GamCare will close its EmpowerMe self-guided support platform from 10 August as the gambling harms charity reviews how its digital services connect with each other.
EmpowerMe was structured around eight sections covering areas including personal values, wellbeing and recovery goals. It was developed with people who had lived experience of gambling harms and allowed users to work through material independently, without their responses being stored or monitored by GamCare.
GamCare said feedback indicated that users found the content valuable, but navigating multiple digital platforms could create complexity. The charity will instead continue offering MyGamCare alongside its forums, chatrooms, peer support and online practitioner services.
The change forms part of a broader reassessment of GamCare's digital infrastructure. In July, the charity launched Project Nexus, a market engagement exercise examining technology for customer communications, case management, safeguarding, reporting and data management.
The project is intended to improve how service users move between initial contact, assessment, treatment and subsequent support.
That work is taking place against rising demand for digitally accessible gambling support. GamCare reported in June that 82% of National Gambling Helpline users who disclosed a form of gambling in 2026 cited problems with online gambling, the highest proportion in five years.
The charity had also recorded 996 referrals from its Helpline and live chat into treatment and peer-based support during January, up 48% year-on-year.
GamCare's service changes coincide with a wider restructuring of gambling harms funding in Britain.
The statutory gambling levy has raised just under £120m ($161.3m), with proceeds ringfenced for research, prevention and treatment. GamCare was provisionally allocated more than £4m through an Office for Health Improvement and Disparities fund covering 2026 to 2028, focused on prevention and community-based support.
The National Gambling Helpline will continue operating around the clock alongside GamCare's remaining digital services. Its 2024/25 annual report recorded more than 130,000 calls and online messages and over 7,100 referrals into further treatment.
In May, GamCare appointed Chris Thornton as Director of Operations, giving him responsibility for the delivery and performance of its national and regional services, including the National Gambling Helpline.
GamCare's online practitioner service allows users affected by their own or another person's gambling to book up to four telephone appointments
