GambleAware commissioned a consortium of IFF Research, the University of Bristol and GamCare’s Women’s Programme to build knowledge about why women in Britain take part in different types of gambling, the effect this has on them and their lives, and their experience of support and treatment services.
Phase 2 explored the views of women in Great Britain experiencing gambling and gambling harms using a combination of individual depth interviews and a five-day long online community, building on the literature and insights collected as part of Phase 1.
This short paper recaps the campaign background, rationale and execution for the National Gambling Treatment Service campaign launched by GambleAware on the 22nd March 2022. This paper will also introduce the campaign evaluation approach and some of the key findings from the evaluation.
The Patterns of Play report was carried out by researchers from the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) and the University of Liverpool and commissioned by GambleAware to better understand online gambling behaviour in Great Britain.
"No one ever talks about losses. So, it's really hard to even know if someone's got a problem or not, because if you haven’t won for a while – you just won’t say anything...Hearing other people’s stories that are similar to mine kind of makes you think ‘Wait a minute’… you realise you’re not a million miles away from it."
"I try and set myself limits to keep it under control. You can sit there and say you’re in control – but sometimes you’re not. Having a spend calculator is really helpful….it visually shows how much you’re spending. You can’t ignore it."
"I never thought I had a problem. I didn't want to be seen like a gambler and addict. But they're all the things that I was...I think now knowing that I can pick up the phone to someone, or I could reach out to someone and get help straight away…it might have been easier."
"At first I wouldn’t say anything because actually... it's not really my place to say, it's not my money. Then I thought I could help him, but I realise now that's not the case and I should have looked after myself first… I still sometimes have to remember to do that."
"I never talked about anything. I wish I had, just saying stuff out loud makes such a difference… I went to group meetings and the more I spoke about my story, the more open I was. And the more I was getting asked questions and getting more involved. It was that that helped me in my recovery."