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GambleAware will provide 22 community organisations/projects with an additional £1.24m in funding across the UK to improve provisions against gambling harms.
The donation forms of GambleAware’s ‘Community Resilience Fund’ launched in 2022 to help local/community partners overcome the cost-of-living crisis and to limit its impact on problem gambling.
The fund was launched by the research, education and treatment (RET) charity in response to concerns over health and fundraising inequalities within the UK’s most disadvantaged communities.
Of significance, the fund helps GambleAware maintain its ‘targeted response’ to tackling gambling harms as “research indicates that people in more deprived areas are three times more likely to experience gambling harms compared to those in the least deprived communities”.
Enhancing community support, GambleAware invited partners/organisers to submit their applications for grants of up to £100,000.
As such, 22 projects addressing inequalities within UK communities have been chosen to receive funding, via a rigorous selection process involving a panel of independent experts and the guidance of GambleAware’s lived experience panel.
Anna Hargrave, Chief Commissioning Officer, GambleAware, said: “We already know that the cost-of-living crisis may lead to a rise in the number of people experiencing gambling harms. We are dedicated to enhancing the support we offer in addressing these issues.
“The fund also presents a valuable opportunity to engage with communities across the country and tackle the stigma associated with speaking openly about the effect these harms can have.”
Community funding recipients include Refugee Access; Wigan Warriors Community Foundation; Hull FC Rugby Community Sports and Education Foundation; Azad Kashmir Welfare Association; Yellow Scarf CIO; Reframe Coaching CIC; Solihull Moors Foundation; Alabare Christian Care & Support; Blackburn Foodbank; Age UK Westminster; Shama Women’s Centre; Al Hurraya; Prison Radio Association; Simon Community Scotland; Derbyshire Alcohol Advice Service; The Cedarwood Trust; Coram’s Field; IMO Charity; Just B (St Michael’s Hospice); Big Issue Foundation; Mind Suffolk; and Epic Restart Foundation.
The Community Resilience Fund will be evaluated throughout the funding period, with the final evaluation report expected in April 2024.
IPSOS and NPC were recently appointed as the evaluation and learning partners to support the projects with their monitoring and learning goals, as well as provide an overall report on the delivery of the portfolio.
