The financial contributions made by the British betting and gaming industry to the country’s public health infrastructure have been praised by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) in a recent video.
Notable highlights include the £10 million donation made by Denise Coates – founder, majority shareholder and joint CEO of bet365 – to North Midlands NHS hospitals during the public health crisis.
Additionally, the BGC also highlighted the £1.25 million raised for Armed Forces charities, Marie Curie and Prostate Cancer UK by the latest Britannia Stakes meeting.
The race, held on 17 June during the Royal Ascot festival, saw contributions made by Flutter Entertainment (Paddy Power, Betfair, Sky Bet), bet365, Entain (Ladbrokes, Coral), William Hill, Kindred (Unibet), BetVictor, Betway, Rank Group (Grosvenor Sport) and AnzoGroup (Livescore Bet and Virgin Bet), plus the Tote, Fitzdares and Sporting Index.
“The pandemic has brought out the good in people, but our members have always supported charities that support health and wellbeing,” the BGC explained.
This support is demonstrated, the standards body argued, by examples such as the Gamesys Foundation’s donation of sponsorships during Loose Women broadcasts on ITV to promote women’s aid during the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Sky Betting and Gaming is partnered with Macmillan Cancer support, Kindred sports-focused campaigns around men’s mental health and Genting Casinos UK’s backing of wheelchair provider CHIPS.
Lastly, the BGC also noted the betting industry’s environmental initiatives, as members of the public and cross-industry figures become increasingly aware of and vocal about the impacts of climate change and pollution.
Notably, at the start of last year, William Hill made the decision to transfer 100% of its UK electricity supply to renewable sources as part of a new green energy plan.
The operator – now owned by 888 Holdings – maintains a three-year contract with Total Gas and Power, and as a result now derives 100% of its energy from solar, wind and hydro sources, saving almost 61,500 tonnes of CO2, the equivalent to 38,000 cars in the UK or a transatlantic flight from London to Las Vegas.
The video release from the BGC comes ahead of the publishing of the Gambling Act review White Paper later this year, which is projected to significantly overhaul the regulatory oversight of the British betting and gaming sector.
Earlier last year, the group stressed the importance of the betting sector’s financial support for sports, detailing how on top of the aforementioned £40 million contribution to football, the industry also generates over £10 million to darts and snooker and more than £2.5 million for rugby league.
Meanwhile, the organisation has also promoted the UK as ‘one of the safest places in the world to place a bet’, outlining the numerous safeguarding measures in place.
These policies include cooling off periods, deposit limits, age and ID verification and a ban on credit card use for gambling, regardless of the type of gambling consumers enjoy – whether that be retail high street betting, online sports betting, casinos or bingo.
