A complaint has been received by the Charity Commission over allegations that GambleAware provided false information to the British public on gambling-related harms and suicides.
It was submitted by The Good Law Project, an independent non-profit organisation led by public policy expert Will Prochaska, the former Strategic Director of Gambling with Lives.
Prochaska’s new non-profit claims to fight dangerous misinformation about gambling and accuses GambleAware of being supported by an industry that ‘preys on the public’. The campaign is backed by Annie Ashton, a widow bereaved of her husband Luke Ashton, a former gambling addict who took his own life in April 2021, a case in which the “coroner concluded that his death was caused by a gambling disorder”.
GLP has criticised GambleAware as “one of the loudest voices in the debate on gambling harms”, alleging that the group has pursued a false narrative on gambling addiction and its related suicides.
At the heart of the complaint are accusations that the charity pushed a “discourse promoted by the gambling industry” to shift blame onto individual gamblers and away from the aggressive advertising or harmful products.
Furthermore, the group also referred to the ‘Bet Regret’ nationwide campaign, which experts criticised for “implying that gamblers are a unique category of people who are personally to blame for their losses”.
GLP’s complaint stated: “The Charity Commission must take action and investigate whether GambleAware is breaking charity law by failing in their duties to provide unbiased information – accepting the false narrative that gambling is a problem for individuals instead of a problem with the industry. And we’re preparing to take legal action if they refuse.”
At present, British charities and stakeholders await DCMS‘ conclusion of its consultation on the structure of the mandatory levy funding problem-gambling research, education, treatment (RET) organisations and projects.
As announced last summer, the NHS will take central control of the £100m levy, replacing GambleAware as chief commissioner of RET funding. GambleAware accepted the decision in which it will prioritise becoming the lead strategic partner to the NHS in the development of the National Gambling Support Network (NGSN), delivering necessary support services to those impacted by gambling.
