Gambling Harms and Homelessness
Gambling Harms and Homelessness
Raising awareness, reducing stigma and learning how to give better support alongside people affected by gambling.
What is gambling harm and why does it matter?
Gambling is rarely mentioned when discussing homelessness, even though it can contribute to relationship and family breakdowns, rent and bill arrears, domestic violence, debt and deteriorating mental health – all of which can lead to no longer having a home or safe place to live.
Gambling harms are “the adverse impacts from gambling on the health and wellbeing of individuals, families, communities and society.” These harms affect people’s resources, relationships, and health.
Please note: the website mentioned at the end of this animation is launching soon! (See more below).
People need better support
Gambling is more prevalent among people with a lower income, and the gambling industry exploits this. We want to make it easier for people to get the support they need.
Working with people we support and Fast Forward, we have co-created resources for our staff and volunteers. Our toolkit and e-learning resource is available to other organisations working to end homelessness. We are also using what we're learning to adapt our service delivery and how we support people day-to-day. Learn more about some of approaches, service delivery and projects below.
What does our support look like?
Drop-in and free support for people affected by gambling
Gambling harm drop-in clinics happen every month in our Edinburgh Support Hub and Glasgow Access Hub. These drop-ins are facilitated by the RCA Trust to raise awareness and normalise speaking about gambling. The drop-ins ensure that people can get easy access to treatment and support. The RCA Trust can also provide brief interventions if that's what people need and want.
Workshops and personalised support for women
We have a dedicated member of staff in our Connect Hub who is there to help anyone using our service who is also affected by gambling. We host regular workshops where the women work together using their lived experience to create resources to support other women. We practice harm reduction techniques with people who are experiencing harm from gambling. We also have strong links with treatment and support providers in Scotland so we can stay informed and link people into the services they need.
Website for women, created by women
Coming soon: We are creating a website for women affected by or experiencing gambling harm. This will be an online space to raise awareness of the harms of gambling, reduce stigma, offer online support and to easily signpost women to dedicated services. The website is being co-designed by a steering group of women who have experienced or been affected by gambling and understand its links with homelessness, finances, mental health and relationships.
Learning more so we can support people better
Supporting teams and organisations to learn skills, gain experience and access the resources they need to.
Simon Community Scotland and Fast Forward have been working together to develop resources and training to support staff's learning and development.
We started the project because we recognised that many homelessness organisations (including ourselves!) would typically ask everyone in our services about substances like alcohol and drugs. However, asking about harm of gambling, whether from their own or someone else’s gambling, was not part of the conversation.
In Scotland, very little attention has been given looking at the relationship between gambling and homelessness. We are proud to be changing this so that we can help change lives for the better.
We want everyone who works supporting people affected by homelessness to:
- Understand how homelessness and gambling are connected
- Have more in-depth knowledge of gambling products and their harms
- Understand the harms associated with homelessness
- Be able to identify signs of gambling harm among people experiencing homelessness
- Be confident opening discussions around gambling harm and signposting people to relevant services.
Toolkit
Our Gambling Harms and Homelessness Toolkit is for staff who support people at risk of or experiencing homelessness. It includes activities that you can use with people to open discussions about gambling and provides a support plan that you can follow. We have included relevant statistics and stories from people that we support who have lived experience of gambling. The toolkit offers a uniquely Scottish perspective on the links between gambling and homelessness, along with loads of material to improve how we support people day to day.
Created in partnership with Fast Forward.
E-learning course (free)
This e-learning course takes a public health and harm reduction approach. It is an excellent first step for professionals, families and individuals who want to understand the links between gambling harm and homelessness. It is designed to increase a person's confidence and knowledge so they can offer better support to anyone they know who is affected by gambling harms.
- Free for anyone to use.
- Interactive and self-directed
- Includes points for reflection, short quizzes, videos and up-to-date stats and figures
- Split into sections so that you can dip in and out of your learning journey.
Start the Homelessness and Gambling Harms e-learning course today.
Please see the accompanying toolkit for an overview of the information included in this e-learning, along with activities and resources that you can use.
Created in partnership with Fast Forward.
Internal training
Leadership and learning go hand in hand. We continue to further embed gambling harm into all of our services. To support staff learning and development we have been hosting small training sessions for our staff that have been co-facilitated with people from the lived experience community. These training sessions have included story sharing, questions, up-skilling on what services organisations provide and advising staff on how to access further learning resources.
One Last Spin
One Last Spin is a 30-minute film that depicts real life stories about people's experiences of gambling harm, academics talking about their research and changemakers discussing policy.
