Key points:
- BetBlocker now offers its gambling harm prevention software in three additional languages: Ukrainian, Polish and Russian
- The project, funded by GambleAware, aims to improve accessibility for underserved communities in the UK
- Yellow Scarf highlighted the need for language-specific resources to support Eastern European populations
BetBlocker has partnered with Yellow Scarf to expand its service to Ukrainian, Polish and Russian-speaking communities in the UK.
The initiative, supported by funding from GambleAware, seeks to address the language barriers that often prevent vulnerable individuals from accessing gambling harm prevention tools.
The new language offerings aim to better serve Eastern European populations, who make up a significant portion of the UK’s immigrant communities.
Yellow Scarf, a charity focused on providing support to Eastern European groups, identified a critical need for services in native languages, citing that over 25% of individuals in these communities struggle with English in unfamiliar or high-stress situations.
Duncan Garvie, BetBlocker’s Founder and Trustee, said: “A significant priority for BetBlocker is expanding the languages that we can support. As a tech solution to a complex problem, ensuring that users have as smooth and easy a set-up process as possible is paramount to our success in minimising gambling harms. If a user can’t get our app set-up, we’ve failed.
Yellow Scarf’s Head of Development, Tomasz Jarecki, added: "It is a great honour for us to support BetBlocker in making their project more accessible and reaching wider communities – translation into a national language ensures that the more vulnerable people will be able to receive support that would otherwise miss them.”
This effort builds on BetBlocker’s previous multilingual expansions, including the launch of its Portuguese-language software in September 2024, aimed at reaching the global Portuguese-speaking population.
Earlier in 2024, BetBlocker also partnered with organisations like Casino.Guru and received support from Aristocrat to enhance its gambling harm prevention efforts.
