OHID expands gambling-harm funding to £39.7 million across 40 organisations
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) has provisionally allocated £39.7 million ($53.2 million) to 40 voluntary and community organisations for gambling-harm prevention work in England over 2026-28.
The grants, announced on Friday, are funded through the prevention strand of the statutory levy on gambling operators. Awards range from £25,900 for Headway Southampton and West Wessex to just over £4 million for GamCare.
The provisional allocations cover the 2026-27 and 2027-28 financial years. Final amounts are subject to completed grant agreements and may change.
Other major provisional awards include £3.06 million for Chapter One, £3 million for YGAM, £2.99 million for Betknowmore, £2.77 million for Waythrough and £2.71 million for Gamban.
The full list includes local Citizens Advice services, age-related and community organisations. It also includes groups working with young people, women and people affected by addiction.
Strengthen and support
OHID said the fund was intended to strengthen the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, build organisations’ capacity to deliver sustainable projects and support independent, evidence-based public-health policy.
Applications were open from 14 January to 6 February 2026. They were assessed against published eligibility and scoring criteria, followed by due diligence checks.
Applicants were required to declare interests and commit to not accepting direct funding from the gambling industry after 1 April 2026. There was an exception for the National Lottery and social lotteries.
They were also asked to review materials and approaches used while receiving funding from the industry or GambleAware.
£120 million in raised funds
The OHID originally announced in April that the provisional allocation would total £25.4 million to 33 VCSE organisations. The levy has reported almost £120 million in raised funds so far.
The awards are separated from a £12 million allocation to upper-tier local councils for 2026-27, also funded through the levy’s prevention strand.
NHS England is managing a separate voluntary sector grant for the treatment of gambling harms.
OHID said evidence gathered through the funding round would inform future approaches, and that further funding is anticipated for 2027-28.
iGB reached out for comment to some of the organisations listed but has not received a reply at the time of publication.
Kathryn Evans
Kathryn covers bitesize breaking news with a primary focus on EMEA and US legislation. A proud North Walian, fluent Welsh speaker and lifelong Wrexham FC fan – long before Hollywood came calling.