BetBlocker granted UK charity status

RG project BetBlocker has been given the greenlight by the UK Charities Commission to become a registered charity.

The approval allows the project to solicit donations from other charities and business organisations working within the online gambling industry. Donations can be made via Amazon or directly to the charity.

The software, which is currently free, is available on Amazon and the Google Play Store and allows players to voluntarily self-exclude from 6,700 gambling sites in the UK. Once activated, this exclusion cannot be lifted until the period ends.

This service focuses on restricting the mobile or desktop device being used, rather than individual operator sites, allowing players to exclude even from black market operators.

Duncan Garvie, manager of parent company ThePOGG.com said the BetBlocker project had proven to be far more popular than initially thought and had expanded beyond its original userbase, necessitating the need for alternative funding sources.

Garvie confirmed that proposals to switch to a fee-based model were dismissed as being contradictory to the company’s objective of assisting at-risk gamblers, instead preferring to look elsewhere for funding.

“With over 40k downloads across the various platforms and an active user base of several thousand users on the mobile apps alone this is a project that needs to be recognised in its own right, outside of ThePOGG if it is to reach its full potential and maximise the number of people it can help,” Garvie added.