EPIC Risk Management has announced yet another extension of a partnership that now enters its fifth year.
The former stated that the collaboration is intended to “launch another impactful program” on gambling-related harms and mental health awareness in time for the new academic year.
The pair noted that the extension was also implemented following positive feedback from the previous academic years regarding the level awareness it helped generate among secondary school students.
Simon Wootton is EPIC’s programme coordinator. He explained that “each year, we strive to make sure that the program we deliver, with the support of WHYSUP, continues to offer a greater educational experience to the secondary school students in attendance. We believe we are seeing year-on year improvements in impact and generation of awareness.”
The statement continued: “It shows that there is a method of education that works, and we are thrilled to continue our relationship with WHYSUP in order to bring the model of the lived experience to more schools in the years 2023/24. We want to ensure that these schools benefit from both our expertise in gambling-related harms and WHYSUP’s focus on the mental health benefits to a group of adolescents who face the daily challenges that come with teenhood.”
The EPIC-WHYSUP unity delivered 221 sessions in 158 private and state schools, reaching a total of 28734 students.
After a post-survey, 88 percent of students report that they have a good or excellent understanding of the harms that gambling can cause. 93 percent state that they plan to gamble less, or not at all, after attending the sessions.
The session was also rated as age-appropriate by 92 percent of the staff.
Teachers also gave positive feedback on the links that facilitators can make between gambling and gaming.
“We are thrilled to continue our collaboration with EPIC Risk Management over the next 12 months,” said Mark Murray.
“When we met Paul Buck, the CEO of EPIC in 2019, he shared with us his passion for educating young people. We believe that we have achieved real results in the last four years.
Our recent two-year programme for state schools has been a great success. It combines the expertise of both organisations in gambling harm minimisation, and mental health.
“As we enter a new partnership year, our main focus remains the same as in 2019: To make a real impact through collaboration and to offer an outstanding educational programme for young people.”
