Royal Society for Public Health targets online gambling with new campaign
New initiative aims to encourage breaks from gambling online
The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) has launched a new “Scroll Free September” campaign aiming to encourage individuals to take a break from online gambling throughout September.
‘Scroll Free September’, launched in conjunction with the GambleAware ‘Bet Regret’ campaign, asks online gamblers to voluntarily self-exclude from gambling online by selecting one of five plans which focus on the instances where individuals gamble.
These plans include Busy Bee, where an individual takes a break in or at work to gamble online, Sleeping Dog, where an individual uses a toilet break to gamble online and Social Butterfly, which an individual takes time from social events to gamble.
In addition to these three categories, other plans include Night Owl, a plan which allows individuals to self-exclude from online gambling any time after 6pm, and Cold Turkey, which enables individuals to self-exclude for a period of 30 days.
The previous Scroll Free September campaign, which ran in 2018 was hailed as a success by the RSPH, with 96% of individuals surveyed saying that it improved their relationship with social media.
Shirley Cramer, CEO of the RSPH, said widening the campaign to include online gambling was an important step in facilitating a better understanding of the causes of gambling related harm.
“By asking the public to use Scroll Free September as an opportunity to abstain from online gambling, we hope to place gambling harm further at the forefront of public health thinking and as a serious threat to our public’s health in its own right,” Cramer added.
Marc Etches, GambleAware CEO, highlighted the need or individuals to take a break from their online devices due to the prevalence of gambling online.
“We’re pleased to be supporting Scroll Free September and hope it will inspire people to take a moment to think about their betting habits,” Etches added.