GamCare Reserves Hit £16m Ahead Of Levy Shift
GamCare has published its 2025/26 Trustees' Annual Report, revealing that the charity's total reserves grew to £16m over the past financial year as it prepares for life under the UK's new statutory gambling levy. The report, released on August 27, 2026, covers the final full year in which GamCare was funded largely through the voluntary levy system.
Income for the year to March 31, 2026 came to £19.9m, broadly in line with £20.3m in 2024/25. Expenditure fell to £14.8m, producing a surplus of £5.1m.
That surplus lifted total reserves from £11m to £16m, of which £2.4m is restricted, up from £1.4m restricted a year earlier. A further £2m has been designated by trustees for digital development, leaving unrestricted reserves of £11.6m.
New Reserves Policy Set at £9m to £11m
Trustees carried out their annual review of the reserves policy and set a new operating reserves target of between £9m and £11m. The charity said the policy reflects "ongoing uncertainties around funding, changes in cashflow patterns with most services now being funded in arrears and the need for more investment in GamCare's digital services and infrastructure."
The stronger reserves position follows the end of the voluntary funding system. GambleAware, GamCare's largest historic funder, closed in March 2026 after issuing its final grants, and 70% of GamCare's income in 2025/26 came from service contracts and grant agreements with GambleAware, including a £1.9m one-off final disbursement before its closure.
A further £1.7m came from National Lottery operator Allwyn, completing a three-year, £2.5m funding agreement for GamCare's Women's Pathway programme. Donations totalled £4.2m, down 44% from £7.5m the previous year, as direct industry contributions were phased out.
Average staff numbers fell from 253 to 229 during the year, with full-time-equivalent employment down from 241 to 198, while termination-related payments rose from £51,391 to £182,655.
Frontline Demand Stayed High Through the Transition
GamCare's National Gambling Helpline and online services responded to more than 114,000 contacts during 2025/26, making over 11,400 onward referrals into treatment. Some 2,811 clients received more than 10,300 treatment sessions, an average of 3.7 sessions each, with clients assessed within an average of 2.4 days.
On the Problem Gambling Severity Index, average scores fell from 14.4 at the start of treatment to 3.3 at completion, while a separate measure of psychological distress more than halved. Almost 97% of treatment completers who responded to a survey reported a positive change in their circumstances.
Education and outreach programmes reached more than 17,100 people before harm escalated, including over 2,100 professionals trained to recognise gambling-related harm across health, social care, criminal justice, financial services and the armed forces.
An independent assessment by the Care Quality Commission found GamCare's Helpline and treatment services "safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led," and confirmed no evidence that the charity's services had been influenced by the gambling industry.
Casino Games Hub
Chair and Chief Executive Cite Continuity Through Change
Margot Daly, Chair of Trustees, said: "The Board's priority throughout was to keep the quality of services at the centre of every decision. Independent CQC assessments found GamCare's National Gambling Helpline, treatment and outreach services to be safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led, with care focused on the needs and preferences of the people who use them."
Chief Executive Victoria Corbishley said: "Behind every one of this year's 114,000 contacts to the National Gambling Helpline and its online services, is a person who chose to ask for support, often for the first time. We enter the new commissioning landscape with a clear mandate, a proven model and an unwavering commitment to the people we serve."
The statutory levy, which replaced voluntary industry contributions from April 2026, is commissioned through three stewards: NHS England, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and UK Research and Innovation.
GamCare noted that its current NHS England treatment contracts have been issued for a single year only, and further uncertainty lies ahead with the government's proposed abolition of NHS England, which would transfer commissioning responsibilities to Integrated Care Boards from April 2027.
Anyone worried about their gambling can find operators offering self-exclusion tools among the UK's licensed online casinos and betting sites, most of which link directly to GamCare's National Gambling Helpline.
