GamCare recorded more than 114,000 contacts through its National Gambling Helpline and online services between April 2025 and March 2026.

The figures cover the final reporting year before Great Britain moved from voluntary industry funding to statutory commissioning for gambling-harm support.

GamCare published its 2025/26 Trustee’s Annual Report on Thursday, 27 August 2026. The report recorded more than 11,400 onward referrals into treatment and support, as well as more than 17,700 connections to wider services.

Demand remained high before the funding change

GamCare delivered more than 10,300 treatment sessions for 2,811 clients during the reporting year. Clients received a full assessment within an average of 2.4 days.

Nearly 97% of people who completed treatment reported a positive change in their circumstances, according to the charity. Average scores on GamCare’s standard measure of gambling harm fell from 14.4 at the start of treatment to 3.3 at the end.

  • More than 114,000 helpline and online contacts.
  • More than 11,400 onward referrals.
  • More than 10,300 treatment sessions.
  • 2,811 treatment clients.
  • 17,100 people reached through prevention and outreach work.

What changed on 1 April 2026

The statutory gambling levy created a mandatory charge on licensed gambling activity in Great Britain. The levy came into effect in April 2025, while the main commissioning change began on 1 April 2026.

The 2025/26 report therefore provides a baseline for the new system. It covers the final financial year dominated by the former voluntary funding model. GamCare entered the new commissioning structure from April 2026.

The Gambling Commission collects and administers the levy under the strategic direction of the UK Government. Funding is divided between research, prevention, treatment and support.

  • 20% for research, led by UK Research and Innovation and the Gambling Commission.
  • 30% for prevention, led in England by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, alongside the Scottish and Welsh Governments.
  • 50% for treatment and support, commissioned by NHS England and the appropriate bodies in Scotland and Wales.

Health policy remains devolved. Arrangements differ between England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man do not fall under the same Great Britain framework.

England faces a coordination test

NHS England took responsibility for commissioning the full gambling-harm treatment pathway in England on 1 April 2026. The pathway includes referral, triage, treatment, aftercare and wider support.

NHS England said funding awards for 2026/27 were expected to be announced following publication of its programme. It also said integrated care boards are expected to lead regional commissioning after 1 April 2027.

GamCare said it secured funding from new commissioners in England and Scotland. However, the charity’s current statutory levy contracts cover only one financial year, according to iGaming Expert’s analysis published on 28 August 2026.

The charity also warned that the new structure could reduce flexibility. Under voluntary funding, GamCare said it could respond quickly to frontline problems, test new approaches and reach groups outside core commissioned services.

“Continuity of care depends on more than the quality of any single service,” GamCare chief executive Victoria Corbishley said in the report. “It depends on connected infrastructure, trusted relationships and on coordination between the bodies that hold those pathways together.”

Continuity will be the key measure

The new levy is intended to provide ring-fenced, industry-independent funding for research, prevention and treatment. The immediate test is whether people seeking help experience a continuous service while commissioners, providers and health bodies adjust to the new structure.

Future reports will show whether demand is being met without longer waits or gaps between referral and treatment. They will also indicate whether prevention services outside core contracts remain available.

GamCare’s contact figures give commissioners a clear starting point. The next stage will be measured by access, waiting times and continuity across the treatment pathway.