OHID Awards Over £39m from Gambling Levy with Nearly £5m to Gambling With Lives Sparking Industry Criticism

The British government has unveiled recipients of over £39m in funds from the statutory levy on gambling harms. The announcement includes grants to treatment providers and education groups but has drawn industry criticism for directing money to an advocacy organization.

GamCare, operator of the National Gambling Helpline, received £4m. Gambling Harm UK was awarded £1.2m, while YGAM obtained £3m. BetBlocker secured £1.1m and Gamban received £2.7m. The latter sum represents a recovery for Gamban, which was excluded from the first £25m tranche announced in April and had shifted to a paid subscription model in England and Wales before returning to free service.

Gambling With Lives (GWL) obtained £1.8m, with its Chapter One initiative receiving a further £3m. That brings GWL’s total close to £5m. The group operates as both a support provider for families affected by gambling-related suicide and an advocacy organization that lobbied during the 2020-2023 review of the 2005 Gambling Act and ahead of the 2025 and 2026 budgets that increased gambling taxes.

Industry Reaction to Advocacy Funding

Some gambling industry figures have expressed displeasure on LinkedIn at a “prohibitionist” organization receiving funds from a levy paid by the industry itself. Derek Webb, a former professional gambler and reform lobbyist who has also supported the Campaign to End Gambling Advertising, has provided financial backing to GWL. Nigel Harvey, a gambling compliance consultant, wrote: “I’m not anti the levy, and there’s some outstanding organisations on the list who will spend their allocation well providing meaningful help to those who suffer from gambling related harms. It’s the prohibitionist grifters that winds me up. GWL for example getting £1.8m to spend another two years making up stats to further their aim to destroy a pastime safely enjoyed by millions of people with little consequence other than a pointless note from the GC saying ‘please don’t do that’.”

Grant Process and Outstanding Questions

Applications were submitted between 14 January and 6 February 2026. OHID described the decisions as the product of a thorough, fair and transparent assessment process aligned with published eligibility requirements and scoring criteria. Due diligence checks were completed against public funding risk thresholds. All applicants submitted a declaration of interest and committed to not receiving direct industry funding after 1 April 2026. As reported by SBC News, outreach to GWL and the Department of Health and Social Care for additional detail on project plans and criteria has not yet produced a response.

The allocations highlight the statutory levy’s role in supporting harm reduction while surfacing questions about boundaries between treatment delivery and policy advocacy when industry contributions are involved.