{"id":320528,"date":"2024-05-21T17:08:44","date_gmt":"2024-05-21T22:08:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=320528"},"modified":"2024-05-22T10:02:06","modified_gmt":"2024-05-22T15:02:06","slug":"uks-biggest-problem-gambling-charity-denies-kowtowing-to-betting-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uks-biggest-problem-gambling-charity-denies-kowtowing-to-betting-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"UK\u2019s Biggest Problem Gambling Charity Denies Kowtowing to Betting Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK\u2019s charity regulator has opened an investigation into the country\u2019s biggest problem gambling nonprofit, GambleAware.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"GambleAware,
Annie Ashton, whose husband committed suicide after suffering from problem gambling, is one of the signatories to a complaint that claims GambleAware is too close for comfort to the industry. (Image: The Guardian<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Charity Commission confirmed to The i<\/em> newspaper that it had begun a \u201cregulatory compliance case\u201d into the organization\u2019s methods. That\u2019s after it received a complaint claiming the organization is too aligned with the interests of its paymaster, the gambling industry.<\/p>\n

The charity is funded by the industry<\/a> in the form of voluntary donations. It received \u00a346.5 million (US$59 million) from operators in the 2022-23 financial year, according to official records.<\/p>\n

The complaint was filed by anti-gambling activists and the Good Law Society, a nonprofit group that aims to use litigation to \u201ccreate a better world.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The filing claims that GambleAware\u2019s \u201creliance on industry funding” means that “all of its activities are based on an acceptance of the industry\u2019s framing of gambling.”<\/p>\n

This reliance has led to a “complete\u00a0failure to engage with alternative analyses which are critical of industry practices,” it alleges.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Demonize Industry <\/strong><\/h2>\n

The complaint cites an example where a lesson plan created for \u201cYear 10 students\u201d (9th graders in the US) to raise awareness of gambling issues included a note to teachers that \u201cthis lesson is not to demonize the gambling industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c[Gambling operators] are promoting their trade just like any other potentially risky pastime might, fully sanctioned by law,\u201d it continued, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

One exercise in the lesson required students to comment on a conversation between two characters, \u201cGeorge\u201d and \u201cIra.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Ira says, \u201conline bingo is a great way to make money.\u201d George responds, \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t do anything like that or we\u2019ll end up losing all our money.\u201d The lesson guide described George\u2019s comments as false, explaining that \u201csome people do gamble responsibly,\u201d while Ira\u2019s claim went unchallenged.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The complaint also criticizes GambleAware\u2019s emphasis on \u201cgambling responsibly,\u201d as opposed to quitting gambling altogether.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got this \u2018responsible\u2019 model, where if things go wrong and if you do become addicted, it\u2019s somehow your fault because the messaging is out there and you should have been responsible, which is complete nonsense because an\u00a0addiction\u00a0doesn\u2019t work like that,\u201d one of the complainants, Annie Ashton, whose husband died of gambling-related suicide, told The i.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018Baseless Claim\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

GambleAware CEO Zo\u00eb Osmond described the complaint as \u201cbaseless,\u201d \u201chighly damaging,\u201d and predicated \u201con misleading and outdated information.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Osmond added that GambleAware is \u201crobustly independent\u201d and has \u201clong called for the implementation of a statutory funding system to hold the gambling industry to account.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

“The treatment and support we commission, which includes the National Gambling Support Network and National Gambling Helpline, represents one of the few lines of defense available to the millions impacted by gambling harms each year,” she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UK\u2019s charity regulator has opened an investigation into the country\u2019s biggest problem gambling nonprofit, GambleAware. The Charity Commission confirmed to The i newspaper that it had begun a \u201cregulatory compliance case\u201d into the organization\u2019s methods. That\u2019s after it received a complaint claiming the organization is too aligned with the interests of its paymaster, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":320530,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,13592,84511],"tags":[90990,90989,90991],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUK\u2019s Biggest Problem Gambling Charity Denies Kowtowing to Betting Industry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"GambleAware is funded by the gambling industry, and a complaint to the Charity Commission claims it\u2019s too close for comfort.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uks-biggest-problem-gambling-charity-denies-kowtowing-to-betting-industry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK\u2019s Biggest Problem Gambling Charity Denies Kowtowing to Betting Industry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"GambleAware is funded by the gambling industry, and a complaint to the Charity Commission claims it\u2019s too close for comfort.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uks-biggest-problem-gambling-charity-denies-kowtowing-to-betting-industry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-21T22:08:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-22T15:02:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Annie-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1192\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uks-biggest-problem-gambling-charity-denies-kowtowing-to-betting-industry\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uks-biggest-problem-gambling-charity-denies-kowtowing-to-betting-industry\/\",\"name\":\"UK\u2019s Biggest Problem Gambling Charity Denies Kowtowing to Betting Industry\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uks-biggest-problem-gambling-charity-denies-kowtowing-to-betting-industry\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uks-biggest-problem-gambling-charity-denies-kowtowing-to-betting-industry\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Annie-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-21T22:08:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-22T15:02:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"GambleAware is funded by the gambling industry, and a complaint to the Charity Commission claims it\u2019s too close for comfort.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uks-biggest-problem-gambling-charity-denies-kowtowing-to-betting-industry\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uks-biggest-problem-gambling-charity-denies-kowtowing-to-betting-industry\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/uks-biggest-problem-gambling-charity-denies-kowtowing-to-betting-industry\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Annie-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Annie-1.jpg\",\"width\":1192,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Annie Ashton, whose husband committed suicide after suffering from problem gambling, is one of the signatories to a complaint that claims GambleAware is too close for comfort to the industry. 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