SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The Safer Online Gambling Group (SOGG) announced today that it has had an application approved for £40,000 worth of funding to help develop digital tools.
SOGG intends to use these digital tools to help prevent problem gambling behaviour and plans to launch the first digital solution within three months.
The financial backing comes from the Inclusive Recovery Fund, available from UnLtd, in partnership with Comic Relief and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
In addition, SOGG has been working closely with Entain, formerly known as GVC Holdings and the owner of the Ladbrokes Coral Group, as part its ‘Changing for the Bettor’campaign.
SOGG is a non-profit organisation established in 2019 and has been involved in campaigns to lower Fixed Odds Betting Terminal stake limits and the introduction of NHS problem gambling clinics.
Director Adam Bradford said: “The funding is fantastic news. It means we can more effectively evaluate and scale up our work to help treat problem gambling behaviour more quickly through a range of digital tools.
“I know first-hand just how devastating the effects out of control online gambling can be on the wider family. This funding will help us make a huge difference where individuals are showing signs of problematic gambling.”
Of the £4.75 million grants available from the UnLtd and Comic Relief’s Inclusive Recovery Fund, 72% went to social organisations such as SOGG with first-hand experience of the issues they deal with.
UnLtd finds and funds social entrepreneurs in the UK, providing them with support packages and assistive funding.
Mark Norbury, Chief Executive of UnLtd, commented on the decision to grant the funding: “We were astonished at the quality and number of applications for this fund, demonstrating a clear and continuing funding gap for high-potential social entrepreneurs across a breadth of causes, communities, venture-types and sectors.
“Those funded today will be leading lights as we enter the next act of the coronavirus crisis – allowing us a glimpse of hope and optimism as the year draws to a close and we look further ahead to what comes next.”
