British casinos pledged to make deductions to GambleAware

Due to a greater increase in online casino gambling, more and more visitors start gambling online. Such an easy access makes the regulators take the issue of problem gambling more seriously.

As a result, GambleAware decided to take certain steps and the charity recently announced that casino operators in the UK gave a guarantee for the first time that 0.1% of their annual gross gaming revenue would go directly to GambleAware.

This step shows that the British casino operators are aimed at promoting a safe and responsible gambling, while the proceeds will be used to finance education, as well as prevent harm and treat addiction to gambling.

National Casino Forum (NCF) decided to make such a percentage of the donation to the mandatory conditions of its membership so that each operator was involved in funding and supporting research related to gambling addiction.

Currently, most operators transfer donations to GambleAware through the NCF, donating a number of charities at least 0.1% of their gross gambling revenue.

Nevertheless, they have now implemented a completely new, transparent mechanism that pays great attention to the commitment of operators to excess voluntary annual funding for the sector.

Tracy Damestani, executive director of NCF, commented:

“This is a historic commitment of casino operators. They guarantee that the casino sector will donate 0.1% of GambleAware’s gross gambling revenue, in addition to other charitable donations. They reinforce this promise by introducing a transparent new payment system. The casino sector has always supported fundraising for research, education and treatment, and casino operators have decided to go beyond the law in support of their responsible and safe gambling. They want the programs of research, education, prevention and treatment to be fully funded by the gambling industry.”

Due to the expected growth of gambling, the chief executive officer of GambleAware Mark Etches added:

“It is imperative that all companies benefiting from commercial gambling in the UK support GambleAware in implementing the National Strategy for Responsible Gambling. This initiative of NCF members will ensure transparency in financing research, education and treatment in the casino sector and will become an important reference point for others.”

Gamble Aware is an independent charity established to minimize the harm associated with gambling, which finances the training, prevention and treatment of problem players, and studies of commissions to enhance public understanding of the harm associated with gambling. Currently, 97% of UK casinos are its members. Originally, donations were made on a voluntary basis by gambling operators, while some of them did not make these deductions.

As a result, last year the organization received 20% less deductions from the minimum, determined at 10 million pounds. In this regard, the National Casino Forum decided to introduce obligatory payment of contributions by all members of the organization.