Don't waste your bonus on gambling this festive season

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 Don't waste your bonus this festive season! That's the message from the National Gambling Board. The board has embarked on campaign to raise awareness on the dangers of excessive gambling.

The NGB Chief Executive Officer, Baby Tyawa, says during the festive season most families tend to divert spend on school uniform, books, fees, paying debts and saving to use their disposable cash on entertainment and activities such as gambling.

"The mood of the people often shifts from a long year of hard work to that of relaxation hence making poor choices on how to spend the extra income. We want to emphasise the need to save any disposable cash for important things. This period is also characterised by financial stresses in some sectors of the community," she said.

Tyawa says the impact of excessive gambling has far-reaching implications as more people can be affected by the reckless actions of a single individual. She says the consequences of misusing disposable cash can be devastating. Excessive gambling can result in financial losses, which in turn can precipitate other emotionally related anxieties, often masked during calmer periods of the year.
"We urge all who are predisposed to gambling, to exercise restraint when spending their extra income, in particular the festive season that induces heightened excitement; spend on critical goods such as school books and uniform or better still, save the extra cash,. We suggest that you save the money for the down time, remember pay day is indeed far ahead" she says.

Tyawa says a typical problem gambler continues to believe that he or she can control or moderate the gambling activities at will, at any time. However, our experience confirms that the gambler cannot do any of these things. Gambling remains a game of chance.

The board is working closely with gambling establishments to promote responsible gambling as well as with the National Responsible Gambling Programme (NRGP).
Tyawa advised those experiencing problems to contact the National Responsible Gambling Toll-Free Helpline 0800 006 008.

Issued by
Chrysaliz Strategic Relations
For
National Gambling Board