The Gambling Support Service delivered across the North West by Citizens Advice Wirral will be offering a free Introduction to Gambling Related Harm training session remotely, for frontline staff and volunteers in the wake of the current pandemic.
The service which has been in operation since January 2019 has so far delivered training and awareness sessions to over one thousand frontline staff and volunteers across the region from a variety of organisations including local councils, department of work and pensions, housing associations, local charities and community projects.
The sessions describe the impact of gambling in our communities including the reasons why people gamble. It also defines and looks at how we might identify gambling related harms and how this can affect people. Finally we provide information on the specialist support services who are available to help problem gamblers and those affected by problem gamblers. This would include details of how to make referrals into local treatment provision.
Since the project’s inception it’s value has been shown across the gambing prevention network in the North West providing staff with the knowledge and confidence to be able to support their service users.
Regarding the project, Neil Platt, the clinical director of the North West’s gambling harms treatment and support provision Beacon Counselling Trust said “we encourage everyone (staff ,volunteers and the general public) to be aware of the potential impact of gambling on their health and well being during the COVID-19 pandemic.
To help support this, the training offered by the CAB provides a practical and proactive approach for front line staff and volunteers to recognise the potential signs and symptoms of the impact of gambling related harm on individuals and communities during this time and to facilitate a pathway into appropriate, free , local and confidential support services.
We recommend this free training to help not just others accessing your service, but yourself and close family members during these difficult times “
A frontline worker who has attended a training session provided the following feedback ‘the session has made me more aware of the issues around gambling and the existence of support services catering from those experiencing gambling related harms. It was a very interesting training course with good facility for group discussion and participation’
Each training session is free and will be conducted using remote video calling software such as Google Meet or Cisco Webex. Sessions will last around one hour. There are also two CPD points available for anyone who attends.
For further information or to book on a training sessions please contact James Callaway at james.callaway@geoffr13.sg-host.com
