GambleAware was pleased with the level of donations it received in the 12 months ending 31st March 2018. According to an open letter written by the GambleAware CEO Marc Etches addressing the gambling industry, record levels of donations were received during the 2017/18 year totalling £9.4m ($13.5m).
The UK-based charity had set its minimum target for fund raising at £10m ($14.3m). However, the sum raised represented a 16% increase from the previous year’s donations, an outlook which seemed unreachable in October 2017.
Etches explained the reasoning behind the letter stating: “Last October we made very public our concerns regarding the industry’s funding of GambleAware. Six months later, it is only fair that, just as publicly, we acknowledge and thank all those in the industry who have helped us to achieve a record-breaking £9.4 million in voluntary donations.”
The last public letter released by the charity in October 2017 expressed fear that donations were far from reaching their 2018 target. Having fallen 20% short in 2017 GambleAware outlined that they were 60% short for their 2018 target despite being 7 months into the year. Donations were so low that even the UK Gambling Commission was informed.
The £9.4m of donations represents a complete turnaround for GambleAware and concerted effort by the UK gambling industry to help the now estimated 430,000 problem gamblers.
GambleAware also detailed the charity's new donation system that will ask ‘all companies to ‘self-certify’ the proportion of gross gambling yield (GGY) their donations to GambleAware represents’. These figures will then be published alongside details of the donations received on their website.
Etches added: “Only by all operators contributing a minimum of 0.1% of GGY can we ensure the charity has certainty that it can meet its financial obligations to those organisations it has commissioned, as well as commit confidently to future investment.”
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