UK’s GambleAware raised PS49.5m ($63.0m/EUR58.1m) of voluntary donations to charity in 2023-24. This is up 13.8% from the prior financial year. Flutter Entertainment was again the largest donor.
This year’s figure was PS3.1m higher than the prior year. GambleAware will use the funds to fund public health campaigns and harm prevention, as well as treatment, research, and education.
Flutter, Entain Bet365, and William Hill accounted for 94.0% of the total funding. Over the next four years, they pledged to increase their contributions to 1% gross rambling revenue. The pledge was completed in this year.
GambleAware has warned that funding will be “uncertain” for 2024-25. The transition from a voluntary levy to a mandatory levy is the reason for this, according to last year’s White Paper.
GambleAware’s chief executive Zoe Osmond has called for minimal disruption to the funding process.
Osmond stated that “while we wait for the new statutory levies to be implemented, the donations we receive from our voluntary funding are essential to GambleAware’s ability to continue delivering the vital harm prevention and gambling treatment programmes which we commission.”
The government is committed to the implementation of this statutory levied on the gaming industry.
It is important to continue taking steps to avoid disruptions to services or provisions as the system adapts to the new funding model.
Flutter is leading the charge with GambleAware contributions
Flutter has pledged to donate the largest amount of money in the future, as it did for 2022-2023. The group, including Sky Bet and Paddy Power, donated PS18.0m in total on behalf of all its brands.
Entain is also one of the top four donors, having pledged PS16.8m. Hillside, Bet365’s operating company, donated PS1.3m in three different amounts: PS1.4m, PS3.1m and PS1.3m. Its total donation was PS5.8m.
William Hill completed the top four with a PS6.0m donation to GambleAware.
Camelot UK Lotteries (now owned by Allwyn) made a PS451,800 pledge in 2023-24. Petre, trading as Betfred (Gibraltar), donated PS215 595. Betfred’s owners, the Done Brothers, also contributed PS50,000.
Les Ambassadeurs have pledged PS208.920 for its Club business, and PS49.254 online. Virgin Bet contributed PS123,967 while Talarius, a gambling center operator, donated PS103,619.
The other larger pledges include PS154.871 by BV Gaming/BetVictor; PS106.158 from LiveScore Betting and Gaming and PS110.263 Luxury Leisure.
The Gambling Commission also directed PS33.5m of regulatory settlements that were reached over the last year. These funds, like the donations made voluntarily, go directly to the GambleAware organization.
GambleAware also reported an additional PS241,613 from dormant and unclaimed accounts in 2023-24. These funds came from BetVictor, 888 and Betfred.
GambleAware responds to criticism
GambleAware’s CEO Osmond spoke out last month to defend its work. The Good Law Project filed a complaint.
The Good Law Project filed a complaint with the Charity Commission in March regarding the way GambleAware distributes its information. The Good Law Project has accused GambleAware’s trustees of failing to meet the charitable objectives, which include providing adequate education on gambling harm.
Osmond, in a new statement, defended GambleAware and said she was confident that the complaint would not be accepted. The Commission is still assessing whether or not it should intervene.
