TalkBanStop Announces One-year Extension

TalkBanStop – a partnership between GamCare, Gamban, and GAMSTOP – has secured funding for a further year and will continue to provide free tools and support for people struggling with their gambling.

The partnership, initially a 12-month pilot programme, has received the additional funding from a regulatory settlement approved by the UK Gambling Commission which will see the partnership and evaluation extended until March 2023. Since the pilot launched, the partnership has contributed to over 7000 registrations of Gamban’s blocking software.

The funds will be allocated towards the provision of free blocking software licences from Gamban and increased marketing of free practical tools and support available. The three organisations will also be looking to secure further long-term funding for the partnership.

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TalkBanStop brings together practical free tools and support which can help people maintain a successful recovery for anyone harmed by gambling. It offers a combination of personal support via GamCare’s trained advisers, free access to Gamban blocking software and signposting to the GAMSTOP self exclusion scheme, and proactive, consistent signposting to promote the layering of tools and support across all three organisations websites.

Early research on the partnership conducted by Ipsos Mori last year highlighted that people who had made use of all layers of support had reported a reduction of gambling-related harms, whilst many perceived the tools as significant barriers to accessing gambling sites, resulting in reduced urges to gamble and increased motivation to stop gambling.

One evaluation case study participant said: “The fact that I’ve used that service [GAMSTOP] with the blocking software and the counselling has given me three big pillars to stand on. I can’t do it anyway on my phone, and I’m getting it in my mindset through the counselling that I don’t want to do it and that I’m changing my behaviours towards it.”

With the extension of an additional year, GamCare, Gamban and GAMSTOP will continue working to increase awareness of the partnership among those who need it most. The organisations will also continue to share best-practice with one another, ensuring efforts to enhance the joint offering of easy, free access to all three services.

Anna Hemmings, Chief Executive at GamCare, said: “TalkBanStop is a partnership that makes enormous sense for anyone harmed by online gambling, and an excellent example of organisations coming together whose services provide an important first step for people wanting to stop gambling. Since the partnership started there has been huge value in pooling our expertise together as organisations, creating an offering that people can use easily and freely to kickstart their recovery.

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“We have heard from people supported by TalkBanStop how the impact of our interventions, layered together, can amplify the impact for their recovery. That’s why it’s important there is no break in the free availability of all three layers of support. Going forward, we are looking to continue building on the successes of the past year and work towards our shared aspiration of reducing gambling-related harms.”