More Education Needed on Gambling Addiction

At First Minister questions, I raised the pioneering work of Newport Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) on tackling gambling addiction.
Newport CAB developed and ran the gambling risk and harm pilot which highlighted that the education of young people is key to reducing the impact of gambling related harm.

I asked the First Minister “A gambling addiction can destroy someone’s life. It can cause tough emotional, financial and psychological problems for the sufferer and their families. Newport CAB have shown that educating young people of the perils of gambling we can dramatically reduce rates of gambling addiction. We should listen to these results and incorporate into education system.”

Carwyn Jones, the First Minister, replied, “We are looking at ways, via our education system, to ensure that people understand the dangers of gambling. It would be helpful, from our perspective, if we saw the devolution of powers of certain forms of gambling so they could be better regulated.”

Den Foley of Newport CAB responded to my question by saying “We very much welcome the response from the First Minister. We look forward to working together to develop this very important work in order to create change. This is very important issue which affects many people across Wales. Young people are growing up in an environment where gambling is seen as normal, with new technology and the blurring of boundaries between gambling and e-gambling this generation are more susceptible to harm from gambling than previous generations. We believe it is a priority that young people are educated about the risks that gambling carries”.