Safer Gambling Week a success says BGC

Safer Gambling Week, which took place between October 17 and October 23 this week, was a success, the Betting and Gaming Council said. The trade body for the gambling industry said that Safer Gambling Week during the period was displayed 25 million times across a number of social media channels.

BGC has been a staunch supported of the initiative, welcoming the opportunity to make the product known to consumers across the United Kingdom, which was the focus of the event. The present increase in messaging was a 21% increase from a year before, the trade body confirmed.

The BGC also reported a positive upward trend in terms of traffic to the official Safer Gambling Week website, which featured educational materials on what the event is about and responsible gambling in general.

The event was similarly backed by a number of prominent lawmakers, including the Shadow Gambling Minister Alex Davies Jones, the statement by the organization read. There were also a number of prominent figures from sport, such as Harry Redknapp and John Hartson, who joined the overall push to raise awareness for the event and reach consumers.

Safer Gambling Week as an event is built with the idea to spark a conversation on a national level that family, friends, and customers can take up. It’s a conversation about responsible gambling and the available tools that people can use to ensure that they are safe and play responsibly.

Businesses and stakeholders have all joined and displayed Safer Gambling Week advertisement on their official media channels, websites, and other communication channels.

The BGC said that efforts to limit problem gambling in the country and tackle the problem have already been paying off. Compared to a year ago, the rate of problem gamblers in the adult population in the United Kingdom was down – to 0.2% presently, from 0.4% previously.

BGC chief executive Michael Dugher also joined the conversation and said that Safer Gambling Week has also demonstrated that tools and solutions such as "time-outs" and deposit limits do work and that they are part of the regulated gambling industry effort.

Dugher added that some 22.5 million people in the United Kingdom are gambling every month and that 4.5 million of them are already using some form of a responsible gambling tool. Meanwhile, the industry has been determined to do its bit and ensure that consumers are protected.

Kindred Group reported that it remains committed to tackle the revenue that the company generates from harmful gambling sources and renewed its partnership with EPIC Risk Management for a period of three years to pursue this goal.

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