My name is Lauren and I am the Policy and Practice Lead for Gambling Harm at Simon Community Scotland (SCS). I have been researching gambling harm within our services for the past 14 months and working with organisations across the UK to share learning on how to support people experiencing gambling harm. 

My role is challenging and interesting, and my favourite part is speaking to people we support about their experiences of gambling harm and how it intersects with their experience of homelessness. 

Last year, funded by Gamble Aware,  SCS started to analyse the scope and prevalence of gambling harm with the people we support in our supported accommodations, hubs and support groups. We quickly discovered that the majority of people we spoke to have or were directly or indirectly affected by gambling harm throughout their lives. 

I’ve heard stories from people we are supporting about their parents gambling when they were younger, resulting in the family experiencing homelessness. I was shocked to learn of children being removed from their home and family and taken into the care system as a direct result of gambling in their family. 

People shared memories of standing outside the bookies for hours, whilst caregivers were inside the bookies. One person told me about spending more time in the bingo hall than with their partner, resulting in a separation and being asked to leave the house they shared – resulting in registering as being homeless.  

• 1 in 5 people who experience homelessness also experience gambling harm.
• This is disproportionate to the general population, with only 1 in 50 people experiencing gambling harm. Why is there a disparity in equity of harm?  

The gambling industry advertises and promises a ‘way out’, an ‘easy fix’ to people’s money issues – they prey on people who are financially insecure and more likely to spend their money on gambling. 

Think about where bookies are clustered in your local area – why do we need more than one on a high street? What premises are they located beside? Usually pubs and fast food outlets. 

The reality is that gambling is perpetuating the cycle of poverty and making it harder for people to move out of homelessness. 

Private renting agencies will not accept someone as a tenant if they have multiple gambling transactions on their bank statements and that is also the case for banks confirming mortgages. Gambling can contribute to relationship and family breakdowns, rent and bill arrears, domestic violence, debt and deteriorating mental health – all of which can lead to someone being asked to leave their accommodation. 

One of the people we support said to me:  

“At one point 90% of my money was going on gambling. Nothing good comes of it. I lost everything. And no-one knew, because no-one asked.”

At Simon Community Scotland, we deliver an enhanced harm reduction model within our services and develop non-judgemental relationships with people we support so that they trust us and feel supported and valued by our staff. 

These relationships start with our staff being knowledgeable and proactive about gambling harms and its links with homelessness. We partnered with Fast Forward last year to create a Homelessness and Gambling Harm E-Learning module – this online training was designed for staff who support people at risk of or experiencing homelessness but is free for everyone to access. 

We also want staff to be confident to engage people they are supporting in conversation about gambling and create a tailored support plan with them to reduce the harm gambling is causing in their lives. To support our teams and housing staff across Scotland, we created a Homelessness and Gambling Harm Toolkit which includes a support pathway, activities and further information about gambling. 

Our hope and aim is that our staff, and housing staff throughout Scotland, will start asking questions about gambling harm to prevent the harm from reaching critical levels. 

I have learned so much over the last year and I am delighted to have the opportunity to push forward and continue to research the links between gambling harms and homelessness. Everyone at Simon Community Scotland is determined to do more – to develop partnerships and offer support. 

Gambling harm is hidden and silent. You cannot see if someone is being harmed – someone could be sitting on their phone in front of you right now losing money and you would not know.

This is why we are encouraging people to ask those they are supporting this introductory question- 

• Is your own gambling or that of someone else causing you any worries? 

What have you got to lose by asking? 

If you want to talk further about Gambling Harm and Homelessness, please contact Lauren here.