GamCare reveals 4.7% increase in helpline calls

GamCare has revealed that over 44,000 calls and online chats were made across the past year, a 4.7 per cent increase on the previous year.

The UK charity’s annual report for 2022-23 added that the 44,049 calls to the National Gambling Helpline is the highest volume recorded since the service started.

A total of 9,009 people attended structured treatment sessions or Extended Brief Interventions in the year, with 38,456 treatment sessions undertaken in total.

Seven in 10 people who contacted the helpline identified as men, whereas 30 per cent identified as women, GamCare added. A further two per cent identified as transgender or other gender.

Eighty-seven per cent using treatment services were doing so for their own gambling, the report said, with 13 per cent accessing services for somebody else’s gambling.

Margot Daly, chair of trustees, said:

“In the year that GamCare reached 25 years as an organisation, it is heartening to see so much work being done to support people through gambling harms.

“We’ve taken significant steps towards putting gambling harms treatment and support on the map and encouraging more people to come forward for help.

“Looking forward, our focus remains on reducing barriers to accessing support and delivering the high-quality services that can change people’s lives.

“We look forward to building further our impact in the year ahead and continuing the important work that the third-sector delivers towards reducing gambling harms in Great Britain.”