Gambling with Lives Launches Youth Gambling Harm Education Programme
🧠 What’s New?
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Charity: Gambling with Lives
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Initiative: New gambling harm education programme for schools
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Target group: Young people (secondary school age)
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Pilot areas: Essex, Manchester, and Northern Ireland, with plans to expand UK-wide
🎯 Programme Goals
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Provide unbiased, evidence-based education on:
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Addictive nature of gambling products
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Predatory marketing strategies
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Odds and risk of gambling
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Modelled on successful awareness campaigns for alcohol, drugs, and tobacco
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Created by teachers, academics, filmmakers, gambling harm experts, and those with lived experience
📢 What They’re Saying
🚨 Why It Matters
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Problem gambling rate in the UK (2021): 0.4% among adults
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Estimated gambling-related suicides: 250–650 per year
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Current gambling education is seen as insufficient, often lacking focus on product design and addiction mechanics
⚖️ Policy Context
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Comes as the UK government continues its review of the 2005 Gambling Act
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Proposed changes include:
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Online stake limits
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Stricter ad regulations
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Possible ban on gambling sponsorship in sports
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🧾 Summary
This programme marks a groundbreaking shift in gambling education by directly addressing product addiction and industry practices — a clear contrast to earlier awareness efforts often seen as too vague or industry-influenced. While it aims to empower students, the charity also continues to push for tighter regulation across the UK gambling sector.
