GamCare provides support, information and advice to anyone suffering through a gambling problem.

The Report shows that 2008 saw a step-change in the numbers of people obtaining help, advice and support from GamCare:

• taken together, calls to the HelpLine and NetLine were up 21% on 2007 (from 41862 to 50788)
• calls answered on the NetLine alone were up 300% (from 1407 to 4729)
• the number of counselling sessions was up by 30% on the previous year to 12,500.

GamCare’s trained advisers are now dealing every day with around 100 callers who are in trouble and looking for help and advice. More than 300 people are in treatment around the country, benefitting from our intensive individual counselling.

Chief Executive Andy McLellan said:

“Our advisers and counsellors have never been busier. We can also demonstrate the effectiveness of our work:

• At the beginning of counselling, 88% of clients were assessed as problem gamblers
• By the end of treatment this reduced to just 15%
• 94% of callers to our HelpLine rated our service as Excellent or Very Good.

“This is really good news: more people are finding out about the help we offer, contacting us and being helped. But we also know we are still only scratching the surface – the Gambling Commission’s review of research, education and treatment, published a year ago, suggested that less than 1% of people who could benefit from treatment actually take it up. There’s a lot more for us to do, and a lot more people out there that we need to help.”

2008 saw significant developments in the scope and reach of GamCare’s online services:

• Use of our NetLine service, first launched in 2007, tripled, showing the value of offering an online support service as well as the continuing importance of the telephone HelpLine
• Online Chat Room sessions doubled, and our online self-help Forum received 50% more new posts than in 2007

 

In 2008 we also took on four new counselling Partners, so that 60% of the population of Britain is now within reach of our specialist counselling.

GamCare Chairman Anthony Jennens paid tribute to GamCare staff:

“The GamCare team goes from strength to strength in meeting the needs of problem gamblers and their families and friends. Our advisers and counsellors are professional and dedicated, and we have formed very strong bonds with our counselling Partners around the country. We have already begun to expand our existing services and to use our collective knowledge, experience and expertise to contribute to education and prevention as well as treatment, and in the year to come we will do much more.”

Press contact:

Eileen Kinghan, Marketing Director, GamCare 020 7801 7003, eileen@gamcare.org.uk

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. GamCare, established in 1997, is a registered charity and the leading national authority on the provision of counselling, advice and practical help for anyone experiencing or affected by problem gambling. GamCare’s immediate, confidential one-to-one support services, available 8am to midnight, are the telephone HelpLine (365 days of the year) and online NetLine. Also online we have a Forum and Chat Room. We deliver free counselling face to face in London, in Manchester, nationally through a network of partner agencies, and online. We train our Partners in treating problem gambling and fund them to deliver support to anyone who needs it.

2. The annual GamCare Care Services Report provides statistics on the calls, callers and clients using GamCare's range of online, phone and face to face services. The full report and a summary leaflet are both available on our website at
http://www.gamcare.org.uk/publications.php/43/gamcare_care_services_report_2008

3. The Gambling Commission’s 2007 British Gambling Prevalence Survey, found:

• 68% of population (c32 million) had gambled within the past year (cf 72% 1999)

• Problem gambling was estimated at 0.5-0.6% (237-284,000 adults) (cf 0.6% 1999)

• Problem gambling in Britain at 0.6% is lower than Hong Kong (5.3%), USA (3.5%),and RSA (1.4%); higher than Norway (0.2%), Canada (0.5%) and New Zealand (0.5%); and the same as Sweden

4. Putting this in context:

• The Survey is a snapshot at a point in time – problem gambling is dynamic, with people moving in and out all the time

• Problem gambling affects partners, families and friends – if every gambler has an impact on 4 others (a conservative estimate) that means over 1.25 million people are affected

• The Survey also found that a further 1.4% of the population – over 660,000 people - were at “moderate risk” of becoming problem gamblers, and 5.1% - over 2.4 million people - displayed some risk factors.

• Current best estimates suggest that only between 0.5-1% of those in need of treatment actually embark on a treatment programme

• Compares with c327,000 problem drug users in UK (British Crime Survey)

ENDS