GamCare launches new training to tackle gambling issues in the Armed Forces
Gambling support charity, GamCare, has launched new gambling prevention and awareness training to help reduce gambling harm in the Armed Forces.
The training will help to address the stigma associated with issues around gambling and raise awareness of the ways people can get free help and support. GamCare’s Armed Forces team has already made arrangements for training to be delivered to 300 Armed Forces personnel.
According to research from Swansea University, Armed Forces veterans are more than eight times more likely than civilians to develop problems with gambling.
GamCare operates the National Gambling Helpline – a 24/7 service that people can call for free practical advice, information and support around gambling. The charity also provides free support sessions across London, the South East, Yorkshire, the East Midlands and Scotland, as part of the National Gambling Support Network.
The new training focuses on current Service personnel and will be phased in over the next year. As well as face-to-face training for recruits in training units, the support will also include online training for Armed Forces Welfare teams. This will focus on how they can support Armed Forces personnel and their families, looking at brief interventions, accessing support (including group specific) and treatment pathways.
Service-leavers
Training for Serving members of the Armed Forces has been offered to units, while training for Service-leavers will take place either face-to-face or online, depending on availability of the team and location.
Armed Forces Project Manager at GamCare, Shelley Johnson, says: “Gambling harm is a growing concern within the Armed Forces community, as those currently Serving and those who have previously Served, face unique challenges that can increase their risk of gambling harm.
Many ex-Service personnel, grappling with financial difficulties, with unemployment or housing instability, turn to gambling as a coping mechanism. The risk that comes with gambling produces the feeling of a ‘high’ that can be comforting and familiar to Service personnel, which is why it is so vital that people in the Armed Forces are aware of the risks and the support that is out there.”
Stigma
Lieutenant Robert Eddie, who Serves in the Royal Navy and has experienced gambling harm, says: “I found it very difficult, and still do at times, to open up about my addiction. I always believed that there would be a stigma attached to my addiction and that I would be treated differently. I tried to distance myself from social events where gambling was involved, but this made it hard to feel included.
Contacting GamCare felt like a huge step, and it was the best step I could have taken. The GamCare adviser talked to me as an equal and instantly put me at ease. I knew then that I would have the support I needed to get through this. Everything happened in such a timely manner and soon I was having weekly sessions over the phone from a GamCare practitioner. I was nervous, but it was the right decision.
I worked through 15 sessions, all free of charge, and gambling became easier and easier to resist. I have great coping mechanisms now that have made a real difference for me. I am now working to see how I can help to promote gambling awareness within the Royal Navy to help others who may be struggling.”
Contact: armedforcesenquiries@gamcare.org.uk to book your training or call the National Gambling Helpline, free on tel: 0808 8020 133.
Visit: www.gamcare.org.uk
About GamCare
GamCare operates the National Gambling Helpline, a free, confidential service. Support is also available via live web chat or direct message on WhatsApp, and funded by GambleAware. Over 52,000 calls and online chats were made to the Helpline last year and advisors are available 24/7, every day.
Founded in 1997, GamCare is the largest provider of information, advice and support for anyone experiencing gambling harm in Great Britain, whether that’s because of their own gambling or someone else’s.
The charity is also part of the National Gambling Support Network, funded by GambleAware, which is a group of organisations across Great Britain that provide free, confidential and personalised support for anyone who’s experiencing problems from gambling, as well as those affected by someone else’s gambling.
