Citizens Advice, a national charity that provides free and confidential advice across a range of subjects, have been awarded accreditation by RSPH for one of its flagship gambling health programmes.

The Citizens Advice training ‘Gambling Harms - An Introduction for frontline staff and volunteers’ aims to equip practitioners so they can recognise gambling harms, understand what effect gambling has on someone’s health and learn how to help someone get the support they need. You can read the Citizens Advice report 'Out of Luck: An exploration of the causes and impacts of problem gambling' for more information and to hear from people who have been affected by problem gambling.

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, levels of gambling have risen and the Citizens Advice training will help equip more frontline staff to support the growing number of people who are at risk of harm from gambling. “The training covers:

• Why people gamble and what can lead to gambling problems
• Spotting gambling harms in others
• How to approach and talk to someone about their gambling

The Citizens Advice training is part of a project supported by GambleAware which helps to raise awareness of gambling harms. The training is completely free and has been designed to reach as many front-line practitioners as possible.

Christina Marriott, Chief Executive, RSPH said:

“RSPH is excited to have accredited Citizens Advice Gambling Harms training programmes. The work that Citizens Advice does to support the financial wellbeing and mental health of the public, through raising awareness of the harms from gambling is absolutely essential. It is needed now more than ever. This training reflects our own stance on gambling regulation - we believe it’s vital that gambling should be thought of as a vital public health issue and regulated in the same way as junk food and tobacco. Our own work has also highlighted that young people want to make informed choices about gaming and gambling activities and this training joins the other outstanding programmes recognised through the RSPH’s accreditation service.“

Alistair Cromwell, Acting Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said:

“Problem gambling can devastate people’s lives and livelihoods. On top of the risk of falling into serious debt, gambling can lead to relationship and family breakdown, affecting the mental health of the gambler and those around them.

“Citizens Advice is here to help people - whoever they are, and whatever their problem. This newly accredited training will help our staff and volunteers to recognise the signs of gambling harm. They can make sure that people struggling with problem gambling can get the right help, when they need it.”