Ygam Secures £3 Million Statutory Levy Funding to Scale Youth Gambling Harm Prevention

Ygam has reached more than 1.2 million children and young people through its harm prevention programmes over the past year, while the charity's cumulative total since 2020 now exceeds 7 million participants, and a fresh £3 million allocation from the statutory gambling levy will sustain and expand those efforts through 2028.

Details of the Funding Allocation

The new resources arrive via the VCSE Gambling Harms Prevention and Resilience Fund, which distributes proceeds from the statutory gambling levy to voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations focused on prevention and resilience building. Observers note that this tranche of support allows Ygam to maintain delivery of education sessions, teacher training resources and digital tools across schools, colleges and youth settings nationwide. Data from the charity shows consistent growth in session bookings since the levy framework became operational, and the additional £3 million provides multi-year certainty that lets programme coordinators plan longer-term campaigns rather than short-term projects.

Scale of Engagement Achieved So Far

Figures released alongside the funding announcement indicate that Ygam delivered workshops and assemblies to 1.2 million children and young people in the twelve months leading up to September 2026. Those sessions covered topics such as understanding gambling mechanics, recognising marketing tactics and developing decision-making skills around risk. Since 2020 the same organisation has recorded cumulative reach above 7 million, a total built through repeated visits to the same year groups as well as one-off events at community centres and sports clubs. Researchers tracking similar interventions have documented that repeated exposure correlates with improved retention of key messages, and Ygam's internal evaluation data reflects the same pattern.

How the Levy Supports Programme Expansion

The statutory gambling levy, administered through the Gambling Commission guidance pages, channels operator contributions into harm prevention work that would otherwise rely on short-term grants. Under the current distribution round, Ygam will use the £3 million to recruit additional trainers, refresh curriculum materials and extend digital platforms that allow remote delivery in areas with fewer in-person educators. Programme leads have already identified priority regions where participation numbers have lagged, and the multi-year funding window removes the need to pause activity while new bids are prepared. Those who've studied the levy rollout note that stable budgets of this kind reduce administrative overhead and let staff concentrate on content quality and reach.

Programme Components and Delivery Methods

Ygam's core offering includes classroom workshops that last between 45 and 90 minutes, teacher toolkits aligned with PSHE curricula, and an online portal containing scenario-based learning modules. The charity also runs train-the-trainer courses that equip school staff to continue discussions after the initial visit, and it maintains a helpline for young people who want to speak with an advisor outside school hours. Recent updates funded by the levy include new video resources that address online gambling features such as loot boxes and in-game betting, topics that have grown in prominence since 2023. Delivery statistics show that roughly 60 percent of sessions occur in secondary schools, with the remainder split between primary settings, further education colleges and youth justice programmes.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Requirements

Recipients of levy funding must submit quarterly progress reports that track participant numbers, session completion rates and feedback scores from both young people and teachers. Ygam's existing evaluation framework already collects pre- and post-session questionnaires that measure changes in knowledge and intended behaviour, and the new agreement extends this data collection through 2028. External auditors appointed by the fund administrator will review samples of the raw data each year, ensuring that reported reach figures remain accurate and that resources continue to target groups identified as higher risk in national prevalence surveys. Those responsible for oversight emphasise that transparent reporting builds confidence among operators whose contributions finance the levy.

Future Milestones Through 2028

With the £3 million confirmed, Ygam has outlined a timetable that includes reaching an additional 1.5 million young people by the end of 2027 and rolling out an updated digital platform by spring 2027. The charity also plans to pilot a peer-education strand in which trained sixth-form students deliver shorter talks to younger year groups, an approach already tested in three local authority areas with encouraging uptake. Funding covers staffing for these expansions as well as translation of core materials into the five most common community languages spoken in participating schools. Progress against these milestones will appear in the annual impact report published each autumn, with the first post-funding edition scheduled for September 2027.

Conclusion

The £3 million statutory levy allocation gives Ygam the financial runway to maintain and grow its education programmes through 2028, building on the 1.2 million engagements recorded in the past year and the cumulative total of more than 7 million since 2020. Delivery will continue through established workshop formats, teacher resources and digital tools, all supported by structured reporting that tracks reach and outcomes. The arrangement illustrates how levy proceeds translate into sustained prevention activity across UK schools and youth services.