With a wealth of experience in independent charity consultancy and a proven track record in driving strategic development and change processes, D’Arcy Myers will play a pivotal role in guiding GamCare through its mission to create a safer and more responsible gambling environment. He will build upon the achievements of his predecessor and utilize his talents to implement impactful change initiatives.

The New CEO Boasts Impressive Expertise

Myers stepped in after previous CEO Anna Hemmings took her leave after a successful five-year tenure. Hemmings was instrumental in expanding GamCare’s scope and fostering meaningful communication with lawmakers and regulators to create a safer, more responsible industry. She left the charity as UK’s premiere gambling harm treatment and prevention authority, setting a high bar for her successors.

Despite the challenging prospects of managing such an expansive organization, D’Arcy Myers’ significant experience and leadership skills should help him excel in his new position. The new interim CEO was excited to get started and lend his efforts to GamCare’s invaluable efforts. His proactive approach should be what GamCare needs to remain relevant in the rapidly changing gambling world.

I look forward to meeting as many staff, service users, and partners as possible in the coming weeks.

D’Arcy Myers, GamCare interim CEO

Myers’ experience includes leadership positions at high-profile charities like Allergy UK, The Percy Hedley Foundation, the TV and Film charity, and The Solicitors Charity. He has demonstrated his ability to unlock the potential of community-focused organizations, improving their efficiency and social impact. As a trustee of several voluntary organizations, his leadership can unlock new synergies for GamCare.

GamCare Retains Its Pivotal Role

One of Myers’ primary challenges will be guiding the organization through the intense consultation process regarding the upcoming UK white paper. The government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport continuously seeks feedback from gambling industry stakeholders, helping implement effective reforms. Myers’ broad experience should provide valuable new insights, aiding the consultation process.

While collaboration with the authorities remains vital, the new interim CEO must also focus on GamCare’s public-facing efforts. The charity continuously promotes gambling harm awareness and self-exclusion schemes, collaborating with high-profile organizations to bolster its reach and help as many individuals as possible. Maintaining such strategic initiatives should remain a leading priority.

As GamCare embarks on this new chapter under D’Arcy Myers’ guidance, the organization is poised to make significant strides in its mission to minimize gambling-related harm and support those in need. His leadership will drive innovation, collaboration, and a renewed focus on protecting vulnerable communities while promoting a safer gambling environment.

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Self-exclusion from gambling is one way for people affected by problem gambling or at-risk gambling to limit their access to such activities. While self-exclusion options can help people who are struggling with gambling, bank gambling payment blocks can also have a positive impact on that process. This is because such payment blocks can reduce the possibility for people affected by at-risk or problem gambling to deposit funds with gambling operators.

Now, the UK charity that helps people affected by problem gambling, GamCare, reiterated the importance of improving bank gambling blocks and the benefits such options bring to consumers. On Monday, the charity revealed that a key part of the process is to help raise awareness of bank gambling blocks and provide support for people that needed it.

The announcement comes after earlier this year, GamCare organized its second workshop on bank gambling blocks. The workshop sought to uncover new ways to raise awareness of bank gambling blocks and other gambling management tools. During the event, GamCare heard different ideas and opinions from experts.

A key part in the process of improving bank gambling blocks is raising awareness, the workshop found. An idea was formed that banks need to be proactive and notify their customers about tools that can limit gambling activities such as blocks.

Still, that wouldn’t be a general requirement but rather affects consumers that have “vulnerability markers on their account.” Additional proactive efforts by the banks would be to refer such customers to organizations that provide gambling support such as TalkBanStop.

Inconsistency in Naming Bank Gambling Blocks

Deelan Maru, one of the members of GamCare’s Behavioral Insights Team, explained that one challenge bank gambling payment blocks face is the inconsistency such activities are referred to by different banks. As an example, he pointed out that some banks refer to gambling payment blocks as “card freeze,” while others present the block as “restriction” or “merchant control.”

“Our analysis of bank gambling tools shows that gambling blocks have inconsistent naming conventions across different banking apps. For example, one bank may call it ‘card freeze’, whilst another would place it under ‘merchant control’ or ‘restriction’ settings – ultimately causing ambiguity and confusion for the consumer.“

Deelan Maru, Behavioral Insights Team member at GamCare

Maru explained that the inconsistent naming of the bank gambling blocks creates confusion for the customers. According to him, consistent naming of the solution across bank institutions and a proactive approach can raise awareness of those tools and ultimately help more people.

GamCare also pointed out that while self-exclusion options are popular, some people learn about bank gambling blocks only when they encounter gambling harm first. The charity revealed that there are people, affected by problem gambling that reach out for support and discover the option for bank gambling blocks.

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GamCare published the results of a recent study, probing into the efficiency of multi-operator self-exclusion schemes. IPSOS specialists held follow-up interviews with 30 people who have signed up for these programs, asking them about their experiences.

These interviews were taken almost three years after the baseline study, with 71% of the original cohort participating in the follow-up. This is notably the first longitudinal study on the topic. It provides valuable insights into how multi-operator self-exclusion schemes impact players.

Most operators have their own self-exclusion tools but multi-operator schemes allow players to stop gambling as a whole, preventing them from playing with many gaming companies at the same time. Multi-operator schemes often provide players with a degree of personalization, allowing customers to only exclude themselves from certain brands or certain gaming verticals.

GAMSTOP, a British multi-operator self-exclusion scheme, allows clients to forfeit playing with all legal operators in the United Kingdom. Some of the interviewed people said that GAMSTOP helped them save a lot of money they could have otherwise lost to iGaming.

At the time of the recent interviews, many respondents were still using some kind of exclusion scheme. The majority felt more confident, believing that they have more or less gotten their gambling habits under control.

However, some of them had to use more than one tool to make certain they won’t return to gambling. A number of respondents were frequenting talking therapies to further return their control over their spending behavior.

Others layered self-exclusion apps, used schemes such as Gamban and employed ad-blocking software to shield themselves from ads. Some even went the extra mile and asked their banks to block gambling transactions, further securing their exclusion from gambling.

TalkBanStop Helps People Get Their Lives Back

The layering of tools is what TalkBanStop, a united front between GamCare, Gamban and GAMSTOP is all about. The partnership encourages gamblers to take advantage of the tools available to them and jumpstart their recovery.

The partnership leverages GamCare’s advisers and the National Gambling Helpline to consult people experiencing gambling problems. Gamban, on the other hand, helps people exclude themselves from gambling sites and applications. The tool is completely free through the National Gambling Helpline and for anyone using GamCare. Finally, Gamstop provides an additional layer of self-exclusion, further helping people protect themselves from gambling.

Self-exclusion continues to be a speed bump on the road toward harmful gambling. Multi-operator schemes are proving to be very effective in helping people get their lives under control.

You can read more about the results of the recent study on GamCare’s official website.

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Q: Are gambling companies overall getting better at protecting consumers?

What we have seen over the past few years is more investment and resources being applied to player protection. Yet we know there is still a long way to go. In 2021, we conducted a survey with YouGov, and it was clear that the public felt gambling businesses were not playing their part – only 28% of respondents agreed with the statement that gambling businesses were doing enough to play safely. The industry needs to keep using its resources to find new ways to mitigate harm.

Q: What is the one common thing that most gambling companies are guilty of not doing to protect customers?

We know that there are many ways operators can still improve their processes to prevent gambling harm from occurring. One key area we think GamCare and consumer protection there could be significant improvements made in is affordability checks – having robust processes at the point of registration that set deposit limits and are based on accurate data checks on a customer’s income. This is where operators can really make an impact in beginning to protect their customers

Q: What are GamCare’s main initiatives for the up-and-coming year?

One area we’re very concerned about is the rising cost of living and the implications this may have for people who rely on our services. To this end, we have established a new Money Guidance Service that will provide guidance to those who have been financially impacted by gambling.

The service will work with people to establish day-to-day ways to improve their finances and work closely with those impacted by someone else’s gambling, to help them understand their options. Any support that gives improved access to dedicated financial guidance in the current climate will only enhance the current treatment offer and support longer-term recovery.

We are also looking at how we can reach more people and encourage them to get help, particularly digitally. Since the pandemic, we have seen a shift in the way that people reach out to the National Gambling Helpline, with more choosing our live chat function over physically calling on the phone. We want to continue reducing the barriers for people to start their recovery journey with us and are focussing on how we can achieve that through new digital means.

Q: What is the one thing that GamCare would like to see the Gambling Commission pay more attention to?

We know that the Commission has been looking closely into the guidance around customer interaction and we welcome this focus. It’s so important that customer-facing staff feel confident in supporting their customers and know how to respond when someone is experiencing harm, including the right places to refer people to such as the National Gambling Helpline.

The guidance sets out the need for ‘hot transfers’ to support those customers who are escalated internally where gambling harms are identified, which we see as a great step. The more focus we give here, the more we can ensure people are receiving the right level of support at the right time.

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The leading provider of information, support and advice for people affected by gambling harm, GamCare, announced the launch of a new online tool. On Tuesday, the independent charity unveiled MyGamCare, an innovative online self-help tool that provides support for gamblers.

The innovative tool is free and enables customers to receive online self-help by allowing them to set different goals, track their moods and access personalized content. Additionally, MyGamCare enables gamblers to access help and support if that’s needed.

Ultimately, GamCare’s new tool seeks to help gamblers that are struggling with managing their gambling. The tool helps them better understand gambling and provides insight into how the activity can impact their well-being, money, time and relationships. Using the tool provides a great way for gamblers to receive self-help when seeking to control their gambling.

Besides the new tool, GamCare confirmed the launch of a helpline available via new digital channels. The independent charity announced that its helpline can now be accessed via Facebook Messenger, as well as WhatsApp. This improvement delivers an easy way for gamblers to access much-needed support. Citing collected data, GamCare said that people under the age of 35 are most likely to use the aforementioned platforms to reach out for support.

The Launch Provides a Convenient Way for People to Access Support

Ellis Platten, a YouTuber and Podcaster, voiced his support for the recent tool by GamCare. He outlined that collaborating with the charity for the launch of MyGamCare was exciting. According to Platten, who has felt the impact of gambling harm, it is incredibly important for people to have the option to access support 24 hours a day. “My generation are never far away from their smartphones, so having support at your fingertips is a fantastic way to reach people, making it as easy as possible for people to make that first step and ask for help,” he said in conclusion.

“With the introduction of MyGamCare – along with our WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger capabilities – we hope to open the door for people to get help sooner and to reach out for support in a way that works for them.“

Anna Hemmings, CEO at GamCare

Anna Hemmings, GamCare’s CEO, acknowledged that the interest in the charity’s services is growing. Additionally, she explained that the online gambling market has grown exponentially over the last decade, which reaffirms the need for effective tools and solutions to help people in need of support.

Hemmings pointed out that GamCare hopes to reach and help more people via MyGamCare and the expanded reach of its helpline. In conclusion, she said that the first step is always the most difficult one which is why it is important to offer convenient methods of support that people can pick to start this journey.

The announcement comes at a time when GamCare has seen a record of calls for January 2023. The charity said that it has seen more than 3,700 calls and online chats last month, marking an increase of 17% when compared to the corresponding period in 2022.

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