Liverpool City Council has partnered with a national gambling prevention organisation to warn young adults about the risks of betting.
The campaign, in partnership with Chapter 1, aims to reduce gambling-related harms in the city by making people more aware about the problems that excessive betting can cause.
“If Only I Knew” is targeted at 18–35-year-olds, and in particular the young men who make up the majority of gamblers in this age bracket. It aims to offer those suffering with a gambling addiction support sooner to prevent their problems from escalating.
James Grimes, Director of Chapter 1, who has lived experience of a gambling addiction, said: “People haven’t had the right level of information about gambling harm. Throughout my 12 years of my addiction, no one ever told us that gambling is designed to be addictive, gambling companies make it very difficult to stop, the more money and time you spend and lose, the more likely you are to become addicted, and if only I knew those things, I do really think it would have made a difference.”
Craig Hamilton, senior health practitioner for the council, added: “It’s not the individual’s fault that they are affected by gambling. We’re trying to shift the focus onto the betting and gambling organisations and their tactics. So, we’re trying to reduce that stigma around if you are affected by gambling, there is help there for you.”
An LJMU study revealed that gambling harms in Liverpool are twice the national average, with 1 in 9 adults at risk and 16.4% of 18-24 years old disproportionately affected. The council say these figures highlight a significant local vulnerability to the city.
Mr Grimes said that over a million adults in Great Britain are experiencing gambling-related harms and many more are affected by someone else’s gambling habits.
He said: “We are dealing with a public health crisis, and yes there is more support and treatment than there was when I was struggling, but the truth is, only a tiny percentage of people who need it are accessing support and treatment.
So, our job is to fix that. It is a stigmatised topic. The stigma isn’t an accident; the stigma comes from the fact that gambling is so normalised. If you’re constantly told that this is a safe activity that everyone else is doing responsibly, when you’re struggling with it, you feel abnormal, you feel weak, you feel like a bad person, so there’s no surprise that people aren’t accessing support or treatment.”
Online gambling is now the dominant form of betting in the UK, driven by 24/7 accessibility, push notifications and VIP schemes.
Mr Hamilton said: “You’re just not seeing that physical place now where people go and place bets, it’s very much in your pocket, in terms of your phone and how you’ve got access 24/7 to gambling.”
He added: “They’ve often called it the hidden addiction in the sense that it’s more hidden in your home; being able to access it on your phone and being able to have access to all types of gambling, it’s a real challenge.”
Mr Grimes said: “Throughout 12 years of my addiction, and I’d like to think that things have changed now because that was a while ago, but not at any point did the gambling company ask me if I could afford to lose.”
This campaign hopes to encourage those struggling that there is a way out. The council and Chapter 1 want to urge residents in the city to get help sooner, as they say too many people’s struggles are identified too later and often at crisis point.
Mr Grimes finished by saying: “The minute I realised what they had done to me was the moment when I realised, I was never going to gamble again because they don’t deserve any of my money, any of my time and I want lots of other people to think that too.
But there is hope. There’s always hope and there is a better life waiting for people.”
@merseynewslive “If Only I Knew” is a new gambling prevention campaign launched by Liverpool City Council and Chapter 1 warning young residents of the risks and encouraging those struggling to access support and treatment sooner. #Liverpool #LiverpoolCityCouncil #Chapter1 #Gamblingawareness #IfOnlyIKnew
