Researchers at the University of Sheffield are helping lead what officials describe as the country’s biggest independent effort yet to better understand gambling harm and reduce its impact across Britain.
The new Gambling Harms Research UK Evidence Centre brings together academics from Sheffield, Glasgow, Swansea and King’s College London. Funding comes through the government’s statutory Gambling Levy and is backed by UK Research and Innovation as ministers continue rolling out reforms from the Gambling White Paper.
Researchers involved in the program say the goal is to give policymakers, health services and charities stronger evidence about which interventions genuinely reduce harm and where support services are falling short. The work will also involve economists, public health specialists, advocacy groups and people with direct experience of gambling-related problems.
According to the University of Sheffield, gambling harm is estimated to cost the UK around £1.4 billion ($1.9 billion) every year through pressure on healthcare services, criminal justice systems and wider social impacts including debt, depression, relationship breakdown and suicide.
Professor John Holmes, Professor of Alcohol Policy at the University of Sheffield and Director of the Sheffield Addictions Research Group, said: “Gambling harms can have devastating consequences for people’s mental health, relationships, finances and, in the most serious cases, leading to loss of life. Yet for too long, there have been major gaps in the evidence available to policymakers, health services and charities working to reduce that harm.”
“This new centre is a hugely important step forward. By bringing together leading researchers, people with lived experience and organisations working on the frontline, we have a real opportunity to strengthen understanding of gambling-related harms and identify the actions that can make the biggest difference to people’s lives.”
New UK gambling harms research center expands into wider public health concerns
Alongside the national center, Sheffield researchers are also leading two related partnerships focused on prevention and treatment. One project, known as G-PULSE, plans to build computer models measuring how gambling policies could affect behaviour, public health outcomes, economic costs and inequality across Great Britain.
Professor Squires said: “I’m looking forward to designing a four-year research programme to develop new gambling prevention policy computer modelling for Great Britain which will assess the impact of gambling prevention policies on behaviour, health, costs and fairness between different groups of people to help inform future policy.”
Another partnership led by Professor Matt Field and Dr. Jen Brown will examine treatment, support and recovery services for people experiencing gambling harm.
The push comes as British authorities also increase pressure on illegal gambling operators through a new national enforcement taskforce and wider public health initiatives. Gambling-related harm has additionally become part of discussions around England’s first men’s health strategy and new Ministry of Defence policies designed to reduce gambling risks among military veterans and serving personnel.
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