The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) has confirmed the gambling-related harm research, education and treatment (RET) organisations that will receive funding from the statutory levy.
The body, which sits under the umbrella of the Department of Health and Social Care, has allocated £25,441,281 to 33 different voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector groups.
GamCare received the largest amount of funding of all the RET sector organisations, being allocated just over £4m.
Young person protection charity YGAM received £3m, while fellow charity Betknowmore was granted £2.9m.
Both Gambling Harm UK and the North East Council on Addictions (NECA) received £1.2m each, and the Kent-based Council for Voluntary Service Medway was given £1.3m.
Other groups which were allocated more than £1m in funding include BetBlocker, the Addiction Recovery Agency and Citizens Advice Wokingham.
The OHID said it will separately distribute a further £12m to upper-tier local councils for the 2026-27 cycle, with the money derived from the prevention strand of the statutory levy.
An OHID statement read: “The objectives of the VCSE sector gambling harms prevention and resilience fund, in relation to gambling harms prevention in England, are to sustain and strengthen the VCSE sector to deliver equitable and innovative prevention strategies, build capacity and capability for effective and sustainable project delivery and develop an independent, evidence-based approach to public health policy decision-making.
“All funding decisions have been made following a robust, fair and transparent assessment process, in line with the published eligibility requirements and scoring criteria. We have also conducted due diligence checks, to ensure decisions have been taken in line with the risk and assurance thresholds required for public funding.
“This provisional list does not guarantee that these organisations will be funded. The funding is subject to grant agreements being finalised. It is possible that the organisations and funding amounts may change.”
Funding applicants were obliged to complete a declaration of interest form as part of the application process, with the submission window open between 14 January to 6 February 2026.
Organisations also had to commit to not receiving direct industry funding – excluding The National Lottery and social lotteries – after 1 April 2026.
The OHID was named as commissioner for the statutory levy when the system was introduced in April 2025, replacing GambleAware in the role of funding distributor.
Under the levy system, operators are obliged to donate up to 1.1% of their gross gambling yield, as opposed to the voluntary donation framework that was previously overseen by GambleAware.
GambleAware has since ceased its operations, officially closing down at the end of March.
Last month, the Scottish government announced £7.9m worth of RET sector funding had been distributed, with recipients including Public Health Scotland, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and Fast Forward.
Earlier in March, multiple industry sources told EGR some of the English organisations that missed out on funding were facing closure. A week later, the DCMS announced the launch of a last-minute transition fund to protect the organisations at risk.
BetBlocker was one of the first organisations in England to announce it had received levy funding last month.
Writing on LinkedIn, BetBlocker founder Duncan Garvie said: “Firstly, we want to thank the OHID team. We were likely one of the more challenging applicants that OHID had to manage – due to the international nature of our service – and we appreciate their patience and rigor as they considered our application.
“I feel humbled for BetBlocker to be approved in this manner. Being entrusted to deliver free blocking software for England is not something I take lightly. Whilst we’re obviously very happy to receive this support, and to have our work considered appropriate to receive funding, I feel the weight of this grant.
“But as proud as I feel about the award, the last few weeks have been very
bittersweet for me. So many important organisations, delivering high quality services, were unsuccessful in securing funding. These decisions have real world consequences and present potentially existential challenges for those organisations.”
The post OHID confirms recipients of £25m statutory levy funding first appeared on EGR Intel.
GamCare, Ygam, BetBlocker and Betknowmore among the 33 RET organisations provisionally allocated resources, with a further £12m funnelled towards local councils
The post OHID confirms recipients of £25m statutory levy funding first appeared on EGR Intel.