Crowdfunding launch

When someone needs help with gambling harm, waiting is not an option.

The Prevention Project CIC has officially launched a £15,000 Crowdfunder to fund a full year of free gambling-harm prevention across Plymouth, alongside free one-to-one support for people already experiencing gambling harm.

The reason we have launched this campaign is simple: people are already asking us for help.

Since launching The Prevention Project, we have received more than 100 enquiries from people wanting support, schools wanting prevention sessions, colleges wanting us to work with young people and local organisations asking how they can get involved.

The demand is here. The conversations are happening. And people are waiting.

The problem is that much of the traditional funding available to organisations like ours operates on a completely different timescale.

Grant applications can take weeks or months to go through assessment, decision-making and award processes. Sixteen weeks is not unusual for some funding programmes, and some can take even longer. For example, the National Lottery Community Fund has previously stated that some decisions can take up to 16 weeks, while other grant programmes publish decision times of 12 to 20 weeks.

That process exists for a reason, and we understand it.

But gambling harm doesn’t wait for a funding decision.

A young person doesn’t know that a school is waiting for a grant before asking questions about gambling.

A parent doesn’t get to pause their worry for 16 weeks while funding is assessed.

Someone who has realised they have lost control doesn’t suddenly become okay because an application is still sitting in a funding queue.

And a school that has seen gambling becoming increasingly normalised among young people cannot simply put prevention on hold until the next funding round opens.

That is why we have made a decision.

We will not turn people away simply because the funding system moves more slowly than the need.

Instead, we are asking Plymouth to help us bridge that gap.

Our £15,000 Crowdfunder is about giving us the immediate resources to keep delivering while we continue to pursue longer-term funding. It means we can respond to schools, colleges, community organisations and individuals who are asking for support now, rather than telling them to wait.

There is also an opportunity to make the community’s support go further through Plymouth City Council’s City Change Fund.

The City Change Fund is specifically designed to support local projects for local people through Crowdfunder. Plymouth City Council can pledge up to 50% of an eligible project’s initial target, subject to the fund’s criteria, assessment and conditions. The Council’s current guidance states that projects need to reach 25% of their target from at least 25 unique supporters before a provisional pledge can be made, and the project must ultimately reach 100% of its target to receive the pledge.

For our £15,000 campaign, that means the potential is significant. If we successfully meet the fund’s requirements and receive the maximum pledge, the Council could potentially contribute up to £7,500 alongside the money raised by our supporters. That funding is not guaranteed, but it gives Plymouth an opportunity to help unlock even more support for gambling-harm prevention in our city.

This is not about waiting for someone else to fix the problem.

It is about Plymouth coming together and saying that prevention matters.

Every donation helps us move closer to being able to offer free prevention work where it is needed most. Every share helps us reach another school, another organisation, another parent or another person who may know someone who needs support. Every business that puts out a donation tin, shares our campaign or introduces us to another organisation helps build something that can have a lasting impact.

We know what gambling harm can look like because our work is rooted in lived experience.

It can start with something that feels harmless.

A bet with friends. A few pounds on a football match. A spin on a slot. An in-play bet. A game that blurs the line between gaming and gambling.

For some people, it never goes further.

For others, it becomes chasing losses, hiding transactions, borrowing money, lying to people they love, damaging relationships, losing opportunities and struggling with their mental health.

By the time someone asks for help, the harm can already be enormous.

We want to change that.

We want to get into schools and colleges before gambling becomes a problem. We want young people to understand the risks before they have lost money, before they have developed harmful habits and before gambling becomes normalised as part of everyday life.

And when someone is already experiencing gambling harm, we want them to know there is somewhere they can turn.

We are not waiting 16 weeks to start.

We are asking Plymouth to help us start now.

Our target is £15,000.

The campaign is all-or-nothing, meaning we need to reach the full target for the project to receive the funding.

• If you can donate, please do.
• If you cannot donate, please share it.
• If you run a business, consider hosting a donation tin or supporting the campaign in another way.
• If you work in a school, college or community organisation and want to talk to us about prevention, get in touch.
• And if you know someone who could help us reach the target, introduce us.

Because there are people waiting for help now.

And we don’t want to tell them to wait.

Support The Prevention Project’s £15,000 Crowdfunder and help us make a full year of free gambling-harm prevention and support possible across Plymouth.

Support The Prevention Project on Crowdfunder

This is an opportunity for Plymouth to get behind prevention, before gambling harm becomes a crisis

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