Beacon Counselling Trust recently held its inaugural North West Gambling Related Harms stakeholder Alliance meeting on Friday 9th June in Liverpool. The event was attended by a range of organisations, partners and commissioners working across a wide range of sectors with the focus of the event to develop a collaborative approach to addressing gambling related harms.
During the event, the themes that the group engaged with included a presentation by GambleAware and an exploration of current North West gambling harms prevalence rates, uptake of treatment services and the fiscal impacts of gambling per local area compared to national figures. The stakeholder group also received a presentation concerning GambleAware’s forthcoming Stigma Campaign and considered insights into the barriers individuals face in relation to gambling harm stereotypes and stigmatisation.
Throughout the morning the attendees participated in group work exercises with discussion and areas of development centred around the following key themes:
- Improve awareness that gambling carries risk and can cause harm both to the gambler and to others.
- Reduce the stigma related to gambling related harms.
- Improve the ability to identify and respond to those experiencing gambling harms (individuals, communities and people who work with the public).
- Reduce inequalities in relation to both experiencing gambling harms and the support and treatment available.
- Develop an integrated, place-based, whole-system approach to treatment, which offers effective, accessible interventions to all those affected by gambling harms.
Beacon Counselling Trust are extremely pleased with the pace of developments we are making across our regional footprint alongside our stakeholders and partners as we continue to set our joint priorities in shaping services for those at risk of, or experiencing, gambling related harms.
Our next stakeholder engagement event is scheduled for Friday 8th September with the venue to be confirmed.