In an effort to fight against gambling-related harm, the English Gambling Education Hub (EGEH) portal officially goes live this week.
The EGEH portal is a collaborative initiative among seven organisations, led by GambleAware and powered by GamCare and Ygam.
The local partners include Aquarius, ARA, Beacon Counselling Trust, NECA and Breakeven – the programme also collaborates with the Scottish and Welsh Gambling Education Hubs.
Ygam and GamCare have previously made efforts to reduce gambling harm with their Young People’s Gambling Harm Prevention Programme, hosting a combined total of 24,000 trained professionals. The joint programme has already reached over 48,000 young individuals, with teachers playing a role in delivering this education.
GambleAware, which also has a history of promoting responsible gambling, commissioned the EGEH with a mission to enhance the capacity of sectors, including Youth Services, Family Services and Formal Education, to provide early intervention and prevention efforts to combat gambling-related harm among children and young individuals.
By establishing the EGEH network, a virtual community of professionals will work together to safeguard the younger generation.
The EGEH portal introduces the 'Gambling Education Quality Mark', which schools can apply in educating students about gambling harm prevention.
Additionally, Ygam is offering a Quality Assurance Support Package (QASP) to assist organisations in delivering training on gambling harms to children, young people and professionals working with them.
To further raise awareness, the EGEH is organising a film competition open to 11 to 25-year-olds from diverse educational settings. The winning film will be professionally developed and shown in schools across England.
Kyle Riding, Head of Programmes at Ygam, said: “This collaborative programme is not only an effective way to centralise support for those who need it, but also a great opportunity to build a network of people who all share the same goal to raise awareness and reduce the impact of gambling harms on children and young people across England.”
