UK youth workers to get gambling harm training
YGAM will provide training for the UK’s National Youth Agency (NYA).
UK.- The UK’s National Youth Agency (NYA) has announced a collaboration with the Young Gamers and Gamblers Education Trust (YGAM) to strengthen awareness of gambling-related harms across the youth work sector. As the statutory body for youth work and training in England and Wales, the NYA will integrate YGAM training into its digital programmes with the aim of equipping youth workers with practical resources to better identify and respond to risks linked to gaming and online gambling.
Youth workers will gain access to specialist training designed to build confidence in discussing digital behaviours, risk awareness and safer online habits with young people.
This collaboration comes amid growing concern about young people’s exposure to gambling mechanics such as loot boxes in video games. Data from the Gambling Commission shows that 59 per cent of young people have engaged with gambling in some form, and 30 per cent have spent their own money on it in the past year.
Research commissioned by YGAM through Mumsnet found that boys aged 15–17 spend an average of 34 hours per week gaming, with two-thirds of parents worried about potential addiction. Stakeholders have repeatedly raised concerns about the “blurred lines” between gaming and gambling, particularly chance-based features like loot boxes, which resemble gambling products and pose safeguarding challenges.
Bex Pink, National Digital Innovation Lead at NYA, said: “Young people are being exposed to new digital risks at a pace we can’t ignore, and the youth work sector urgently need the tools to respond. NYA understands those frontline pressures, and by combining our expertise with YGAM’s leading knowledge of gaming and gambling harms, we can get vital, practical training to the workforce quickly. Together, we’re helping youth workers stay ahead of emerging risks to keep young people safer in their digital lives.”
Linda Scollins Smith, YGAM’s Director of Programmes and Insight & Innovation, commented: “We are delighted to partner with the National Youth Agency. We must be alert to the emerging risks young people face, and you can’t have a conversation about their online habits and safety without addressing gaming.
“Youth workers are well placed to have conversations with young people about their online habits, so it’s essential they are equipped with the right knowledge and skills to safeguard and support them effectively. By combining our expertise with NYA’s reach and influence, we can make a real difference in empowering young people to live healthy and safe digital lives.”
France recently became the first country in Europe to launch a dedicated regulatory framework for Web3 gambling-like games. Meanwhile, other countries, including Belgium, have classified loot boxes as gambling, effectively banning them for under 18s. However, the UK has so far opted to allow self-regulation by the industry.
