Odds Are They Win - Gambling Support

This summer, as the World Cup brings football – and a wave of gambling advertising – into homes. Talk Community is supporting "Odds Are They Win", a public health campaign tackling gambling harms.

Gambling harm can affect anyone, at any time. It is driven by addictive products and marketing designed to keep people gambling and spending. During major tournaments, fans are targeted relentlessly: more than half of televised gambling ads feature free bets or financial incentives, and six in ten people in the UK see gambling ads at least once a week. Meanwhile, the industry keeps £16.8 billion a year from customer losses.

Odds Are They Win – first developed in Manchester in 2022 and refreshed with input from people with lived experience for this summer’s tournament – names how the industry operates so that anyone experiencing harm feels able to seek support. Stigma is one of the biggest barriers to reaching out, so every message rests on a simple principle: it's not your fault, you are not alone, and help is available.

The campaign reaches much further when partners across the NHS, councils and the voluntary and community sector share it. A communications kit, including ready-to-use social posts and assets, is available for any organisation to use.

For a full list of support, visit the Talk Community Help with gambling debt page. Free and confidential support
is available 24 hours a day through the National Gambling Helpline, 0808 8020 133, with live chat and WhatsApp also available. GamFam offers peer support for affected family and friends, and the NHS National Centre for Behavioural Addictions takes self-referrals.

If someone is in immediate distress, NHS 111 (option 2) and 999 are there at any hour.