Ygam Reports Strong Pull with Young People in Annual Results

The organization said that it was able to reach an exact number of 1,857,895 young people with its various services and generally strengthen its expertise in providing this cohort with the support they need to defy gambling-related harm, seek help, or offer assistance to others.

The charity has been able to train 4,819 delegates and 2,994 teachers and youth workers, Ygam explained. An estimated 336 academy players have completed its training courses for gambling harms. Furthermore, people who have undergone Ygam training are now more confident that they can support young people who may be struggling with problem gambling.

Out of all trainees, 98.1% confirmed that they felt more confident as a result of the education they received from Ygam. This percentage contrasted with the 25.8% of people who said they were prepared to assist others with their problem gambling prior to the training.

Ygam Is Determined to Keep Helping People in 2023

Ygam CEO Dr Jane Rigbye hailed the results of the past year and called them a “source of pride” for the charity and its team. Rigbye is hopeful that her organization may carry on this momentum in 2023:

Our focus was to consolidate and build on the impact of our existing work, whilst looking to the future through developing a new strategy to guide us from 2023.

Ygam CEO Dr Jane Rigbye

Ygam focused on three main pillars throughout 2022. The charity said it first wanted to focus on delivering enough education programs to young people. A big focus of its pilot programs was Greater London.

Ygam similarly sought to leverage research and scientific data to strengthen understanding of problem gambling and gambling-related harm throughout the year. The last pillar was putting everything the charity had learned into content and education, helping trainees and other participants benefit from its work.

Training a Range of Individuals

Ygam has been able to train 332 members of staff over 2022, with 94 faith and community leaders, and not least – 876 healthcare professionals. Health professionals are increasingly recognizing the need to undergo special training in order to be able to adequately assist individuals who may be struggling with problem gambling addiction.

Ygam’s report also comes ahead of the planned White Paper review which has been delayed on multiple occasions already and has caused much consternation among lawmakers, gambling industry stakeholders, and citizens.