Wirral has seen a new service introduced, which is set to help local betting shop staff and volunteers more easily recognise the signs of problem gambling and gambling-related harm.
The Gambling Support Service was officially rolled out by Citizens Advice Wirral as part of the latter’s efforts to take a “public health approach” to the matter. Frontline employees of a number of gambling operators will be taught by a special trainer how to easily identify whether a customer is at risk of gambling-related harm. Betting shop staff will also be trained to provide such gamblers with adequate support and help them deal with the effects which are associated with problem gambling.
As part of the training, frontline employees will learn who are the customers considered to be at risk, how gambling has changed over the past few years and how to easily spot indications of gambling-related harm.
The Gambling Support Service is set to be delivered to staff members of councils, job centres, housing associations, as well as the ones engaged with voluntary sector organisations in order for them to be able to help people get the support they need to deal with the problem. As reminded by Carol Johnson-Eyre, Chief Officer of Citizens Advice Wirral, gambling addiction could have a devastating effect on gamblers’ lives, leading to various issues, including financial problems, relationship breakdowns, mental health problems, etc.
The Gambling Support Service project has been introduced as one of the ten services aimed at helping problem gamblers in the UK which are being funded by a partnership with GambleAware.
Wirral Among the UK Areas Most Affected by Gambling-Related Harm
Last summer, it became clear that Wirral was one of the regions with the highest gambling engagement and spending rates in the UK. According to a report which was released in August 2018, local gamblers have spent about £13 million on betting with bookmakers in one year only.
The report issued from the Director of Public Health in Wirral revealed that the overall amount spent by local residents in the 2016/17 year, was worth £12.9 million. The information unveiled in the report, the spending trend have had a serious impact on the most disadvantaged parts of the metropolitan borough. In addition, there appeared to be a large number of retail betting outlets, each of which offered up to four fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs).
A survey carried out last summer showed that all but three betting shops in Wirral offered the maximum number of FOBTs allowed. At the time, it was Birkenhead which reportedly had the largest number of gambling machines in Wirral.
At the time when the report revelations were published, the Director of Public Health in Wirral had called the regulatory authorities to consider possible stricter regulation on the gambling sector in order to tackle gambling-related harm in the region.
- Author
Daniel Williams
