Gambless to phase out mental health app
The developer said it was unable to continue to self-fund the app.
UK.- Gambless has announced that it will phase out its mental health and well-being app, which was designed to help people with gambling harms and addiction. The app will remain in function and will still be available to download from app stores, but it will no longer be updated.
The app was launched in 2020 and was hailed as a pioneering tool in the field. It has been used by over 20,000 people, providing the first phase of intervention for users seeking long-term help. Gambless said that it is continuing with its mission to support people with gambling addiction. Gambless users will be informed in the coming days about new developments.
Gambless CEO Maurizio Savino said: “As a self-funded project, it has become impractical to continue without external support from industry partners or regulatory bodies. When we started Gambless, we somewhat overestimated the interest of the industry in supporting a tool designed to help those dealing with gambling addiction.
“Unfortunately, we did not receive any backing from regulators, organisations, charities, or gambling operators, which has led us to this difficult decision.”
GambleAware names Sian Griffiths as chair of trustees
The gambling industry-backed grant-making body GambleAware has named Sian Griffiths as its new chair of trustees. Griffiths, who has been deputy chair for several years, will start in the role on July 18.
She replaces Baroness Kate Lampard, who has served as chair since 2016 and is leaving to oversee the Lampard Inquiry into mental health inpatient deaths in Essex.
Griffiths has previously chaired GambleAware’s performance and delivery committee and is a non-executive director for Public Health Wales and a former president of the UK Faculty of Public Health. She served as an associate non-executive member of Public Health England’s global health committee’s advisory board until it was dissolved in September 2021. She also chaired the Hong Kong government’s SARS Inquiry, going on to join the Chinese University of Hong Kong as founding director of the Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care.
