Support network: the altruistic acts of the gambling industry during a global pandemic

April marked the first ever Virtual Grand National broadcast on primetime TV, culminating in a peak audience of 4.8 million. Times have certainly changed since the coronavirus outbreak, and while Aintree’s famous race could no longer take place on the actual racecourse, the virtual race was the next best alternative for punters.

But what really made this virtual event stand out was the tremendous effort by Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) members who donated over £2.6m in profits (after winnings and duties paid) to NHS Charities Together. In addition to that, profits from bets placed in Ireland have been donated to Irish charities including the Irish Red Cross. The Jockey Club will also be donating 10,000 tickets to the NHS and social care sector in Merseyside for the first day of the 2021 Randox Health Grand National Festival at Aintree.

The BGC has also launched a 10-pledge action plan in response to the crisis, which includes a commitment by members to support the government’s national effort by encouraging staff to volunteer for community service, as well as offering premises where possible for use by those supporting the effort to tackle coronavirus.

With many casinos, bingo halls and gambling firm’s offices deserted due to social distancing measures, companies are getting inventive and creative by using their existing facilities to help local medical teams and communities.

Cooking up a storm

Rank Group, which owns 129 venues in Great Britain, has been helping out local communities in many different ways across its Mecca Bingo and Grosvenor Casinos portfolio. Spearheaded by its employees at Mecca Bingo Swansea, the team has been supporting Swansea Council and local charities by preparing hot meals for vulnerable people in the community.

As part of the #SwanseaTogether project, Mecca Bingo Swansea has been supporting local charities Where’s Doris and Matthew’s House by preparing and cooking meals in the club’s kitchen. Mecca Bingo’s supplier, Bidfood, has confirmed it will continue to donate food for as long as it is receiving ingredients. Meanwhile, Swansea Council has organised drivers to collect meals from the bingo club and deliver them to specific distribution routes. By mid-April, Mecca Bingo Swansea had delivered its 1,000th meal.

Rank Group’s director of public affairs, David Williams, says the Mecca Swansea team first got involved with the project by teaming up with Swansea East MP Carolyn Harris who is an advocate of community-based bingo and also a friend of Mecca Swansea’s general manager Kim Jones.

Harris says: “What Mecca has done in allowing us to use their facilities and team has allowed us to provide much-needed support to the vulnerable and housebound. Together we can get through this.”

According to Williams, Swansea has served as “the catalyst” for what Rank Group can do across its land-based venues by mobilising its kitchens to help the local community.

In addition to the work in Swansea, Rank Group has also launched a charity initiative for NHS and emergency services workers in collaboration with Blue Light Card. The London-listed operator has opened up kitchens in 12 of its sites across the UK – seven Mecca Bingo clubs and five Grosvenor Casinos – to offer a free lunch to key workers.
NHS and emergency services staff can log into their Blue Light Card account to receive an Uber Eats offer code and their meal will be delivered in participating areas between 11am and 3pm.

Across the Mecca and Grosvenor businesses, 75 employees are working on supplying meals for both the Swansea and Blue Light Card projects with over 1,300 hot meals being provided a day. The Blue Light Card partnership operates five days a week, while Rank Group teams are also providing community support two to three days a week.

As part of the wider community outreach programme, Rank Group is also providing 40 meals a day to the Salvation Army Hartlepool for the homeless/most vulnerable in the area, 100 meals per day to the L6 Centre Knotty Ash, and 50 meals over two days to the St. George’s Crypt Project to support the homeless and vulnerable in Leeds. In addition, Rank Group has also offered to provide 1,200 meals a week to local doctors and nurses who are working on the frontline at Chesterfield Hospital.

Quick response

The reason that Rank Group has been so proactive in helping local communities is because “it is simply the right thing to do”, says Williams. “We are not an industry that is widely perceived to be overflowing with authenticity when it comes to displaying our social conscience. But right now, I think we’re indisputably seeing the best of what Mecca and Grosvenor colleagues can give back to their communities, and that is happening in real time, which is exciting, humbling and rewarding.”

For Rank Group, there has been no long run up to rolling out a strategic plan as the firm had to respond quickly to the unprecedented nature and scale of the coronavirus pandemic. “Our venues – bingo clubs and casinos – are our community hubs, they’re not just places to gamble. They always have been at the heart of communities and right now that stands for absolutely everything. Looking out and helping people in your community is a core value and it’s also what our colleagues wanted to do,” says Williams.

On top of the meals that Rank Group venues are supplying, Mecca employees are also reaching out to their regular customers by telephone just for a friendly chat and to offer support to customers that may be isolated and feeling lonely. “We’re literally just picking up the phone to our customers, checking how they are, having a chat with them about gardening, the weather, what we’re seeing on the news. The feedback that we’ve received, not just from customers – and this part is crucial – but also some families of customers, has been marvellous,” Williams explains.

Rank Group is keen to be “the vanguard of this industry effort” and to lead from the front, Williams tells EGR Intel. He believes this is not only important in terms of helping those in need but to also demonstrate how the industry has responded during the crisis. In particular, Williams highlights the unprecedented set of financial measures offered by the UK government to help businesses affected by the pandemic such as a business rates holiday and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

“I think the government is saying to the industry, ‘We’ve helped you, so how can you help the country in response now’? There are no explicit strings attached to the package of measures that have been provided, but I think there has to be an understanding here.

“It is not good enough for us to make excuses as to why the logistics of the restrictions prevents us from stepping up. That won’t wash. We’ve found solutions and we’re still looking for more ways to help and give something back,” he explains.

As an example, Williams cites the UKHospitality trade association, which has been very vocal in how restaurants and cafes could help out during the first few days of lockdown, and that the gambling sector should take a leaf out of its book. “As gambling operators, if we want to think of ourselves and be thought of in the same sort of space as the leisure, entertainment and hospitality industries, we have got to share their approach to this response, show willing and seek to make a difference.”

Another important aspect to consider is the “political ramifications” as the UK Gambling Act comes under review. Williams points out that when the time comes, the industry is likely to be questioned about the role it played during the coronavirus crisis. “What the industry benefited from, by way of government support, will be very evident in publicly quoted numbers. We therefore need to show what we did in response.

“If we cannot articulate our community values at this critical time, and how our colleagues represent an industry to be proud about, rather than one which is frowned upon and met with hostility, we might never have as good or critical an opportunity as we have right now. If we get this right, we have the opportunity to reset the tone of the industry discussion in the months and years ahead. It’s an opportunity we can’t afford to forgo.”

What’s on the menu?

Another firm using its in-house kitchen facilities during the coronavirus crisis is affiliate Catena Media. Together with Bolt Food, Catena Media’s in-house chef team have been delivering meals to 65 members of staff at St Luke’s hospital in Malta.

In March, HR Connect, a network group for HR professionals, sent out an appeal to companies with in-house kitchens and chefs to help deliver meals to staff from the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Directorate who are currently working 12-hour shifts with little access to healthy, filling food. “The only meal options they had every day was a tuna ftira or vegetable wrap,” says Elise Elliott, communications manager for Catena Media.

Catena Media’s CHRO, Fiona Ewins Brown, who is part of the HR Connect group, approached its head chef, Patrick Mangion, to see if he wanted to get involved. The head chef and his team responded immediately and returned to Catena Media’s office to use the kitchen facilities while adhering to social distancing measures with only two of them cooking at any one time. The team have set up a rota and are preparing meals four days a week (including Saturdays) with fellow gambling operators ComeOn and L&L Europe covering two days.

“All at the Health Promotion and Disease Directorate are working long hours and many are away from their own families to keep all of us, and ours, safe. We wanted to do whatever we could to help and are incredibly happy that we are able to support them in this way,” says Per Hellberg, CEO of Catena Media.

“Our head chef is designing a menu every week to make sure that the hospital staff have a variety of meals with good nutritional value and to keep them going on these long days. The other day they even baked them some muffins as an extra special treat,” adds Elliott.

Catena Media brand AskGamblers, based in Serbia, has also contributed to the fight against Covid-19. From the money raised during the AskGamblers Charity Night in January, €50,000 will be diverted to UNICEF. The total amount of €66,900 was raised at the charity night together with partners Max Affiliates, Campeonbet Casino, SlotWolf Casino, Mr.Play Casino, Ivy Affiliates, EnergyCasino, Platincasino, Gunsbet Casino and BitStarz Casino.

The team from the AskGamblers Belgrade office asked the partners involved if they would be happy for €50,000 to be diverted from the previously chosen charities to UNICEF instead. They all agreed. The UNICEF donation will go towards the procurement of ventilators and medical and healthcare equipment.

In addition to the hospital meals and UNICEF donation, Catena Media has also introduced a matched employee donation scheme. “We’ve tried to keep it local because we were really aware that most people want to donate to causes close to their heart. In each of the locations that we have offices in, we’ve chosen two charities involved in helping the fight against coronavirus,” adds Elliott. The local charities that will be supported include Refuge in the UK, BRIS in Sweden and the CDC Foundation in the US.

Critical equipment

Spanish gaming company R.Franco Group has assisted with medical supplies by making an initial donation of 13,000 reusable masks to the temporary hospital opened at IFEMA in Madrid, Madrid’s main hospitals, the Military Emergencies Unit as well as several units of the police and residences for the elderly.

Santiago Escribano, CEO of the R. Franco Group, says his firm considers it “a moral obligation to join the fight in any way” it can. “We view helping the nation we have called home for over 50 years as a fundamental duty. In particular, we felt compelled to support the heroic efforts of medical professionals and other essential workers throughout Spain,” he explains.

R. Franco Group’s CEO said the reason the firm decided to donate face masks in particular is in response to the lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for hospital staff around the world. “Throughout the world, we are seeing troubling instances of doctors, nurses and other hospital workers fatally contracting the virus in the absence of necessary PPE. One such death is a tragedy – thousands is inexcusable.

“The least society can do to protect those who are risking their lives is provide the equipment they require to stay as safe as possible,” says Escribano.

Stockholm-listed operator LeoVegas has also been providing much-needed lunches and dinners for doctors, nurses and other staff at women’s clinics, intensive care and maternity wards at Danderyd Hospital in Stockholm. During one week in April, 300 meals were delivered to staff at the hospital. In addition to the meals, the operator is also supplying food tickets to give hospital staff more flexibility.

Hans Uhrus, communications director for LeoVegas, says the firm is helping the medical sector in many places, and this is just one example. “As we had personal contacts at Danderyd Hospital, it was easy to make this happen fast.
“In these challenging and hard times, we want to give our heroes who are struggling hard in the care sector our appreciation,” he adds.

As part of its staff-led CSR programme, Microgaming PlayItForward, the Isle of Man-headquartered supplier has broadened its scope to aid emergency relief efforts and to assist with Covid-19 projects in a number of its operational hubs.

In the Isle of Man, Microgaming has teamed up with the newly formed Manx Solidarity Fund and Helpout.im to donate funds to support residents and local organisations facing social and financial hardship and coordinating volunteer-led social services. The software firm is also supporting local suppliers, which in turn have helped Microgaming assist local organisations and charities caring for the wider community.

In Gibraltar, Microgaming has donated funds to assist the Gibraltar Health Authority in its fight against the virus, including recruiting medical professionals, staff to operate 24/7 contact centres, and delivery drivers to ensure the vulnerable get food deliveries at home.

John Coleman, CEO of Microgaming, adds: “We are proud of how, as a business and industry, we have come together to help individuals, local suppliers and charitable causes at this difficult time. Collectively, we are making a positive difference as we assist our respective communities in ways large and small.

“At Microgaming, we will continue to prioritise the health and wellbeing of our employees and their families, and we remain equally committed to supporting our customers and wider communities through this period of uncertainty.”

The stellar work by the gambling industry to contribute to the international fight against Covid-19 is indeed impressive and no doubt is something that will continue to grow in the months ahead. Being able to offer support and assistance to those that need it the most during an unprecedented crisis such as this is truly invaluable and will make a huge difference to those affected by the coronavirus outbreak.