Amount of people seeking support for gambling losses is growing in the UK

There’s an increasing number of people who are reaching out for support for gambling losses in the UK, with over… Continue reading Amount of people seeking support for gambling losses is growing in the UK The post Amount of...

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Sep 26, 2025 - 21:04
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Amount of people seeking support for gambling losses is growing in the UK
A photograph of a person with disheveled brown hair, face buried in their hands in a display of intense stress. A silver laptop sits open on a dark wood table, displaying a complex spreadsheet, while a smartphone with a cracked screen lies nearby. The background is a blurred office setting with muted gray walls and a single desk lamp casting a harsh, yellow light on the scene, emphasizing the feeling of exhaustion and pressure.

There’s an increasing number of people who are reaching out for support for gambling losses in the UK, with over £5M in gambling debts having been reported since January, which is almost double compared to the whole of 2024.

The number of people seeking financial guidance since the start of 2025 is already higher than the whole of last year, according to the charity GamCare. It’s in June, July and August that the number of registrations has doubled year-on-year.

The charity, which has a national gambling helpline, says those who have entered its service since January this year have reported collective debts of over £5.3M in total, with an average of £4,682 per person.

The total figure of debt reported in the first eight months of this year has almost doubled compared to the entirety of last year, when it stood at over £2.8 million.

Over £5.3m in collective debts reported, as people seek out support for gambling debt

Kathy Wade, Money Guidance Service Manager, commented: “We often hear from people who struggle with gambling that it doesn’t feel like real money they are betting with. A lot of the people we see are young men who are looking for big financial wins either through gambling or even cryptocurrency investing, but it can lead to riskier behaviours around these activities.”

In August 2025, a total of 198 referrals came through the charity whereas this month saw 69 in the year previous. For this year, January had 84 referrals, February 94, March 128, April 163, May 147, June 172, and July 165.

“It is especially difficult for people who look to gambling to make extra money for their daily household costs, which continue to feel squeezed by rising pressures,” continued Kathy Wade.

“We know that many people gamble safely, but we would not encourage anyone to gamble with the goal of making extra money to cover their essential bills.”

Featured Image: AI-generated via Ideogram

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