GambleAware allocates £300,000 to explore problem gambling among minorities
Charity ups research funding for project by £50,000, with final report into the findings published in 2023
GambleAware has awarded a grant of £300,000 to two consortia in order to improve the research and knowledge of the experiences of minority communities in relation to gambling and gambling-related harms.
One part of the research will be led by Ipsos MORI and supported by researchers at the University of Manchester, while the other half will be spearheaded by ClearView Research.
Both will collaborate over 18 months, harnessing their understanding of the research which aims to explore the factors that contribute towards gambling harms among marginalised and socially excluded communities.
The importance of the grant is highlighted by the fact that the original amount on offer was for £250,000 but has since been upped by £50,000.
“We are very pleased to award this grant to these two consortia who together bring considerable expertise focussing on people’s nuanced lived realities,” Dr Jay St. John Levy, research lead at GambleAware, said.
“This will help explore why these communities experience a greater burden of harm, and how to break down the barriers preventing them from accessing services,” he added.
The main objective of the research is to explore minority communities’ lived experience of gambling, gambling harms and gambling advice and information, support, and treatment services.
St. John Levy further stated: “The experiences of minority communities around gambling are at present under-researched in Great Britain, yet evidence suggests that these groups are more likely to experience harm from gambling, and less likely to access gambling treatment services, compared with white communities.”
The research will also look for the driving forces responsible for gambling harms among minorities in the UK. The research further seeks to identify the required services, interventions and policies to reduce and prevent gambling harms among minorities.
St. John Levy said: “This research will better ensure that GambleAware and others can commission a broad range of treatment and support services that work for minority ethnic, language, and religious communities. It is therefore an important step towards reducing the current inequalities in gambling harms.”
The final research will be published in 2023, however interim results will be published in the meantime.