Safer Gambling Week is a cross-country initiative to promote safer gambling in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
This year's Safer Gambling Week runs November 18 until 24, and will see once again the whole industry coming together in a combined effort to further promote and raise awareness of safer gambling, feature the tools available for customers to stay in control, and provide advice and support for those who need it.
The "Safer Gambling Week" campaign is organized by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), BACTA, the Lotteries Council and the Bingo Association. Now on its seventh year, this year's event will see once again a bunch of safer gambling messages both online and in land-based venues, to spark a nationwide conversation about betting responsibly.
In last year's successful campaign held in November, analysis revealed that the number of deposit limits set during SG Week increased by a massive 18% compared to the same month in 2022.
Around 54% of players who set deposit limits, did so for the very first time.
The number of players actively using reality checks - on-screen notifications that track who long they are playing - has risen by an astonishing 300%, for the second year in a row.
The use of maximum stake limits has also increased by more than 300% during SG Week 2023.
Deposit limits were set by 83,242 unique account holders - an increase of 12.5% compared to the year previous.
Safer Gambling Week 2023 also broke previous social media records, generating over 50 million impressions on Facebook, X (Twitter) and Instagram.
Data released following last year's successful campaign - which ran from November 13 to 19 - revealed a huge 70% increase on 2022, when Safer Gambling Week messaging was displayed on
major social media sites nearly 30 million times.
Last year, the event was supported by well-known football clubs including Premier League sides West Ham United and Brighton as well as EFL sides Southampton, Middlesborough and Blackpool, with the latter displaying the Safer Gambling Week logo on their shirt for their League One clash with Shrewsbury Town.
The initiative was backed by a large number of cross-party senior MPs and peers - including gambling minister Stuart Andrew and several shadow ministers including the Shadow Gambling Minister Stephanie Peacock - who gave vocal support to the ground-breaking campaign.
All year round, regulated gaming and betting operators (including bookmakers, amusement arcades, bingo clubs, casinos and online gaming operators) already work tirelessly to promote safer gambling by encouraging time-outs and deposit limits, as well as guiding customers to a range of self-exclusion options that exist.
Safer Gambling Week gives the opportunity to go even further by encouraging organizations and businesses to initiate a conversation, not only with customers and staff, but also with their family and friends. The annual campaign offers a consistent voice to raise safer gambling awareness, highlighting support and the tools available to help people stay in control of their gambling throughout the year.
BGC CEO and Acting Chair Michael Dugher said:
"These new figures show Safer Gambling Week continues to be a powerful advert for increasing use of safer gambling tools in the regulated industry.
Millions of customers now use safer gambling tools including deposit limits and time outs. This is a pillar of the regulated industry and is in marked contrast to the unsafe, unregulated and growing online gambling black market, which provides no safer gambling support, contributes zero tax and does not support sport.
Our members promote these tools all year round, but a single dedicated week, bringing together the whole sector alongside huge support from cross-party MPs, from the Government and the independent regulator the Gambling Commission, really turbocharges that work - and these figures show it makes a real difference.
The record numbers for both impressions and use of safer gambling tools show the industry has never been more committed to ensuring the many millions who enjoy a regular flutter continue to do so in a safe and responsible environment."
The tools to promote safer gambling do not exist in the growing unsafe, unregulated gambling black market. In recent years, the number of people betting on these sites has doubled and the amounts staked is in the billions.
An estimate 22.5 million UK adults enjoy placing a bet each month, whether it's purchasing a lottery ticket, having a bingo game, visiting a casino, playing online or wagering on horseracing, football and other sports.
For more information on Safer Gambling Week, visit their official website safergamblinguk.org.
Source:
https://bettingandgamingcouncil.com/news/sgweek-prompts-huge-rise-sgtools
https://safergamblinguk.org/
