GambleAware receives £2.8m in donations during Q1 2018
Bet365 donates more than £400k as charity publishes industry contributions for the first time
The charity has published operator donations for the first time on its website to allow for greater transparency having pledged to double its annual spending to £16m in each of the next two years.
Funding will be divided between the areas of research and evaluation – which will receive £9.8m over the next two years – education, which will receive £5.6m and treatment which will get the bulk of the funding at £14.3m.
Grosvenor Casinos donated the second highest amount at £80,650, with gambling firms asked to contribute at least 0.01% of Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) to GambleAware.
GambleAware CEO Marc Etches
GambleAware CEO, Marc Etches, told EGR Intel: “I would like to be very clear about why we are publishing for the first time those companies that donated or pledged to us.
“The primary reason for doing this is because as a charity, we need to be as transparent as we can regarding where our funds are coming from. That is our primary purpose for doing so.
“We are being very ambitious in doubling our expenditure in the current year to £16m from the £8m that we spent in each of the last two years.
“It is important that the industry understands how we intend to spend that money over the next two years,” he added.
Etches also hopes donations being made public will allow GambleAware to hit its £10m industry contribution minimum for the first time, as recommended by the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (RGSB). Donations reached £9.4m in 2017, up from £8m in 2016.
He added: “It will reveal to others who is giving what and how much and I do hope that will encourage everyone to step up to the plate.
“But it is very important that this isn’t just about publishing what the industry has given to us, but also about ourselves making clear how that money is being spent.”
The full list of contributors can be found here.