As November deepens across Europe, the gambling industry pauses its usual rhythm to place player well-being at the forefront. From 17 to 23 November 2025, two major coordinated campaigns will run side by side: Safer Gambling Week in its eighth year in the UK and Ireland, and the fifth European Safer Gambling Week across the EU and EEA. Together they form the continent’s most visible annual effort to promote responsible play, highlight protection tools, and encourage honest conversations about when betting stops being entertainment. Safer gambling week Europe
In the United Kingdom and Ireland the initiative is led by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), Bacta, the Lotteries Council and the Bingo Association, bringing together high-street bookmakers, online operators, casinos, bingo clubs and amusement arcades in a single week of unified messaging. Last year’s campaign reached more than 60 million social-media impressions and prompted 1.5 million unique customer accounts to engage with safer-gambling tools – a 22 % increase on the previous year. Deposit limits rose 14 %, and the week continues to enjoy strong backing from the Gambling Commission. Operators large and small join in: LiveScore Bet launched its “Play With Control” campaign featuring Dimitar Berbatov, Star Sports rolled out customer-focused videos, and charities such as GamCare and GamblingCare Ireland prepare for higher call volumes on their free helplines (0808 8020 0133 in Great Britain; 1800 936 725 in Ireland).
At the same time, the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) coordinates the parallel European Safer Gambling Week in 26 EU and EEA countries. After a record-breaking 2024 that saw 195 partner organisations, 3.1 million social-media users reached and more than 20 events, the 2025 edition is expanding further. A new multilingual hub at safergambling.eu, launched in October, offers country-specific helplines, self-exclusion registries, an events calendar of conferences and workshops, and practical tips translated into local languages. Branding kits distributed in September allow national associations, regulators and individual operators to run localised campaigns under the shared visual identity.
The broader European context shows growing momentum. The EGBA’s latest sustainability figures reveal that its members sent 100 million safer-gambling messages in the past year – almost half of them personalised – while companies such as SOFTSWISS report handling thousands of responsible-gambling interventions every month using AI-driven monitoring. National regulators are aligning with new CEN standards on markers of harm, and bodies ranging from the European Casino Association to national lotteries associations reinforce the message through their own programmes.
Both campaigns emphasise the same core ideas: set a budget and stick to it, use deposit limits and time-outs, check your playing history, know the warning signs (chasing losses, hiding gambling from others, betting affecting work or relationships), and take a break or self-exclude if necessary. In regulated markets these tools are mandatory and constantly improving; they simply do not exist on unlicensed sites.
Read also: SA Gaming partners with EGT Digital
Safer Gambling Week is ultimately about empowerment rather than prohibition. The vast majority of the 22.5 million British adults who bet each month, and the tens of millions more across the continent, do so without problems. For the small minority who need support, and for everyone who wants to keep gambling enjoyable, the week serves as a loud, clear reminder that help is immediate, confidential and effective.
From Dublin bingo halls to Scandinavian online platforms, from London betting shops to Mediterranean casino floors, Europe will spend seven days in November speaking with one voice: gambling should always stay fun, and when it stops being fun, the tools and the people to help are only a click or a call away. Safer gambling week Europe
