CHASM co-hosted the ‘Problem Gambling: Tackling gambling related harm summit’, alongside the Birmingham Financial Inclusion Partnership, on 27 February 2019.
The event was held at the Council House in Birmingham and featured CHASM Deputy Director, Professor Karen Rowlingson who shared the report findings from our CHASM study for Birmingham City Council, Iain Corby, Deputy Chief Executive of GambleAware, Head of England Illegal Money Lending Team, Tony Quigley and Rob Burkitt, Lead for Shared Regulation at the Gambling Commission, as well as a number of others.
The event was attended by around 100 industry professionals, city front-line workers, researchers and prevention specialists to examine the issue of problem gambling from a variety of perspectives. It was an opportunity to raise awareness of and discuss potential solutions to gambling related harm which links to a series of other serious problems including debt, domestic abuse, homelessness, crime, mental health and suicide.
Taking part in a panel discussion to address a range of these issues that concluded the day were Inspector Imran Mirza from West Midlands Police, Dan Packe from Aquarius (a local substance misuse support centre), Chris Neville, Acting Director of Licensing at Birmingham City Council and Joanna Rowlands from Leeds Council Financial Inclusion Team.
At the conclusion of the event, it was agreed that a task group would be set up to help the City of Birmingham develop a strategy to tackle harmful gambling. Both Professor Karen Rowlingson and Director of CHASM, Professor Andy Lymer, have been invited to be part of this group going forward.