UK launches the country’s largest independent gambling harms research centre

(AsiaGameHub) –   The new centre has stressed its independence and remit to focus on “lived and living experience” of gambling harms.

UK.- The launch of the UK’s largest independent gambling harms research centre has been announced by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a national funding agency sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). The Gambling Harms Research UK (GHR-UK) Evidence Centre will be funded by the new British Gambling Levy introduced last April with the aim of directing  “world-leading research on how to tackle and prevent gambling harms”.

The GHR-UK Evidence Centre will work with government, health bodies, charities, and people with lived experience of gambling in an effort to generate evidence-led research. It will be led by Heather Wardle, Professor of Gambling Research and Policy at the University of Glasgow and involved partners at King’s College London, University of Sheffield and Swansea University.

The remit of the centre is to:

• Manage a comprehensive and innovative research programme on gambling harms
• Build capacity in gambling harms research
• Collaborate with stakeholders
• Explore how UKRI and other data assets can support generating new evidence
• Coordinate the cohort of GHR-UK Innovation Partnerships

Wardle described the project as a “vital reset“.

“For too long, gambling research has been under-resourced and overlooked. New funding through the Levy and UKRI marks a vital reset, strengthening the quality and scale of gambling harms research and ensuring policy is driven by rigorous, independent evidence. Putting lived experience at the heart of our work, we look forward to collaborating widely to deepen understanding of and reduce the serious harms associated with gambling.

Focus on lived experience

UKRI stressed that the new Evidence Centre will draw on the knowledge and experience of people with lived and living experience of gambling harms. This is intended to ensure the research will not sit in isolation but actively shape prevention and treatment initiatives funded through the levy.

Martin Jones has been appointed as lived experience lead. He is said to have personal insight into addictive gambling products, having directly experienced the devastating impact of gambling-related suicide. He has since been involved with a wide range of research, education and treatment organisations and charities, UKRI said.

Jones said: “Research isn’t an intellectual exercise sitting in isolation, it is and should be closely linked to real gambling harms affecting real people, as many of us know all too well. We need to do much more to prevent these harms, and coordinating top quality research will support this, especially by exploring the more complex areas around suicide, algorithms, and financial data.”

The GHR-UK Evidence Centre will also form partnerships, including with health agencies and charities. One of its main roles will be to coordinate a cohort of  19 GHR-UK Innovation Partnerships covering a broad range of topics, including gambling harms and sports gambling online and in videogames and the structural drivers of gambling harm

Based at universities across the UK, the Innovation Partnerships will carry out research to fill gaps in the evidence base and support the development of responses to gambling-related harms. It’s intended that they will work closely to generate evidence, build research capacity, and inform policy and practice across the UK, while training the next generation of gambling harms researchers.

Independence from industry interests

UKRI emphasised that independence from commercial gambling interests is fundamental to the work of the centre. GambleAware, the now defunct body that previously commissioned gambling harm research, treatment and prevention in the UK, had received criticism due to its direct dependence on voluntary industry backing.

“A strong governance and integrity framework safeguards this autonomy, ensuring the Centre operates without external influence and remains a credible and trusted source of research on gambling harms,” UKRI said.

“As the UK’s first research Centre on gambling harms that is free from industry involvement, the Centre’s independence guarantees that the evidence produced by GHR‑UK remains protected from external commercial interference.”

UK Gambling Levy structure 

The Gambling Levy funding is split across three strands: treatment, prevention, and research. The Gambling Commission is responsible for collecting and administering the gambling levy under the strategic direction of the government.

UKRI and the Gambling Commission are responsible for investing 20 per cent of the Gambling Levy funds in the research strand, which amounts to £22.1m for 2025-26.

Meanwhile, half of the funds from the levy are administered by NHS England and equivalent bodies in Scotland and Wales for treatment and support, and the remaining 30 per cent dedicated to prevention is handled by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID).

Gambling harm research plans

As well as the new Evidence Centre, the research stream is so far funding 32 rapid evidence reviews, 19 new Innovation partnerships, and four UKRI policy fellows. Further investments are planned for the future, including in research into the convergence between gambling and video gaming.

UKRI said harmful gambling’s burden on the UK economy is conservatively estimated at around £1.4bn per year, impacting the healthcare and criminal justice systems as well as generating individual impacts. It said a lack of high‑quality independent evidence on gambling-related harms is a major barrier to effective policy, prevention, and treatment.