Serve and Protect Credit Union have teamed up with Derbyshire Constabulary to help raise awareness to the impact of gambling and problem related debt in the workplace.

No matter your job role – everyone can play their part to help ‘spot the signs’ and support their fellow colleagues if they are suffering.

Gambling is estimated to be the cause of 500 suicides in the UK a year.

“Since the start of lockdown we have seen a rapid increase in the use of gambling and high interest credit on the loan applications we receive – over 1 in 4 applicants were gambling over £50 per month, with the average monthly gambling spend £214.

As a credit union we will do our utmost to help support our members, but as responsible lenders in these cases we are simply unable to help. As a result, we have established key partnerships with charities such as StepChange and GamCare to help ensure our members get the additional support they may need.

We are also working with our stakeholders, such as Derbyshire Constabulary, to ensure that as employers, they have additional access to any existing support mechanisms they already have in place.” says Rob Lovesey, Serve and Protect.

As part of this initiative the a ‘Spot the Signs’ webinar is available for colleagues with Derbyshire Constabulary to access including:

• ‘Spot the Signs’ of excessive gambling behaviour.
• The impact of problem related debt.
• Support that is available.

Access the webinar today via: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WngcRFhaHg