Bacta is joining other organisations and putting its full support behind Safer Gambling Week 2022, the latest cross-industry initiative to share safer gambling messages both online and in land-based venues about the importance of gambling responsibly.

This year’s Safer Gambling Week event will run from 17th – 23rd October 2022 and will see the whole industry coming together in a concerted effort to promote safer gambling messages, as well as highlighting the tools available to customers to stay in control while signposting the help and support available to those potentially at risk.

The Safer Gambling Week campaign is organised by bacta, the Betting and Gaming Council, the Lotteries Council and the Bingo Association, and is now in its fifth year.

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The annual campaign will build upon the record-breaking Safer Gambling Week 2021, during which the promotion and awareness of safer gambling tools such as deposit limits led to an increase by 17% in their use vs the previous four-week average.

The number of social media impressions for Safer Gambling Week 2021 – hit 24.5 million, an increase of 16 per cent on the previous year. And sessions on the Safer Gambling website in 2021 were 79% up on the previous year

Regulated betting and gaming operators already work tirelessly all year round to promote safer gambling, including by encouraging deposit limits and time-outs, as well as directing customers to the range of self-exclusion services that exist.

Safer Gambling Week provides an opportunity to go even further by encouraging businesses and organisations to start a conversation, not only with staff and customers, but also with their friends and family.

This year’s event will see a blitz of safer gambling messages both online and in land-based venues, sparking a nationwide conversation on how to bet responsibly.

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A recent Gambling Commission report showed that the problem gambling rate in the year to March 2022 was 0.2 per cent – down from 0.4 per cent the year previous and down from 0.3% in the last published annualised figures in February 2022.

John White, CEO of Bacta, said: “Safer Gambling Week once again allows the industry to showcase its year-long commitment to safer gambling. It also brings customer focus to the tools that are available to them if they in anyway feel their gambling is becoming problematic. Those tools continue to grow as we learn more about safer gambling and form part of our ambition to cement social responsibility at the heart of our offer to the consumer.”