IBAS welcomes the start of Safer Gambling Week 2020 and hopes that it will build on the success of the previous three years.
Safer Gambling Week runs from 19th to 25th November and encourages those who participate in gambling and those who offer gambling products to reflect on how gambling can be kept as free of harms as possible – and how practical solutions can be implemented to help achieve this.
The key objectives of Safer Gambling Week are to raise awareness of:
- how to gamble more safely (or to help others gamble more safely)
- the tools that are available to help consumers gamble responsibly
- where to find more help and support for those who need it
There are a wide range of training materials and resources available for individuals and organisations seeking to understand and address gambling related issues and harm: Details of some of these can be found by clicking the following link: https://safergamblinguk.org/training
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Richard Hayler, IBAS Managing Director said:
“Safer Gambling Week encourages us, like others, to reflect on what we can do to help. We decided that our focus should be driven by the experience of our First Contact Team and the interactions everyone at IBAS has with people who are struggling most with their gambling or with the effects of gambling from an earlier time. We don’t underestimate the impact that gambling can have on peoples’ lives.
“During the course of Safer Gambling Week, every member of our office team will be participating in a ‘Conversations with Vulnerable People’ course delivered remotely by Samaritans to help us:
- Recognise vulnerable people
- Learn about and refer to the Emotional Health Scale
- Use effective listening tools and techniques to acknowledge difficult feelings and circumstances
- Show we have listened and understood
- Use strategies to de-escalate difficult circumstances and emotions
- Sign-post people to support"