Responsible Gambling: Our Editorial Commitment

Our editorial commitment

Walk in Our Shoes is a resource on UK gambling regulation and consumer protection. That topic is inseparable from gambling harm. Every page we publish is written with the awareness that a proportion of our readers will be here because of concern about their own gambling or someone else's, and we have designed our editorial approach around that fact.

We do not carry rankings of gambling operators. We do not carry affiliate links. We do not carry advertising for gambling products. We do not accept sponsored content. These are not accidents of the site's business model; they are editorial choices grounded in our view that this topic should be covered without commercial pressure to guide readers toward specific operators.

How we write about gambling

We aim to write plainly, without either the excited-marketing tone of many gambling-comparison sites or the moralising tone that sometimes appears in coverage of gambling harm. Our readers are adults capable of making informed choices, and our job is to help them do that with accurate information and clear framing.

Where our subject matter overlaps with vulnerability — self-exclusion, non-GAMSTOP options, treatment — we take particular care with tone and content. We do not sensationalise. We do not promote workarounds to self-exclusion. We do not suggest that any specific gambling behaviour is safe, because the honest answer is that safety in gambling is a matter of degree, not a category.

Signposting

Every page on this site links to support resources. Our help and support directory lists the major UK services with contact details, and the National Gambling Helpline number appears in the footer of every page. If you find yourself reading this site and worrying about your own gambling — or someone else's — we would rather you closed this tab and made a call than continued reading.

If you are affected by gambling harm

You are not alone. Independent estimates from Public Health England and the Gambling Commission suggest that hundreds of thousands of adults in Great Britain experience problem gambling, and many hundreds of thousands more experience some level of gambling-related harm. The support services listed in our directory serve people right across that spectrum — from mild concern through to severe disorder — and every one of them is free at the point of use.

Reaching out is not a sign that things have gone irreparably wrong. It is the single most protective step available.

Age restriction

Online gambling in the UK is restricted to adults aged 18 and over. This site is intended for adult readers. If you are under 18 and gambling has become a concern in your life — perhaps because of a family member's gambling — please contact GamCare (which supports young people affected by gambling) or Childline on 0800 1111. Both services are free and confidential.

A note on self-exclusion

If you have registered with GAMSTOP or another self-exclusion scheme, please treat that decision as a fixed boundary rather than something to be second-guessed during a difficult moment. Our site provides information about non-GAMSTOP operators because that is the topic our readers are researching, but we do not encourage self-excluded users to look outside the scheme, and we do not link to any operator. If you are struggling during a self-exclusion, please call 0808 8020 133 or reach out to GamCare's chat service. Trained support is available at any hour.

Take care of yourself.

Last reviewed on 5 August 2025 by Dr. Rowan Fairweather, Behavioural Research Lead.