Gambling survey hears from 100 islanders
ALMOST 100 people have so far responded to a survey trying to assess the extent of problem gambling in the island.
The survey was promoted on more than 800,000 milk cartons over several weeks in August and September, asking for people to complete an online survey being run by the In-dependence charity.
Manager Tracey Rear, pictured, said that while it had heard that gambling was an issue it had little information about the extent of the problem. Islanders had also not realised it worked with gambling addicts as well as people affected by drugs or alcohol.
Since the survey went live it has been completed by 92 people, said Ms Rear.
The majority, 65%, were non-problem gamblers; 21% were low-risk gamblers, 9% were moderate risk and 5%, high risk.
Ms Rear said that many reported that they were gambling with scratchcards or a combination of the cards and other forms of gambling such as horse racing, sports, lotteries, poker, scratch and casino games.
These had a high proportion of the high-risk gamblers than the other reported types, she said.
‘Respondents to the survey are self-selecting and not necessarily representative of the population at large.’
She appealed to anyone who has experienced gambling-related harms such as relationship problems, issues with finances, mental health concerns or problems at work, to make contact with the group.
She thanked those who had completed the survey and encouraged anyone who had not done to visit independence.gg/gambling.
Ms Rear said that once all the data is collected it will be collated and the charity will consider what to do next.
The survey has been made possible thanks to funding from the Social Investment Fund and is planned to remain online until the end of January.
Decals promoting the survey will continue to appear in shop windows.
