Gambling Support Services
🩺 Overview
Gambling can become harmful to anyone regardless of age, gender, social class, cultural, or ethnic background. These harms impact on people’s resources, relationships and health. Negative effects can include loss of employment, debt, crime, breakdown of relationships and deterioration of physical and mental health.
⚠️ Signs of Gambling Harm
Some of the signs you may see or be experiencing are:
- Spending more time or money gambling
- Thinking or talking about gambling
- Feeling guilty, anxious or irritable
- Changes to relationships
- Lying, hiding and stealing, denial
🆘 Support Services
💡 Confidential Help Available
Confidential advice and support is available for people who gamble, people who are worried about someone else’s gambling, or for people recovering from past gambling. Patients can self-refer to all these services.
Local Services
| Service | Description | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Beacon Counselling Trust | FREE, confidential and professional support for gambling-related harms | beaconcounsellingtrust.org |
| NHS Northern Gambling Service | Specialist support and treatment for gambling-related harms, with holistic approach addressing co-occurring mental health problems | NHS Northern Gambling Service |
| EPiC HOPE Harbours | Safe spaces for mental health support, peer-to-peer support and friendly volunteers | EPiC HOPE Harbours |
National Services
| Service | Description | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| GamCare | Support for yourself, a friend or a family member. National Gambling Helpline operates 24/7, free to access | gamcare.org.uk |
| Gamblers Anonymous | Fellowship of men and women sharing experience to solve their common problem. Meetings are the core - no appointment needed, just turn up | gamblersanonymous.org.uk |
🔗 Useful Links
| Resource | Link |
|---|---|
| Wigan Council Gambling Support | wigan.gov.uk/Gambling-counselling |