Gamble Aware Week comes to Chinatown
Association of British Bookmakers
Following the success of similar events, the Association of British Bookmakers has teamed up with the Chinese National Healthy Living Centre (CNHLC) and GamCare to run ‘Gamble Aware Week Chinatown’ this week.
In the lead up to Chinese New Year, bilingual posters are being displayed in all the betting shops in Chinatown, bearing the message “Never bet more than you can afford to lose” with clear advice to:
The posters and in-shop leaflets, written in traditional Chinese and English, will provide details of free Chinese language counselling and drop-in information services available during the week in partnership with GamCare and CNHLC.
It is a Chinese tradition for people to try to clear their debts before the beginning of the New Year otherwise they may have bad luck. This, combined with the Chinese communities’ cultural ties to gambling (betting on Mah-jong games since 10AD) could lead some vulnerable people in the Chinese community to try to use gambling as a means of clearing their debts rather than as the leisure pursuit as intended.
This has led to the week-long campaign, specifically targeted at the Chinese community for the first time.
Eddie Chan, the Director of the Chinese National Healthy Living Centre, said:
“Gambling is a tradition in the Chinese community, but all of us want to ensure people do so in a responsible way.
We are excited to be able to work closely with the betting shop industry on this important project in this key area of our community, and ensure together that people never bet more than they can afford to lose.”
Malcolm George, Chief Executive of the Association of British Bookmakers, added that: “Betting shops in Chinatown and elsewhere offer the safest place to gamble. We want all our customers to enjoy their leisure time in our shops and our clear advice will help them do that.
This is the start of a long commitment by betting shops to work with the Chinese community, including training for our staff on issues relating to culture and the most appropriate behaviour in dealing with Chinese customers.”
Gamble Aware Week runs in Chinatown until Sunday 29th January, the start of Chinese New Year. Alongside the shop posters, the ABB will also advertise Gamble Aware in the Chinese New Year supplement being published by West End Extra newspaper.
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