BetBlocker has warned it faces a fast-approaching funding cliff edge. The organisation worries about money running out soon. Support for tens of thousands of UK users could disappear.

BetBlocker says it’s staring down a funding crisis, with little word from officials and no clear sense of what comes next. If the money runs out, tens of thousands of people in the UK could lose access to its free betting-blocking software. Right now, the team feels like it’s “racing towards a cliff,” and no one in charge is offering answers. Founder Duncan Garvie explains that they’ve barely heard from authorities about whether BetBlocker can join the new statutory levy funding scheme. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) will manage this system, replacing the old, loosely voluntary model for funding gambling harm prevention.

The numbers are stark: over 22,000 people in the UK leaned on BetBlocker this year, with more than 3,000 active users in December alone. But April looms large. If BetBlocker doesn’t get the green light for funding under the new rules, its support for users could vanish just like that. The goal behind the statutory levy is to stabilise how research, education, and treatment for gambling harms are funded. Yet, people working in the sector told NEXT.io that earlier drafts of the new rules would have put several charities in a tough spot. Some groups could have landed in trouble simply for taking money from the old system.

Garvie admits OHID has listened and made the new rules more sensible. Even so, BetBlocker is stuck. No one can say for sure if they fit into the new framework. BetBlocker doesn’t just serve the UK; it helps people worldwide. The proposed regulations could force it to help the 22,000 in the UK, or the much larger international base of 266,000. Garvie finds this choice absurd. “We shouldn’t have to pick between supporting the UK and our global users. We need a real conversation about how to do both,” he insists.

Even though BetBlocker has been pushed to take part in the new application process, OHID won’t confirm if the charity’s international funding model disqualifies it. BetBlocker relies on industry funding to help users outside the UK, and that’s left them hanging. Garvie points out that most requests for meetings with officials have gone unanswered all year. Only in the past two days has the regulator offered to meet in early 2026. That’s a long wait, but at least it’s something. The immediate money problem is bad enough, but Garvie’s worried about something bigger. If BetBlocker gets left out of the new levy system, he warns, it could set a damaging example for the entire harm-prevention sector.

BetBlocker Warns of Precedent

Garvie didn’t mince words: if BetBlocker loses its funding, people in the UK might stop hearing about it altogether. That’s a problem. Vulnerable folks who need help finding support just won’t get it. “For a tiny bit of funding, we reach more vulnerable people in the UK every year than almost anyone else,” Garvie said. “Sure, we’re a bit of an odd case, but the scale of what we do means people can’t just ignore us. If they do, thousands lose the support they count on every day.”

He put forth that BetBlocker doesn’t get into the issue of gambling laws’ policy or political matters. What we do is we provide support, which is practical and without conditions, to those who require it the most. “We provide free, anonymous support for vulnerable people. That’s all we are,” Garvie said.