Data released as part of GamCare’s 2024 Annual Report shows that its National Gambling Helpline received  55,228 calls and online chats from people experiencing gambling harm in the past 12 months: a 25 per cent increase from the previous year. 

Of all calls and online chats that were responded to on GamCare’s Helpline in 2023/24, 41,070 (74 per cent) were classified as “supportive interventions,” which includes supporting people with initial guidance and advice as well as delivering an entry point into structured treatment services.

In March, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities published an assessment of the gambling treatment system, highlighting that 57 per cent of individuals engaging in treatment were referred by the National Gambling Helpline. GamCare has said this figure underscores the Helpline’s “critical role in connecting people to the support they need.” 

Executive chair Margot Daly said: “While we expect important changes in the gambling harms landscape, we have been determined not to let this uncertainty affect our relentless focus on the people who really matter – those at-risk of or currently experiencing gambling harms.”