Gambling in the South Asian Community

‘Breaking the Sharam with Gambling Harm’

Gambling in the Asian Community is often a hidden problem. This new video highlights gambling related harm in Asian communities.

Gambling-related harm has been high on the government’s agenda for some time. The Beacon Counselling Trust has been putting the spotlight on protecting Culturally and Linguistically Diverse communities. Research has shown ethnic communities in the UK are less likely to gamble than the overall population. But those who gamble are more likely to experience harm than those identified as white.

Beacon Counselling Trust and Ara are leading a pioneering project. This is funded by the Gambling Commission, which will provide support at grassroots level. The aim is to encourage people to:

  • talk openly about the challenges of gambling
  • work through language and cultural barriers they face in getting the help they need.

Ara are working in partnership on this two-year funded project with Beacon Counselling Trust. We are currently recruiting for South West-based BAME Community Connecter posts to extend this much needed work in addressing inequalities and engaging the most vulnerable members within our society.

To learn more about this programme and other services, please go to:

Gambling in the South Asian Commmunity

How to get in touch and find out more about Ara

Our most important message is people suffering gambling harms are not alone.

There are an estimated 30,000 people with experiencing disordered gambling in Wales alone.

This figure doesn’t include those at risk of developing harm, or the average of 7 affected others who also experience harms from another’s gambling.

Please get in touch via our Get Support page or give us a call on 0330 1340 286

What support is on offer?

We have a range of interventions on offer, but our most important one is to listen.

  • Welsh and English language counsellors and materials are available
  • Self-exclusion tools and toolkits that help people re-evaluate their relationship with gambling