GVC sharpens CSR focus with Foundation launch

In a bid to support its ongoing corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, GVC Holdings has launched The GVC Foundation which will oversee the coordination and support of the gambling group’s objectives and donations around the world.

The new foundation will primarily focus upon responsible gambling, sports integrity and gambling regulation research, education and treatment of problem gambling, as well as supporting grassroots men’s, women and disability sport and mental health initiatives.

Commenting on the launch, Virginia McDowell, Chair of GVC’s CSR Committee said: “GVC is determined to spearhead the gambling industry’s approach to CSR initiatives, particularly with regard to responsible gambling and sports integrity-related projects. 

“The launch of The GVC Foundation is a clear sign of this commitment, consolidating GVC’s hard work in this area over the last few years.”

GVC has outlined plans for the Foundation to manage the gambling group’s £2m community fund as well as GVC’s collaborations with SportsAid, EPIC Risk Management, Gordon Moody, the US National Council on Problem Gambling and the Division on Addiction of Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital.

In addition to the launch of the Foundation, GVC has also boosted its CSR portfolio by announcing four new initiatives. The foundation has inked a new deal with Italian football club Inter Milan to support female participation in football, which will be backed by both a national media campaign as well as the release of a football-focused talent show for women.

To complement its integrity focus, the Foundation will also launch the German Sports Integrity Forum alongside German Bundesliga clubs Borussia Dortmund and FC Köln and sporting integrity platform the Play Fair Code.

It has also signed a new agreement with the umbrella organisation for the UK’s professional sportspersons, the Professional Players Federation, to help fund anti-match fixing education programmes across sports such as football, cricket, rugby union and snooker.

Finally, the GVC Foundation will also be named as a bronze donor to the Fund to Support Research on Sports Wagering, which will deliver a new stream of funding for research into public health launched in the wake of legal sports betting.

Martin Lycka, GVC’s Director of Regulatory Affairs and a Trustee of The GVC Foundation, concluded: “We are delighted to have partnered with sports clubs, gambling researchers and athletes in a number of our key jurisdictions, including Germany, the UK, Italy and the US. 

“The range of the new initiatives that we are announcing today, and the quality of the partnerships that we have entered, is a great endorsement of our overall CSR strategy, and there is plenty more to come.”