Racing to School and YGAM in first collaboration

Racing to School joined forces this month with YGAM (Young Gamers & Gamblers Education Trust) for a first collaboration to engage pupils to think about the relationship between gaming and gambling, as a way of raising their awareness about related harms and sources of help.

The ethos of the charity YGAM – set up five years ago to support young people’s understanding of the fast-moving worlds of gaming and gambling – is to inform choices through guidance rather than telling young people to behave in a certain way.

“Racing to School is always looking to offer enriched and relevant content to our growing programmes, and we think it is right given the intrinsic link between gambling and racing that we look at opportunities to support our beneficiaries with valuable learning about what should be a positive and safe experience,” said Racing to School’s John Blake.

“Newmarket’s only High School seemed a good starting point. Two interactive sessions were arranged involving 85 Newmarket Academy pupils, with our colleague at YGAM informing the groups about issues around safe gaming and gambling and the links between the two activities. The point was not to frighten them off but to guide them to apply the same responsibility that they’ll be encouraged to follow by teachers who might discuss with them sexual health, alcohol and drug misuse. It was a really inspiring day for the pupils and the teachers.”

The pupils worked in groups to think about the different types of gaming and gambling, surprising themselves with how many forms exists; they were then given the opportunity to discuss the term problem gambler and how they might begin to spot signs of a pattern of behaviour. Supporting their peers and seeking help, if needed, as they might about other concerns in their lives was another important outcome of the day.