This website is part of a project by The Machine Zone Community Interest Company. Supported by the Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector‘s Gambling Harms Fund, the project runs between November 2022 nd February 2023.

The Machine Zone is run by two voluntary workers and for almost six years has worked to raise awareness of gambling harms and challenge stigma.

A big part of the company’s output has been the production of a documentary film One Last Spin which centres on the lived experiences of four people severely impacted by gambling harm. It has been used for training and awareness-raising and the present project aims to see the film used more in Glasgow across all sectors. We also hope to reach Glasgow citizens with screening events to rase awareness and conversation.

The general outline of the project is given below.

In the month of November the project will:

• Publish a website and establish social media networks
• Produce a report which overviews the many issues around gambling harms and the work being done to challenge them. This will concentrate on the past fifteen years, refer to global and national contexts, and bring into more precise focus the situation in Glasgow today. Hopefully the report will provide workers in Glasgow who may be less familiar with the subject with a reasonable understanding. The report will also outline the Machine Zone project in detail and discuss the potentials and any obstacles facing collaborative working with particular reference to small community enterprises.
• Continue researching prospective networking points, for example community organisations and social sectors (health and social care, justice system, education etc.)
• Begin designing and printing materials aimed at different audiences, e.g. frontline workers, general public, and assessing distribution opportunities and constraints.

This is a small-scale project. Although we hope it will have some direct impact on raising awareness, challenging stigma and guiding those facing harms to support availability, a key aim is also to inform the many strands of multi-agency work in the city.

These strands, all working together, range through city council, statutory and third sectors, community organisations and the vital inclusion of the voices of lived experience.

During the four months of the project we shall seek to:

• Promote our film One Last Spin both aiming to screen it at events in community venues and to offer it as a training resource. (Current expectations are that the film will enter the public domain in January 2023 when it will have a new website, though this is not yet confirmed).
• Produce a suite of print materials. These will include posters, booklets, flyers and a quick one-sheet guide for frontline workers which will include basic advice on screening and support pathways. Materials will aim to raise awareness and provide immediate support options.
• Continue working closely with partners and identifying new ones. Where appropriate, contributing to their work and inviting their contributions to the project (e.g. an article about their work for posting on the project website).
• Send media releases to community-scaled enterprises (print and radio) and larger Glasgow-focused media enterprises.
• Since this is a small-scale project we shall be researching and identifying points of reach, concentrating on communities where gambling harms are greater.
• At the end of the project produce a second report. This will describe any developments in Glasgow and provide an evaluation of the project. The evaluation will include indentifying strengths and weaknesses and discuss any obstacles and constraints that may be faced by a small community enterprise. With regard to the latter the project as a whole may serve as a ‘case study’ of interest to workers in any voluntary sector.
• Provide a small legacy post-project, for instance the resources produced including the website. Integrate the project into the Machine Zone’s ongoing wider work.