By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter
Hundreds of thousands of pounds are being invested in a new strategy to help almost 1,000 children and young people who have or are at risk of a gambling problem.
Figures from Nottingham City Council show a total of around 5,500 people in Nottingham have a gambling problem, including almost 1,000 children and young people aged between 11 and 16.
“For each person with a gambling problem, on average six to 10 other people such as friends, family members and colleagues are affected, and they too experience harm,” the City Council says.
The low numbers of people reaching out for support has also been attributed to “stigma associated with gambling, where guilt, shame and isolation keep the situation concealed until serious harm has occurred.”
The Nottingham Gambling Harm Strategy 2023 to 2028 was endorsed by the council’s health and wellbeing board in July, in response to the “huge scale, problem and need” for more support for gambling-related problems in the city.
The strategy includes investment in new resources, including £120,000 for gambling-related harm training and resources for professional working with children and young people and £105,000 for enhanced training and support for professionals using targeted screening to detect gambling-related harm.
A further £150,000 will be spent on a gambling recovery service and up to £42,000 on public awareness campaigns over a four year period.
Speaking previously at the council’s health and wellbeing board, chair Cllr Adele Williams (Lab) said the strategy needed to “catch people” before they reach crisis point.
She said: “We saw a map of Nottingham and the more deprived a population was, the more gambling venues there were.
“I am interested to know what appetite there is to promote support services in the industry.
“We have this strange thing where Gamble Aware is actually funded by the industry.
“It doesn’t actually encourage people to stop because that’s not what they’re about.
“You very much get the sense that people are in crisis point before they reach out – what we’re looking to do is to catch people way before that.”
