GambleAware received £46.5m in donations for 2022-23 financial year

Donations were up by over a third year-on-year.

UK.- The gambling industry-backed grant-making body GambleAware has reported that it collected £46.5m in donations for the 2022/23 financial year. That’s an increase of 34 per cent compared with the amount pledged in the previous year.

Flutter, bet365, Entain and William Hill together made up 92 per cent of all contributions, pledging £42.9m in the 12 months ending March 31. They have each pledged to donate 0.1 per cent of gross gambling yield, rising to 1 per cent starting in this new financial year.

The biggest donor was again Flutter Entertainment, which pledged £18m from its brands. Paddy Power Betfair and Sky Betting and Gaming donated £8.2m, Tombola pledged £943,133 and PokerStars £650,000.

Entain was the next biggest donor, with £15.2m from Ladbrokes Coral, while Hillside’s bet356 pledged £5m in three separate amounts, William Hill £4.6m, Camelot UK Lotteries £445,000, Betfred £194,633 and Rank Group £392,464 in separate pledges from Rank Interactive, Mecca Bingo and Grosvenor Casinos. 888 donated £190,000 and BetVictor £188,772.

GambleAware chief executive Zoë Osmond said: “As the leading independent charity and strategic commissioner of gambling harm prevention and treatment across Great Britain, funding is key to ensure the effective delivery of the National Gambling Support Network and our many other programmes of work to address and prevent gambling harm.

“We welcome government plans to introduce a statutory levy as outlined in its Gambling White Paper, which will help provide stable funding. We hope that changes will be made swiftly, as any significant delay in moving to the statutory levy risks slowing down the pace at which we have been, and plan to continue, transforming prevention and treatment services as outlined in our five-year organisational strategy.”

Earlier this year, GambleAware rebranded its National Gambling Treatment Service (NGTS). The service will be renamed as the National Gambling Support Network (NGSN).

The charity has also announced that it will double funding for the service, which will add elements to its service, including a regional-first approach and a focus on early intervention and enhanced referral routes. The existing support service and provision of resources for people suffering from gambling harm will continue.