The centre, which will be the first both in the UK and across the world, will be based in the Midlands and will offer a unique, safe environment to treat 24 women who are severely impacted by gambling disorders on an annual basis.
Gordon Moody chief executive Matthew Hickey said: “Gambling is the hidden addiction and hidden further again within that is the story of women gamblers and women who are affected others. There is an absolutely urgent need to change this and the impact of Covid means this is a growing crisis that needs to be tackled with more expertise and resources.
“Gordon Moody Association has been addressing this challenge for a number of years through its retreat and counselling programme, and we now have plans to expand our treatment capacity within the next year to help urgently deal with this growing challenge.
“But we feel this is just the beginning of what needs to be done and we will be arguing for much more capacity to be built and expert therapists to be trained in future.”
The new Gordon Moody programme has pledged to:
- Be inclusive of LGBT and BAME communities as well as other ethnic and minority groups as the UK Gambling Commission evidences the prevalence of gambling-related harm to be higher among these groups.
- Set up a residential treatment centre that will initially cater for 24 women with disordered gambling on a yearly basis.
- Provide support tailored to the needs of women from ethnic and minority groups
- Offer counselling to the friends and families of the affected gambler
Last year, data collected from Gamcare, Gamble Aware and Gambling Therapy (as part of the National Gambling Treatment Service) revealed that 30% of helpline calls came from women, with 59% seeking help for another and 41% seeking help for themselves. This equates to approximately 9,000 women.
Source: www.sbcnews.co.uk/gma-to-open-worlds-first-residential-gambling-treatment-centre-for-women/