High-impact educational charity Ygam is set to receive a £3 million funding allocation from the newly established VCSE Gambling Harms Prevention and Resilience Fund.
Commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care’s Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), the capital will sustain Ygam’s evidence-led harm prevention, early intervention, and school education programs for a two-year cycle spanning from 2026 to 2028.
A Public Health Framework for Preventative Education
The capital injection will explicitly fund Ygam’s localized deployment across the South West, South East, Greater London, East Midlands, Northwest, and East of England, while simultaneously supporting nationwide training projects. Over the past decade, the charity has established a robust track record, working directly with schools, parent groups, and community clubs to establish the gold standard for preventative gaming education.
Through its fully certified, CPD-accredited training workshops, Ygam equips trusted adults, including classroom teachers, youth workers, and parents, with the specific resources, psychological insights, and operational confidence required to identify risk factors and protect young individuals from gambling-related harms. Since its launch in 2014, the organization has successfully educated over 39,000 active participants, delivering measurable impact to approximately 6.5 million children throughout the United Kingdom.
The Impact of the Statutory Operator Levy
This funding represents an initial allocation distributed under Great Britain’s newly legislated statutory levy, which applies to all licensed commercial gambling operators. The levy successfully generated £120 million in its inaugural year, with the proceeds strictly divided across independent academic research, localized prevention networks, and specialized treatment programs to address gambling-related harms.
The OHID serves as the primary commissioning body for the prevention strand, managing 30% of the total levy budget.
Emily Tofield, Chief Executive of Ygam, outlined how the funding will safeguard the next generation against emerging digital risks:
“Our evidence-led programmes, which are grounded in a public health approach and informed by lived experience, have already reached and safeguarded millions of children and young people across the UK. This funding will enable us to continue to build on our deep and proven track record of delivering measurable impact in the gambling harms prevention field, supported by independent evaluation. Education will always have a central role to play in effective prevention strategies, and this funding will contribute to ensuring the next generation is equipped with the knowledge, skills and understanding to be resilient to the potential risks and harms of gambling. We look forward to working alongside OHID, the Government and other stakeholders committed to our shared goals.”
