GMA continue to provide treatment through lockdown
It’s been a challenging week for us here at Gordon Moody, as it has been for so many people. We’ve had to act quickly and make some critical decisions about how we keep going during a month-long lockdown and offer support to the growing numbers of people contacting us and urgently looking for help.
A new lockdown has brought increased concerns to many people, and problem gamblers and their families are feeling those concerns very intensely. We know as well that problems and anxieties are mounting at present for so many in society, with a lot of uncertainty and confusion in the wider world at the moment.
A consequence of that is that we’ve had many more inquiries than normal this week.
Our starting point with all inquiries to us is we understand your concerns and we’re here to get you the help you need. We aim to ensure that any cry for help doesn’t go unheard.
And while we’d always say that gambling is not the answer to any problem, we want people to know that we are here for them when it does become a problem.
We want those really struggling with gambling addiction to reach out to us to help them find the right support at this testing time.
For some it will be entering into residential treatment with us or as part of our outreach work. For others it may be more appropriate for them to be referred to other agencies who can offer different help.
Whatever is needed, our staff and support structures will be there to help as quickly as we can and as effectively as we can.
Our message is simple: Reach out to us and we’ll find you the help you need.
If you are in need of help you can apply for a place on one of our treatment services at
www.gordonmoody.org.uk
GMA to give evidence to the Westminster All-party parliamentary group
While our focus has been very much on what’s in front of us this week, that hasn’t stopped us thinking about our plans for the future – particularly how to grow our service and more widely provide quality treatment to those who need our help.
We’ve been sharing our newsletter this week with major stakeholders to help make them aware of what we’re doing and to start conversations about how they can help us build Gordon Moody.
There’s a growing recognition of the need for more treatment capacity in the UK to deal with problem gambling, with growing media coverage of the issue in the run-up to the anticipated government review of the gambling industry.
Next week our chief executive Matthew Hickey will be giving evidence to the Westminster All-party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on gambling related harm.
Matthew will be answering questions – via an online link – on gambling and lockdown on 10 November.
The APPG particularly want to look at the impact of how our operations have changed during lockdown, and also look at the impact of gambling-related harm within families during lockdown and how we see things developing long-term as a result of lockdown.
It’s a welcome opportunity and we’re glad that the group is asking these questions. For our charity it will be a chance to share the very concrete evidence we have of the growing severity of problems being experienced during lockdown by problem gamblers and their families.
We’ll also be reinforcing our message that we need a national conversation about problem gambling and how best to treat it. We have to find a way to start to remove the stigma of gambling as the hidden addiction and ensure that services are funded in a way that tackles the challenge on a much bigger scale than is the case now.
Until next week, stay safe, look after yourself and each other.