IGRG (The Industry Group for Responsible Gambling) recently made an announcement that Responsible Gambling Week 2019 will be held from November 7 – 13 this year, with a large number of prominent developers, operators and other organisations associated with the gambling industry supporting the initiative.
The project will feature involvement of 120,000+ staff members working at thousands of different land-based gambling establishments and online portals, as well as a large number of gaming machine pubs and operators across Ireland and United Kingdom.
Corresponding Gambling and Betting Associations to Support the Initiative
For those of you who might not be aware, IGRG is made up of multiple gambling trade associations from England, which will lead this initiative in the UK. In Ireland, it will be the Irish Bookmakers Association that will be leading the activities related to responsible gambling.
Both these organisations will focus their energies on highlighting different types of help, advice and tools available to gamblers. They will also bring the spotlight on initiatives taken by different operators for promoting social responsibility. It’s worth noting that while there are several reputed and reliable online casinos like Slots Heaven which are now accepting Irish players. The onus is entirely on the players to play with in their stipulated budgets. With such a broad range of gaming option that they offer, playing responsibly will assist players enjoying the full scope of games that Slots Heaven offers.
Both off-line and online platforms to take part actively
The staff members at brick and mortar gambling venues will be speaking directly with customers, and educating them about safer gambling, with clear messages prominently displayed at each one of these venues. The idea is to prevent such type of incidents in the future, where gambling addicts can be a big threat for themselves as well as public well-being.
In case of online platforms, the gambling portals will actively display messages related to responsible gambling to each one of their customers, using banner and pop-up ads. These operators will also post responsible gambling -related information and content on their websites, apart from offering help and advice in this regard on their social channels.
A multi-pronged approach through various channels
Considering that a lot of money is spent on gambling in both Ireland and United Kingdom each year, the project will take a multi-pronged approach to spread awareness. Apart from all the above-detailed initiatives, a new information website responsiblegambling.co.uk, themed around topics related to responsible gambling will become operational in October. Once live, gambling operators will be able to download various resources and assets to be used during the responsible gambling week, from this website.
The other steps taken by IGRG will involve the British Horseracing Authority and the Racecourse Association displaying important messages at the racecourses. The Punch Pubs and Co. will be offering promotional kits to the customers, including beer mats and posters with responsible gambling messages on them, across 1300 pubs.
Reputed gambling machine manufacturers like Inspired Gaming, Reflex, Scientific Gaming and Astra Games will display responsible gambling messages on their machines. On the other hand, sponsors SkyBet as well as the English Football League will offer ample advertising space to the project, inside the stadiums and during match day programs.
Talking to the press in this regard, John Hagan, the IGRG Chairman said that they are keen on making this an inclusive and open conversation, with the idea of connecting with maximum audience, including the people who don’t consider themselves as the target audience for such initiatives.