GambleAware has recommissioned the Scottish Gambling Education Hub (SGEH) for a further three years.

Run by Edinburgh-based youth wellbeing and education charity Fast Forward, the SGEH has delivered gambling harm and addiction awareness courses since 2018.

Fast Forward will maintain its grant funding by GambleAware to support young people and adults o raise awareness of gambling harms across Scottish communities, ensuring that victims can seek support and advice.

“The Scottish Education Hub has engaged with young people, parents, the community and youth workers in an impactful and creative way to deliver unique projects over the years.” said Dr Jane Rigbye, Prevention Director at GambleAware.

“We are delighted to support them further in their prevention and education work and look forward to publishing the independent evaluation of the project for their work in 2022.”

To date, the HSGEH has trained staff from more than 550 different organisations across all 32 local authorities in Scotland, including schools, colleges, universities, youth work and family services.

During  2019, the SGEH established the Scottish Gambling Education Network (SGEN) a directive to bring together individuals from a variety of settings with the aim to share best practices, provide support and help establish, sustain, and improve gambling education and prevention provision across Scotland. The Hub will continue to facilitate and broaden the scope of SGEN activities, introducing hosting a national conference in 2022.

Allie Cherry-Byrnes, Fast Forward’s CEO said: “Fast Forward’s work supports young people to make informed choices regarding risk-taking behaviours, towards positive life-long health outcomes.

“Gambling has become normalised in our communities, with many young people affected by their own gambling, or by the gambling of a parent, carer, or family member.