All about Safer Gambling Week

All about Safer Gambling Week - Banner
Simon Wooldridge
by Simon Wooldridge Last updated:

As the gambling industry continues to evolve, so too does the need for conversations surrounding responsible participation. Safer Gambling Week is an example of a UK campaign designed to draw attention to the increasing need for protective measures within the industry. 

Held annually in November (18-24 in 2024) the initiative aims to promote responsible practices while raising awareness about safer gambling tools and resources, as well as encouraging gamblers to take a closer look at their habits.

Although the Safer Gambling Week campaign has evolved over the years and is now promoted across both brick-and-mortar shops and online platforms, it has received a mix of praise and criticism. 

In this article we’ll look at the history of Safer Gambling Week, how it is promoted, its main objectives, whether it has been successful, major criticism, key statistics, other sources of support, and the perceived pros and cons.

Section by section we will cover:

The history of Safer Gambling Week

How and why It started

Safer Gambling Week started in 2017 and was originally called Responsible Gambling Week before a 2020 rebrand.

The annual event was designed to promote conversations around the idea of safer and responsible gambling. This includes providing information about how people can approach gambling more safely by asking questions and reflecting on their behaviours. Access to tools that support safer gambling as well sources to turn to for further advice are also provided.

Campaign growth

Safer Gambling Week has enjoyed continued growth throughout the years. For example, in 2023, the campaign recorded its best social media presence to date by generating over 50 million impressions across Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Following this, Michael Dugher, CEO of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), 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”.

Promoting safer gambling

Media and key partnerships

Safer Gambling Week has been heavily promoted throughout a wide range of media channels, including television, radio, social media, and online adverts. One of its key strengths has been to develop partnerships and collaborations with other organisations to help deliver its message to a wider audience.

For example, the charity Betknowmore UK has used Safer Gambling week to launch a digital learning course providing industry employees with training to improve player protection standards and safeguarding measures. Furthermore, bookmakers have embraced the event, with the likes of Betfred and creative agency Zút partnering to launch a safer gambling campaign called “How Do You Keep It Fun?” to promote healthy habits throughout the week.

Main objectives

Raising awareness

One of Safer Gambling Week’s main objectives is to raise awareness about the risks of gambling and then provide advice on how to play safely.

Notably, a recent survey outlined how several types of gambling have seen year-on-year participation increases, with approximately 7% of the adult population considered “affected others” according to Gambleaware, demonstrating the impact of problem gambling on families.

Encouraging safer practices

Considering the above, Safer Gambling Week has sought to not only highlight the risks of gambling but also focus on encouraging safer practices. Humans have been gambling for centuries and that’s not going to change anytime soon. It sits with government agencies and regulatory bodies to pave a way, through legislation and guidance, to ensure people gamble as safely and responsibly as possible.

Industry regulators and gambling-related charities emphasise the importance of setting personal limits on both money and time spent gambling, as well as understanding that gambling should never be considered a way to earn money.

By reiterating these important points, Safer Gambling Week aims to help gamblers act now to develop habits and behaviours that reduce the potential for problems developing. Players are encouraged to consider setting deposit limits, taking regular breaks from gambling, and seeking help when they recognise signs of problematic behaviour.

Measuring success

Awareness and engagement

One of the ways Safer Gambling Week has measured its success over the years is through statistics and data gathered. For example, its impact in 2022 saw 200,000 accounts set deposit limits over 30-odd days around Safer Gambling Week This represents a 12.5% increase on the same month the previous year.

Continued growth: 70% increase in coverage over 2022

2023’s Safer Gambling Week was also viewed as a massive success by event organisers. Following its conclusion, Michael Dugher noted it had achieved “new records for promoting the safer gambling tools available to customers and signposting the help and support available to those who need it”. This claim was backed by the fact that the event’s messaging was viewed on social media platforms over 50 million times, marking a 70% increase over 2022 figures.

Major criticism and public rebuttal

Overview

Despite event organisers claiming Safer Gambling Week has been a great success, it has received plenty of criticism over the years.

In 2023, gambling policy expert Tim Cairns of social policy charity CARE suggested the campaign is “emblematic of all that is wrong with the gambling industry in the UK. This cynical stunt is less about safety and more about big gambling pretending it has a heart. It doesn’t”. Cairns went on to argue that Safer Gambling Week was a way for the industry to shift the “blame for harms associated with gambling to people experiencing addiction”.

However, this isn’t the first time Safer Gambling Week has been targeted. In 2021, a charity set up by families bereaved by gambling, Gambling with Lives, was critical of the campaign. A member of the charity, Will Prochaska, labelled the campaign a “political cringe event”, noting, “After spending £1.5 billion each year pushing people to gamble more, they spend a week telling the same people to know their spending limits”.

Rebuttal

Although criticisms of Safer Gambling Week were loud and impactful, they received a strong rebuttal from Betting and Gaming Council CEO, Brigid Simmonds. In January 2024, she suggested it “defies logic” that we have seen “so-called campaigners tripping over themselves to attack and undermine” the campaign. Simmonds then argued it “defies common sense that they should do so while demanding the industry does more to drive up standards”,

Key statistics

Problem gambling in the UK

A 2023 survey suggested 0.3% of adults in Great Britain suffer from gambling problems. Although the number would be zero in an ideal world, some industry lobbyists used the data to argue that levels of harm associated with gambling are severely limited.

However, it’s important to note the above survey was conducted via telephone and a later published update referred to “higher quality” data based on a new methodology. This report indicated that 2.5% of adults in Great Britain could be suffering from a gambling problem, which is a significant rise from the previously reported 0.3%. 

It could be argued that such wildly varying data simply confuses the issue for the regulators and the broader industry. 

Participation increases and risks

Another 2023 report indicated that 48% of adults over the age of 18 had gambled throughout the previous four weeks – though it should be noted that approximately half of these people were ‘National Lottery only’ players. 

Notably, reasons for participation throughout that time included “for the chance of winning big money”, “because gambling is fun”, “to make money”, and “because it was exciting”.

A key factor in the number of people now gambling is the increase in online platforms, which has made the industry accessible 24/7. As such, regulators are now dealing with new challenges when encouraging the safe use of these platforms. One could say that the ‘learning curve’ for regulators just keeps curving… 

Further support

UK organisations

It’s important to remember that Safer Gambling Week is just one effort to raise awareness and provide support to gamblers. Several organisations are working to achieve the same aim, including the likes of GamCare, which operates the National Gambling Helpline, and GambleAware, which provides free advice to those at risk of developing gambling problems.  

Self-exclusion

Further practical support is also available, such as self-exclusion schemes, like GAMSTOP. This allows people to block themselves from accessing gambling platforms for a specified time.

Although these tools have proven to be effective at times, a black market analysis tool recently found unlicensed companies were committing “vulnerable victimisation” by contacting self-excluded players to invite them to gamble.

UKGC initiatives

Limits and affordability

An increase in problem gambling has paved the way for the UK Gambling Commission to introduce plans for not only stake limits but also affordability checks. These require operators to assess whether a customer’s gambling behaviours align with their financial situation.

However, not surprising perhaps, this move has been met with a mixed response. Those in favour of affordability checks suggest they encourage responsible gambling by prompting people to consider their financial limits. On the contrary, those against them argue they are an invasion of privacy, unreliable, and may encourage gamblers to move to unregulated sites.

Safer Gambling Week analysis

Research suggests Safer Gambling Week has led to a positive change in public attitude towards responsible gambling. Raising awareness about the risks of gambling must be seen as a worthwhile target and statistics show the campaign has become far-reaching in that regard.

However, one of the main problems here is that Safer Gambling Week doesn’t necessarily do enough to address the root causes of gambling addiction. For example, it’s difficult to overlook that platforms taking part in the annual event spend a lot of time and money on aggressive marketing throughout the rest of the year.

Going forward, Safer Gambling Week might benefit from a greater focus on tackling larger industry issues. The likes of aggressive marketing, unregulated platforms, and engagement with those most at risk of developing gambling problems should be at the forefront of the event.

At No Wagering we are fully behind all initiatives that promote responsible gambling.