More than 250,000 people have chosen to self-exclude from online gambling by registering with GAMSTOP, a significant milestone in the scheme’s three-year history.

GAMSTOP has seen a spike in registrations in 2021 compared to previous years, with more than 67,000 people signing up to GAMSTOP in 2021, compared to 51,000 in 2020.

March of 2021 has been the second highest registration month in the scheme’s history to date, with 7,047 registrations. Of the 250,000 people to register with GAMSTOP, more than 228,000 are currently self-excluding through the service.

With GAMSTOP now in its fourth year of operation, the continued rise in registrations highlights its importance as a safety net to those at risk from gambling-related harm.

GAMSTOP works closely with financial services organisations and treatment providers, including Citizens Advice, Gamcare, the Northern Gambling Clinic, Gordon moody, Peer Aid and Betknowmore. The TalkBanStop project, in collaboration with Gamcare and Gamban, has also helped to raise awareness of GAMSTOP’s services this year.

Several football clubs have pledged their support to raising awareness of GAMSTOP through formal partnerships, including: Crystal Palace, Brentford, Luton, Middlesbrough, QPR, Morecambe, Preston North End’s Foundation, Bolton Wanderers, Milton Keynes Dons and Harrogate Town.

Fiona Palmer, CEO of GAMSTOP, said:

“The registration levels are higher than anticipated this year, though we cannot pinpoint one specific reason for this. We have developed the scheme to make it easier to register and have worked hard on raising our profile to make sure we are more visible to those who might need us. The effects of the pandemic might also have something to do with the rise.

The independent evaluation which took place during the first 3 months of this year showed us how effective our consumers felt the scheme had been to their ongoing recovery. This was very reassuring to the GAMSTOP team, the wider stakeholders and hopefully anyone thinking about registering. We are fully committed to improving the GAMSTOP service to make it even better next year.”