GGBA Proudly Announces the Gibraltar Gambling Care Foundation

The Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association (GBGA) has shown its premium class of late by leading the way in the international fight against problem gambling with a newly registered charity, called the Gibraltar Gambling Care Foundation (GGCF). 

The non-profit organisation’s main objectives are to successfully fund research into the study of responsible gambling with the aid of the University of Gibraltar. The desired end outcome is that consumers, regulators, and gambling companies will have a greater insight into what real harm gambling inflicts on people and better understand how to protect vulnerable players from these vices. 

The Chairman of the GGCF, Stephen Reyes, finds encouragement in the fact that they can finally undertake this important mission. He said: 

“We are thrilled that the Foundation is up and running and that we can now commence the funding of research into these critically important areas with the support of the University of Gibraltar. 

Gibraltar is known globally as a premier jurisdiction in the online gambling area, so it is great that as an industry the operators have come together and set up and formed this charitable Foundation to invest in academic research to inform effective initiatives to encourage responsible gambling and prevent gambling harm.” 

One of the most prominent and positive catchphrases in the online gambling space right now is the endearing term ‘’gamble responsibly.” In a world where human rights are so heavily supported, the social responsibility of casinos and betting companies is a necessary and important facet of an effective business model.  

Gambling is fun entertainment, but it is also potentially destructive. That is why so many gambling regulators around the world are so interested in making their market space as safe as possible. 

 The Plan of Action 

The charity has been established to run independently of the GBGA. Councillors, Stephen Reyes and Selvan Soobiah will head this valuable initiative going forward with Belvedere Trustees Limited acting as a corporate councillor on the board. 

The gaming companies licenced in Gibraltar deserve congratulations for raising a generous £2.5 million to fund the initiative for at least the next three years. The funding is for the support of the Centre of Excellence in Responsible Gaming (CERG) which has been instituted by the University of Gibraltar to undertake the task set before them.  

CERG seeks to pioneer its studies into five primary areas, including: 

• The impact of gaming across personal and societal landscapes. 
• Research into the prevalence of gambling addiction and other negative behaviour associated with it, and the mitigating factors that could successfully prevent the impacts of gambling. 
• The study of practical solutions that operators can implement to best help vulnerable players. 
• Establishing an effective standardised method of identifying, monitoring, and measuring problem gambling issues. 
• The creation of helpful open-source databases for academic studies in the future. 

This initiative is an exemplary example of the type of action needed in the industry to make sure that gambling remains fun! A greater understanding of the subject is sure to make the practical tools provided by casinos and betting sites more effective in the long run.  

While the currently used responsible gambling tools on offer are helpful and effective to a degree, we require cutting-edge solutions that deal effectively with the root of the disorder and combat it efficiently there. This study will hopefully teach the industry the full skill set necessary to successfully meet the needs of the playing public.