BBC - Radio 4 Woman's Hour -Women & Gambling

Why are traditional Bingo halls on the decline?

For many women, a night at the bingo is a great chance to catch up with friends, play a few rounds and hopefully come away making a small profit. But the popularity of bingo halls is on the wane, as the smoking ban and taxation mean that attendance figures and profits are well down. Companies in the leisure industry are trying to find other ways to plug that gap - online gambling is easy to find if you spend any time on the internet and the tv companies like ITV are scheduling late night bingo shows – so are the traditional bingo players finding other ways of playing? How popular is gambling amongst women and how are younger people being targeted by the leisure industries? Jenni is joined by Dr Carolyn Downs from the Research Institute for Health & Social Change at Manchester Metropolitan University and Brigid Simmonds, Chief Executive of Business in Sport and Leisure (BISL) to look at some of the issues affecting Bingo.

If you, or a family member, have experienced problems with debt as a result of gambling and would like to be involved in the Research Institute for Health & Social Change at Manchester Metropolitan University's research study please go to the link at MMU below.

MMU Research Institute for Health and Social Change: Gambling-Related Debt Study
Gamblers Anonymous
GamCare
Responsibility in Gambling Trust
Gambleaware
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