[News] £1.4m gambling harm fund by Wales

[Su-asa]

Obviously, many people will abuse this because everybody would like to get free money without working for it. But same time there are still some genuine people who would really need the government help.
Secondly, there are still some people who will continue to gamble even after they might have received financial help from this scheme unless they will assign people to watch out for the victims who are addicted and also received financial supports from them.

[IjawMan]

I want to come at this in another direction and vey few users will want to agree with my thoughts, I assume. This may have been a brilliant idea to save gambling addicts but it going to on the contrary encourage more addiction. Humans are likely to abuse a system when money is involved than sustaining it for the success of it original plan. I fear that the idea will achieve much or any thing tangible.

I do not think so, no one will be addicted for the money that can not fully replace back the money that has lost. Prevention is better than cure is what most people know. It will not encourage addiction the way I see it.

Emphasis on prevention with humans on matters of addiction - this draws my attention to the warning imprinted on cigarette pack as you may have seen. What has been the prevention culture in regard to that warning for smokers? Same humans but nothing.

That's where the confusion lies. If the money is given to the family, will it be used genuinely on the individual when the foundation is not there to know what's going on? And if the money is given to the individual directly, is he going to use it for something reasonable or be used for stiring his gambling addiction more?

Obviously the money can not be given to the person that is addicted. I believe the money will be given to the family of the addicted person and the addicted person will be under their rehabilitation program. Part of the money will be used to set up rehabilitation services for gambling addiction victims.

Giving the money to the family is the right thing to do and it has to be done with a monitoring mechanism to ensure the money is utilised for the purpose. Uninformed visits to the family to know how the patient is cared for with the money can be another way to promote effective outcome with the programme.

[Charles-Tim]

Obviously, many people will abuse this because everybody would like to get free money without working for it. But same time there are still some genuine people who would really need the government help.
Secondly, there are still some people who will continue to gamble even after they might have received financial help from this scheme unless they will assign people to watch out for the victims who are addicted and also received financial supports from them.

What kind of abuse? Like someone that is addicted, get the money and he continues gambling after? This may be difficult to achieve if it is land based gambling, but it can be true and not difficult to achieve if it is online gambling, especially if people from Whales can be able to register without KYC on some gambling sites which is offshore and if cryptocurrencies are accepted. There could be some other ways also.

[STT]

Done properly the money is spent for collective efforts not singular and 1.4m is nothing across a country, its a nice thought but only the beginning of what is needed most likely.   Its not enough to be supporting just people on separate cases, a drop in centre with advice and help sure but that is for a community or area.  That idea is far more durable and is what I would expect this limited amount of money to be spent on, to go farthest and make the most difference.

[JiiBs]

Addiction isn’t a conscious act and that’s why many addicts don’t even know that they are addicts and would argue otherwise until its effect becomes overwhelmingly visible for everyone. That’s why I don’t think, people would consciously become addicts just to have access to the £1.4m fund.

They might not have access themselves even, as the fund is intended to aid families affected by someone else’s gambling activities and not the addict themselves. The funds can also be accessed by those that are raising awareness on the dangers of irresponsible gambling and outreaches.

There would be those that would try to leverage the opportunity for their selfish interest though. I suppose that’s why the project would run for 2years and after this period, they might decide if it helps or not.

[Churchillvv]

Well maybe the addiction has or had an economic impact on the county that lead them to have such budget for the assistance and recovery of the population that is important to them. Maybe those who become addicted becomes liabilities to the county so they try to rehabilitate them to go back into the society and work so they can pay tax. Lol but anyways it a good one and it should be emulated by countries with high gambling activities.

[Hispo]

... Lol but anyways it a good one and it should be emulated by countries with high gambling activities.

I think programs like this one could only be applied to countries or regions within a country were addiction to gambling is not actually so widespread and it is still manageable. I don't think this could be done in a country where the majority of the adult working population is into gambling.

Let us take Nigeria as an example: if the government wanted to rehabilitate all gambling addicts living there, I am afraid they would not have enought money to fund such program for a single year.

This is something which is only being done by rich countries or countries where gambling is not so widespread.

[fighter2627]

Here, govt is not directly giving money to gamblers. Government is giving money to various charities and social organization. So, govt should choose them carefully. As a result they will be able to play role in raising awareness. They will also be able to provide counseling and stand by the affected families in root level where govt cant reach.

The main goal of this fund is to reduce risk before people become addicted. And to help those who are in trouble recover.

hmm, issue of corruption that you raised is certainly a matter of concern. Thats why it is not enough to just announce only fund, Govt also need to see how those money is being spent. They also need to monitor whether these are getting right results or not.

Here in our country there is a Government charity related to gambling which is Lotto which is under the government charity program that we have.

The only problem is that the government appointee here is corrupt like the one who appoints him here at PCSO (Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office) where even if no one wins,
they are still abused because every week someone wins in the raffle draw in the lotto. So if those who manage it are not corrupt, then they are making a good effort for those
who become addicted to gambling.

[Shinpako09]

Do you think that some gamblers would want to purposely get addicted for this reason so that they can get financial benefits from this scheme?

And what makes you think they would intentionally make themselves addicted? It doesn't make sense, coz I think there is no cash that will be given directly to any individual or families affected by gambling addiction. All the funds are only meant for professional services like therapy, etc. Also, corruption in Wales is not rampant, so I believe the funds will be used for what is intended.

Although the intention of this program is good, if the result is bad, continuing it is a waste of resources. Just use the funds for other programs instead. Coz no matter how much help they get, if the addicted gambler is not set to change their mindset, it won't be effective at all. It's good enough that they made an effort, at least they tried. But hoping to see good results.

[abel1337]

Do you think that some gamblers would want to purposely get addicted for this reason so that they can get financial benefits from this scheme?

And what makes you think they would intentionally make themselves addicted? It doesn't make sense, coz I think there is no cash that will be given directly to any individual or families affected by gambling addiction. All the funds are only meant for professional services like therapy, etc. Also, corruption in Wales is not rampant, so I believe the funds will be used for what is intended.

Although the intention of this program is good, if the result is bad, continuing it is a waste of resources. Just use the funds for other programs instead. Coz no matter how much help they get, if the addicted gambler is not set to change their mindset, it won't be effective at all. It's good enough that they made an effort, at least they tried. But hoping to see good results.

I have the same thoughts. Organizers of the program would most likely make this un-abusable, having strict requirements to be eligible for help should be implemented. There are gambling addicts that are hungry for money and they see this kind of program as an opportunity not to
get help but to get money from it.

They have a good reason to start this program and of course there would be bad apples that will extract money from it. Hopefully this kind of program succeed as this could spark other countries interest to start their own gambling addiction programs as well.   

[Japinat]

They have a good reason to start this program and of course there would be bad apples that will extract money from it. Hopefully this kind of program succeed as this could spark other countries interest to start their own gambling addiction programs as well.   

Do we really need to look at it negatively right away? The government sees that gambling addiction is a serious problem, and they are trying to create a solution. I think its only fair to watch first and see how the program works.

Besides, its public money, so of course it should be spent properly. If the government wastes taxpayers money, people will eventually question and blame them for it.

I understand the concern that the funds could be affected by corruption, but I would not focus on that yet. For now, the important thing is whether the program can actually help address gambling addiction.

[r_victory]

It is initiatives like these that make a difference in the lives of those who truly need it. One point requiring attention is the oversight of the community groups requesting resources to ensure their legitimacy, given that the money could, unfortunately, be misappropriated and used for purposes incompatible with the fund's original objective.