Safer Gambling Week, an event designed to raise awareness for and promote harm reduction tools for problem gambling, has revealed the statistics of the event.
Running between 13–19 November, Safer Gambling Week was able to generate over 50 million social media impressions across platforms like Facebook and Instagram – a 70% increase from last year's event.
Critics may, of course, say: social media impressions alone won't change anything.
However, across the UK, the conversation regarding problem gaming and harm reduction techniques has been growing. There have been concerns raised regarding the lack of services available to women in Scotland and people in Wales, with note taken of how poverty and shame regarding addiction have made gambling addiction a particularly challenging issue to tackle.
The objective of Safer Gambling Week is to launch conversations between staff, customers and relations about gambling safety. It offers ways to begin conversations and ways for those struggling to identify their own problem gambling habits, while also shedding light on the tools available to curb problem gambling such as voluntary self-exclusion.
This method has shown itself to be effective, with 100,000 people in Sweden signed up to the country's self-exclusion register.
“This year’s Safer Gambling Week campaign has proved another huge success, achieving new records for promoting the safer gambling tools available to customers and signposting the help and support available to those who need it,” said Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) Chief Executive Michael Dugher.
“The record numbers for both impressions and website visits show that the industry has never been more committed to ensuring the many millions who enjoy a regular flutter continue to do so in a safe and responsible environment.”
