The Slot Out project is coming to an end, the result of co-planning between Anci Toscana, Acli Toscana and Arci Toscana. An initiative that has made it possible to build paths to combat pathological gambling in the clubs of the region. Acli Toscana joined with conviction: even if 97% of its clubs no longer had any slots within the offices, the challenge was to invest in training and prevention, especially for those territorial entities that insist on areas with a high percentage of players. According to the latest data from the Tuscany Region, over 2022 million and 7 thousand euros were played in 396, of which the majority (3 million and 949 thousand euros) were played physically, the rest online. The losses by the players were substantial: over 1 million and 196 thousand euros.
Through the Slot Out project, which is part of the broader plan to combat gambling financed by the Tuscany Region, multiple activities were carried out, including monitoring the presence of slots in clubs, as well as training activities in basic structures of the areas with the highest rate of gaming per capita which involved around 100 participants. There was also no shortage of awareness raising initiatives which saw the creation of 7 events in six provinces, the participation of 200 participants and the precious involvement of the Ser.D.
Acli Arci inter-association workshops were also held, aimed at exchanging good practices and discussing the topic of gambling addiction as seen by the volunteers who patrol the area on a daily basis. Gambling, it has been noted, is a condition that relies on and feeds on the state of loneliness and fragility in which people find themselves. There is a recurring difficulty in asking for help, sometimes due to a feeling of shame. And gambling addiction is often associated with other frailties, including health-related ones, or with other addictions, such as alcohol. Online gaming also leads to an even more accentuated dimension of loneliness and isolation. The pandemic has aggravated many of these conditions and gambling is often perceived as a solution to escape poverty, replacing investment and long-term planning paths. The culture of gambling is spreading among the young population, who resort to gambling with ever greater frequency and the data which highlights how widespread gambling is among minors, who by law do not have access to gambling, is also alarming. this world.
“The data shows how important it is to combine dezoning paths with awareness and training paths. In our country the number of gamblers has always been very high and the commitment to raise awareness on the issue by everyone is fundamental - they say Giacomo Martelli, president of Acli Toscana ed Elena Pampana, vice president of Acli Toscana -. We have done, and will continue to do, our part. Gambling addiction has serious repercussions on a person's physical and mental well-being, on their social and economic conditions. The hope is that the work in our Tuscan circles can be taken as a model. We need to continue the fight against gambling addiction in a widespread way and propose awareness-raising events to be alongside young people, the elderly and those who find themselves in difficult conditions due to this pathology".
