Sheffield charity set up after death of city man welcomes ban on celebrities in gambling adverts

The Committee for Advertising Practice (CAP) has announced the introduction of tough new rules for gambling ads as part of the commitment to safeguarding young people and vulnerable audiences.

These rules will significantly impact gambling advertisers looking to promote their brands using prominent sports people and celebrities as well as individuals like social media influencers, who are of strong appeal to those under-18.

It will stop any celebrities, influencers or sports stars from featuring on advertisements promoting gambling usage.

Gambling With Lives, a charity set up in memory of 24-year-old gambling addict Jack Ritchie, from Nether Edge, Sheffield, welcomes the move.

The charity aims to support families who have been bereaved by gambling related suicides and to raise awareness amongst gamblers, their friends and family, and health professionals, of the dangerous effects of gambling on mental health.

MORE: Jack Ritchie: Sheffield United fan who took own life aged 24 became addicted to gambling at school, inquest hears

Jack took his own life in Vietnam in November 2017 after his gambling addiction ‘spiralled out of control’.

Will Prochaska, strategy director for the charity, said: “With more than 55,000 children addicted to gambling in the UK, the ASA has rightly identified gambling advertising as harmful, but these measures go nowhere near far enough. To have a real impact, the Government must stop the decades-long normalisation of high-risk gambling by ending all gambling advertising.”

Research indicates that there are between 250 and 650 gambling related suicides every year in the UK.