The project was concluded in recent days “With cards exposed“, supported by FOUNDATION WITH THE SOUTH and with the lead body the Calabrian Solidarity Center of Catanzaro. The course lasting 26 months took place in the provinces of Catanzaro, Crotone, Reggio Calabria and Cosenza where a large network of partners worked on various related aspects to pathological gambling: frominformation/awareness of the new generations inside and outside schools until the opening of GAP Specialized Centers, to get to online platform useful to give support and allow effective care of dependents and their families.
The numbers from these two years of work have been truly flattering. Let’s start from the project network composed of 21 partners: in addition to Calabrian Solidarity Center as lead body they worked together: Cooperativa Sociale Agora Kroton Onlusthe Association Chironthe Association Milone-InformagiovaniKrL’Provincial Health Authority of CatanzaroL’Crotone Provincial Health Authoritythe Chamber of Commerce of Catanzarothe Diocesan Caritas of Catanzaro-Squillacethe Reception Center “The Olive Tree“, the solidarity center “The dolphin“, The Municipality of Castiglione CosentinoThe Municipality of CatanzaroThe Municipality of Reggio CalabriaThe Municipality of Tortorathe Social Cooperative “Eureka“, the society European Development Consultingthe cooperative “Exodus Calabria“, the Cooperative “The House of the Sun“, the Cooperative “Miryam’s House”, the Province of Cosenzathe Province of Crotone and theUniversity of Calabria.
After the training of operators during the project start-up phase – intended for all those who would have worked actively in the paths subsequently activated – several important activities were implemented which made it possible to carry out: 60 stages of the Antigap Tour around the Calabrian provinces involved in the project and which served to raise awareness and information on the issue of gambling addiction, as well as attracting potential gambling addicts also through the involvement of family members met; opening of 6 GAP SPECIALIZED CENTERS always in the provinces of Catanzaro, Reggio Calabria, Crotone and Cosenza which, together to the online support platformthey made it possible to take charge and care for Ben 350 gambling addicts; opening of 1 usury point in Catanzaro, in a building confiscated from crime, which allowed the support and help to 20 families; 1200 students involved in specific activities useful for informing and preventing the phenomenon thanks to events organized by the operators of the GAP CENTERS in schools.
“We are very satisfied with this path to prevent and combat gambling addiction – he comments Silvia Saladino, head of the “A carte blanche” project – There were difficult moments, we don’t hide it. Approaching potential dependent subjects was complicated because working on this type of discomfort, for which there is still shame and non-acceptance, was complicated. For this reason, we put a platform online that supported the work of the GAP specialized centers in person. Working in Calabria, then, also had further repercussions in the admission of addiction, especially with regard to the female target. However, it was very important to offer free services that were previously not widespread and to provide prevention and information through the stages of the anti-gap tour and visits to schools. We have been able to experience in many contexts the underestimation of the phenomenon, with all its economic and social repercussions. Certainly the network of partners who worked on the project emerged richer in terms of personal preparation of the individual operators but also in experience and knowledge. We are therefore proud of the work carried out and, certainly, we will continue on this path already traced”.
