Most UK Bingo Halls Not Contributing to Gambling Trust - 04-29-08

April 29 - The UK Responsibility in Gambling Trust revealed this week that only 1,000 out of the 3,200 licensed gambling firms in the country made any type of contribution to their coffers.

While the organization managed to reach its 3.6 million GBP target in 2007, it was still disappointed with the fact that the bulk of the voluntary donations came from the large gambling firms. Smaller companies, including UK bingo halls, were accused of not pulling their weight.

The Chairman of the Trust said that there was nothing that the organization could do to get the companies to make a contribution, other than contacting them again over the matter. "We sent around 3,200 letters twice, but all we have available to us are the names and addresses of our operators. We don't have the information about what they do or how big they are," said John Greenway.

A problem gambling website operator said: "Perhaps they need to have somebody out there actively campaigning and getting to know the people that run these companies, and using a salesman technique to go out there and actually ask people for money."

The Gambling Commission is currently examining the effectiveness of the voluntary policy and has threatened on numerous occasions to impose a compulsory levy if the Trust's target of 7 million GBP is not met by 2010.

However, the reality is that many smaller gambling companies, especially UK bingo halls, are struggling to make ends meet, and simply cannot afford any extra payments.

UK bingo halls have been badly affected by a double-taxation policy that is only directed towards the bingo industry, as well as the recent smoking ban that went into affect in public places.

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