Awareness campaign sets sights on problem gambling

FOUR rival betting shops, all of them big players in the industry, co-exist on the same tiny part of Glasgow’s West Nile Street – Coral, Paddy Power, William Hill and Ladbrokes. This week, however, like thousands of others, all four are coming together for a nationwide campaign, called Gamble Aware Week.

The key message of its posters and leaflets is that punters should never bet more than they can afford to lose. All this week, a counselling service, the RCA Trust will provide support for anyone worried about his or her gambling, at confidential drop-in sessions in Glasgow and Paisley.

The campaign is the work of the Association of British Bookmakers in Scotland.

“It’s an initiative that the ABB introduced last year with the industry to promote responsible gambling,” says ABBS spokesman Donald Morrison, sitting in a conference room upstairs at the Ladbrokes shop in Union Street.

“This is the second year and we’re looking to develop it again for next year to maybe have more regional events in Scotland, to target particular areas rather than having a nationwide campaign.

“Every shop in Glasgow,” he adds. “will be carrying posters with the highimpact message, ‘Never bet more than you can afford to lose’. The Trust will come into various shops to brief the staff on the kind of behaviours to look out for, in terms of identifying problem gambling. Anyone with concerns about their gambling spend can get free one-toone advice.

“The staff have all been briefed to speak to customers [during the week] if they have any concerns about that.”

Sitting across from him is Darren Young, a regional manager at Ladbrokes. His patch is extensive: some 215 shops in an area that stretches down from Glasgow and the west coast to north Liverpool and out towards Manchester.

“We have a number of year-round processes and practices for managing responsible gambling,” he says. “Gamble Aware Week is designed to make customers more aware of what’s available to them, and what we do to assist them with managing their gambling. If nothing else, it gets customers asking, what is it about?”

Among the existing measures are a ban on advertising fixed-odds betting terminals (FoBTs) in shop windows; the ability to set time and spend limits on machines; and a nationwide selfexclusion scheme, which was initially piloted in Glasgow.

The ABBS says that such measures seem to be working, quoting the Scottish Health Survey (2014) to the effect that only 0.4% of the population are identified as problem gamblers.

“The issue of problem gambling,” says Morrison, “is relatively stable in terms of people affected by it, but obviously for us it’s a concern to have anyone who is potentially in difficulty over an addiction.

“This is part of a series of initiatives that happens year round to promote responsible gambling and provide support for those with addiction issues.

“One of the things we’re looking at doing in the west of Scotland is working with charities to work in outreach projects in schools, universities and colleges to encourage people to think about life issues such as managing your budgets, your income, and responsible gambling.”

Recent figures issued by the Gambling Commission were a reminder of how big gambling has become as a business.

British gamblers lost a record £12.6 billion last year, though this figure covers not just bookmakers but also web-based casino games. A record £1.7bn was gambled on the deeply controversial FoBTs. Considerable concern has been expressed over these touch-screen roulette machines, which have sometimes been referred to as the “crack cocaine” of the industry; a group called ‘Stop the FoBTS’ campaigns for fairer gambling.

Gamble Aware Week is however seeing the launch of new mandatory alerts for gaming-machine players on what they spend and the length of time they play for. Alerts appear on screens after a customer has spent £150 or played for 20 minutes; the previous limits were £250 and 30 minutes.

Young talks about how Ladbrokes’ Renfield Street shop manager, Lynn Morrison, who’s also present, and her

‘‘ Gamble Aware Week is designed to make customers aware of what’s available to them, and what we do to assist them

staff are trained to spot problem gambling and in how to deal with it, and also to help customers with the selfexclusion scheme, either Ladbrokes’ own or the multi-operator version.

Mr Young and Mr Morrison offer other facts and figures: Glasgow bookies employ more than 1,000 people in total; the industry contributes around £23 million to the local economy through rates and tax. In Scotland, the industry pays a levy to support horse-racing and is a key sponsor in football and racing.

Above all, insists Mr Young, a betting shop should be a fun and exciting environment.

“Having problem gamblers in your shop doesn’t benefit our business in any sense at all,” is how he puts it. “It’s not an objective – never has been, never will be – to make money from them.

“A problem gambler will lose you business more than they will make you business. Someone behaving in your shop in a manner that’s not comfortable for your colleagues is also going to be not comfortable for other customers.

“One customer spending a lot of money, out of control, on a machine – I would not want that customer spending money in my shops, because I know they will damage the business.

“Steady, recreational customers in control of their gambling – that’s what makes a sustainable business, and makes people want to come into shops.” Further information: http://www.abb. uk.com/gamble-aware-week-2016/