Gamstop revealed that it had passed another ‘significant milestone’ with over 250,000 people choosing to self-exclude from online gambling. The latest figures are in line with the spike in registrations observed this year, with the number of new users in 2021 now standing at 67,000.
Hitting a Milestone
One of the UK’s most trusted gambling self-exclusion programmes, Gamstop, now has a total of more than 250,000 people registered for the service, marking an important milestone in its efforts to promote responsible gambling. Of the 250,000 registered users, Gamstop noted that more than 228,000 are self-excluding through its service at the moment.
“The registration levels are higher than anticipated this year, though we cannot pinpoint one specific reason for this,” Fiona Palmer, CEO of Gamstop.
With 67,000 new registrations in 2021, Gamstop now counts over 250,000 users.
The current year appears to be the most successful in the programme’s three-year history, with over 67,000 people signing up for the service, compared to 51,000 in 2020.
In March this year, the charity set another record when it notched up the second-highest registration month in the programme’s history, with over 7,000 sign-ups.
“The independent evaluation which took place during the first three months of this year showed us how effective our consumers felt the scheme had been to their ongoing recovery,” Palmer continued.
Although not sure why 2021 saw a hike in registrations, Palmer suggested that “the effects of the pandemic might also have something to do with the rise.”
Earlier this year, in its first bi-annual review, Gamstop announced a 25% year-over-year increase in registrations during the first six months of 2021.
Becoming More Visible to People Who May Need Help
Now into the fourth year of operation, Gamstop highlighted that the continued rise in registrations underlines the importance of the service as a safety net for those at risk of developing gambling-related harms.
“We have developed the scheme to make it easier to register and have worked hard on raising our profile to make sure we are more visible to those who might need us,” Palmer pointed out, noting that the charity is “fully committed to improving the Gamstop service to make it even better next year,” she concluded.
