The Big Step and Swansea have partnered to deliver a community-based education, training, awareness, and signposting program centered around social responsibility. The initiative will involve individuals who have experienced gambling harm, including Nick Phillips, a recovering gambling addict and founder of The Big Step. Phillips expressed his disappointment with the lack of support and warnings from football during his 12-year addiction. Through this partnership, the aim is to demonstrate how football can positively contribute to preventing and reducing gambling harms within the community through education, awareness, and signposting efforts.
The Swansea City Supporters Trust and Swansea City Community Trust are also lending their support to this scheme. Local MP Carolyn Harris, who chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group on Gambling Related Harm, commended the project. Harris believes that this program will hold a crucial role in raising awareness among young people about the real risks associated with gambling and gambling addiction.
Rebecca Edwards-Symmons, Swansea’s head of commercial, emphasized the club’s commitment to the welfare of their supporters. She expressed the club’s immediate support for this project, recognizing its potential to positively impact individuals, their families, and friends. Edwards-Symmons also mentioned that Swansea has decided to move away from having a gambling company as their main kit sponsor this season, allowing their junior supporters to proudly wear the same shirts as their idols.
The Big Step and Gambling with Lives, leading organizations advocating for a complete ban on gambling sponsorship in British football, have both written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson urging him to take action on this issue.
