Saturday, April 07, 2007

Aspers Casino at The Gate in Newcastle has commissioned the North East
Council on Addictions (NECA) to train both staff and management in
recognising indicators of problem gambling. The programme of training, which
has been rolled out for all staff from the general manager to the dealers,
was specifically developed for Aspers, the only casino in the region to use
NECA for this type of training. NECA, which is GamCare's (the UK's leading
authority on gambling problems) regional partner is training Aspers staff to
be aware of the problems associated with gambling and to be able to
recognise the various signs that an individual has a problem and then make
the appropriate referrals. Linda Valentine, NECA's training manager said:
"We are delighted that Aspers is taking on this training, which is very
comprehensive, and reflects the fact that Aspers is a responsible operator.
"NECA is the only specialist problem gambling organisation in the
North-East, and, with more than 30 years of expertise in the field of
addiction, we can provide an unrivalled level of training. "The fact that
Aspers is training up all its staff to such a high level is also indicative
of its forward-thinking attitude, shortly the regulations governing the
gaming industry will be relaxed and it is therefore very important that
operators take the issues surrounding gambling and any problems it may cause
seriously." The training modules, ranging from the reasons why people gamble
to identifying the signs of problem gambling, as well as the related
problems and social implications, were developed specifically for Aspers by
NECA. Paul Sculpher, Aspers general manager, said: "Aspers prides itself on
being a responsible operator and we take the issue of problem gambling
seriously, which is why we have engaged NECA in this extensive training
programme. "On the rare occasions that we recognise someone is getting into
difficulties we always try be pro-active in speaking to them and now we have
a referral system in place, where, thanks to the NECA training, staff can
recognise the signs that there may be a problem and refer the person to a
manager." Aspers set up a community group to promote responsible gaming,
Community Action for Responsible Gaming (CARG), prior to its opening in
Newcastle in Autumn 2005. CARG is the first group of its kind in the UK and
is made up of a cross section of the local community, including the Church
and NECA.