale of gambling harms risk, especially at a time of rising financial and economic hardship across the country. This would commit much more funding to treatment, prevention, and research per year – and could be delivered in a matter of months.” said Zoë Osmond.

More About Gamble Aware

Gamble Aware is an independent charity working in England, Wales, and Scotland. The organization produces gambling information so that players can understand and recognize the risks. 

Gambling Aware is fully independent and has a framework agreement with the Gambling Commission to reduce gambling harm following the national strategy. The charity runs on voluntary donations from the gambling companies and calls for making donations mandatory for all gambling operators.

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