YGAM, the charity which works to inform, educate and safeguard young people against problematic gambling and social gaming, has set out a series of ambitious KPI targets for 2019/20. The charity, which will celebrate its fifth anniversary later this year, is aiming to grow its annual income to £1.675m (£750,000 in 2018) a figure that will enable it to raise the number of YGAM trained practitioners to in excess of 3,000, which will double the number of young people educated to over 331,000 and establish partnerships with 25 Universities, up from the current figure of ten.

YGAM founder and chief executive, Lee Willows, stated: “The awareness raising activities that we have been undertaking with all sections of the gambling industry played a big part in helping to make 2018 a landmark year for everyone involved in YGAM and progressing our core objective of informing, educating and safeguarding young and vulnerable people. In terms of specifics, I am delighted to confirm that we were able to train an additional 350 practitioners who in turn succeeded in reaching 55,954 young people during the course of the year.

“In 2018 we also established an independent board of trustees, achieved Investors In People accreditation, launched YGAM in the Midlands and the North of England, published two academic evaluations on the impact of our programme, achieved Pearson Assured accreditation and staged the first YGAM Symposium in partnership with City University of London.”

He continued: “I am always really pleased to talk with the industry and to demonstrate how its RET contributions enable the small but dedicated team that we have in place at YGAM to extend our reach and continue to make a really significant impact with young people and their families. Similarly, we had really positive conversations with representatives from the industry who visited our booth at ICE. The industry has an open invitation to experience one of our workshops and see how we put the great support that we receive into activities that deliver results.”