Gambling firms accused of 'dodging' donations to addiction charities

  • Gambling
Gambling firms accused of making tiny financial donations to addiction charities. Credit: Daniel Hambury / PA

Gambling firms have been accused of "dodging" charity donations which are put towards the work of addiction organisations.

The new chairwoman of GambleAware, Kate Lampard, said some companies are "taking the mickey" - with one firm said to have only handed over 1p.

GambleAware asks for donations of 0.1% of a firm's 'gross gaming yield' which is the amount staked by gamblers minus the amount of winnings paid out.

Ms Lampard told the Financial Times she was thinking of naming and shaming the penny-pinching firms.

Ms Lampard also hit out at fixed odds betting terminals.

Ministers are currently under pressure to cut the current £100 maximum stake on the machines.

She said: "There is a sector of society which gets addicted to gambling, and it has a knock-on effect on many others, their families, friends, businesses.

"It has a cost to the wider economy.

"We know that those machines have a peculiar risk of creating those particular problems."