National Gambling Helpline team

The National Gambling Helpline is operated by the charity GamCare, a free helpline service that runs 24/7, 365 days a year. The team of 48 advisors have dealt with record demand from those experiencing harm from gambling this year, whether their own gambling or someone else’s, including a 23% year on year increase in contacts over March 2023.

Despite the extra demands placed on it, advisors have continued to support callers without any major change in staff counts, dealing with challenging calls, safeguarding issues and more. The team has helped deliver a 10% annual increase in extended brief interventions annually and a 6.5% annual increase of referrals into structured treatment. Additionally, the team underwent significant changes in how it delivers services. It added Whatsapp and Facebook as new contact channels to increase choice for users. GamCare also launched its new Money Guidance Service across the UK – providing financial guidance for those impacted by gambling – which required upskilling from the helpline team to triage calls accordingly. The helpline was awarded renewed funding this year to continue supporting people and has been recognised by stakeholders in the gambling harm space for the role it has played in protecting people.