The Shofar is the ancient trumpet which called the people of God to prayer, repentance, sacrifice and war.

What You Can Do About It

CONTACT US:
If your town or district has been selected for a casino, call a meeting for prayer and action and invite someone from Christian Voice to come and help get started.  The National Director, Stephen Green, has a burden for this issue and will be glad to come.  The damage done to the needy and the way money is channelled from the poor to the rich is the complete opposite of scriptural principles: "He hath filled the hungry with good things and the rich He hath sent empty away." (Luke 1:53)  Please contact Stephen in the first instance.

WRITE:
If you live in one of the areas chosen for a casino, write to the mayor. Scroll down for the contact details for all the mayors.

Write to your MP. Even though it is assumed that Parliament will eventually rubber stamp the Casino Advisory Panel’s advice, ask your MP to vote against. Point out that:

  • Figures produced by a BBC Panorama program last year revealed that as many as 5.8 million Britons visited online gambling sites every month. In January, a Government report announced that the average UK family spends more on gambling than fresh vegetables, fresh fruit or holidays abroad. These figures suggest that the people of Britain already have more than sufficient access to gambling without needing to build even more facilities.
  • Evidence from other countries show that casinos often lead to an array of social problems, including debt, family breakdown and increased crime.
  • Statistics show that those on low wages are the ones most likely to lose their money while a handful of wealthy casino owners get richer. Usually it is wealthy foreign corporations that exploit the gambling market, sucking profits out of a local area.
  • Even if gambling does promote tourism and social regeneration in an area, the end does not justify the means. Gambling teaches the principle of getting something for nothing and it encourages financial waste, greed and lack of self-control. These wrong values are antithetic to a healthy community regardless of whatever benefits we imagine a casino might be bring. But casinos are shown to depress an area anyway.
  • In their report on the effects of gambling, The Royal College of Psychiatrists noted that occurrences of pathological or problem gambling in a population is directly related to the accessibility of gambling and commercial pressures to take part. It follows that by allowing more gaming facilities and advertising, our Government will directly contribute to an increase in problem gamblers.
  • The majority of casinos are going up in poor areas even though research from the British Gambling Prevalence Survey shows that those on lower incomes are three-and-a-half times more likely to become problem gamblers.
  • Statistics show that gambling puts children at risk as parents leave or neglect them to gamble. In the American state of South Dakota, during the fiscal year preceding the legalisation of gaming there were approximately 300 reports of children in need of protective services, while in the following year (after gambling was legalised) that number rose to 500 reported cases, while cases of neglected children rose by 15%.
  • The Creighton Bankruptcy Study in America found that ‘those counties that legalized casino gambling during the 1990s experienced a cumulative growth rate in individual bankruptcies that was more than double the growth rate for corresponding non-casino counties.’ Business become reluctant to invest money in areas that sustain large gambling industries because of bad debts, delinquent time payments and bankruptcy.

Mayors for Towns Selected for Casinos

Supercasino:

Manchester: Lord Mayor of Manchester, Cllr. James Ashley, 126 Craig Road, MANCHESTER, M18 7GN.
Email: Lord.Mayor's.Office@manchester.gov.uk

Large Casinos:

Great Yarmouth: Her Worship the Mayor of the Borough of Great Yarmouth, Cllr. Susan Robinson, Great Yarmouth Borough Council, Town Hall, GREAT YARMOUTH, Norfolk NR30 2QF.
Email: lauragoodman@great-yarmouth.gov.uk

Hull: The Rt Worshipful the Lord Mayor of Kingston upon Hull & Admiral of the Humber, Cllr. Trevor Larsen, 1 X 40th Avenue, KINGSTON UPON HULL, HU6 9QR
Email: Sue.Allen@HULLCC.gov.uk

Leeds: The Lord Mayor of Leeds, (Councillor Iqbal), The Lord Mayor’s office, 1st floor west, Civic Hall, LEEDS, LS1 1UR.
Email: LordMayorsOffice@leeds.gov.uk

Middlesbrough: Mayor of Middlesbrough, Mr Ray Mallon, PO Box 99a, Russell Street, MIDDLESBROUGH, Yorkshire, TS1 2QQ.
Email: ray_mallon@middlesbrough.gov.uk

Milton Keynes: Mayor of Milton Keynes, Milton Keynes Council, Civic Offices, 1 Saxon Gate East, MILTON KEYNES, MK9 3EJ.
Email: mayorsoffice@miltonkeynes.gov.uk

Newham: Sir Robin Wales, Newham Town Hall, East Ham, LONDON, E6 2RP.
Email: mayor@newham.gov.uk

Solihull: Mayor of Solihull, Cllr John Reeve, 172, Stroud Road, Shirley, SOLIHULL B90 2LA.
Email: jreeve@solihull.gov.uk

Southampton: Right Worshipful the Mayor of Southampton, Cllr. John Slade, Mayor’s Parlour, Civic Centre, SOUTHAMPTON, SO14 7LY.
Email: sharon.gilbert@southampton.gov.uk

Small Casinos:

Bath: The Right Worshipful The Mayor of Bath, Cllr. Carol Paradise, Mayor’s Parlour, Guildhall, BATH, BA1 5AW.
Email: Mayor's_Parlour@BATHNES.GOV.UK

Dumfries & Galloway: Provost Kenneth Cameron, Dumfries and Galloway Council, Municipal Chambers, Buccleuch Street, DUMFRIES, DG1 2AD.
Email: KenC@dumgal.gov.uk

East Lindsey: There is no Mayor over all of East Lindsey, as the district comprises eight different towns, each with its own Mayor. Instead you can write to the Chairman of East Lindsey District Council, Councillor Dr L Taffinder, Pennycress, Chapel Lane, Sibsey, Boston, Lincs, PE22 0SN.
Email Barbara.Hickson@e-lindsey.gov.uk and ask her to forward your complaint on to Cllr. Taffinder. East Lindsey has not yet decided the location of the casino, but it is likely to be Skegness.
Write to the Mayor of Skegness, Councillor Phil Kemp, 31 Sandbeck Avenue, SKEGNESS, Lincs. PE25 3PX.
Email: philkemp@supanet.com

Luton: The Mayor, Luton Borough Council, Town Hall, LUTON, LU1 2BQ.
Email: Kirstie.Carpenter@luton.gov.uk

Scarborough: The Lord Mayor of Scarborough, William Herbert Tindall, Dales Garth, 7 Lodge Lane, Danby, WHITBY, Yorkshire, YO21 2NA.
Email: cllr.h.tindall-nycc@btinternet.com

Swansea: The Lord Mayor, Cllr. Christopher Holley, The Lord Mayor’s Office, The Guildhall, SWANSEA, SA1 4PA.
Email: lord.mayors.office@swansea.gov.uk

Torbay: Mr. Nick Bye, Torbay Council, Town Hall, Castle Circus, TORQUAY TQ1 3DR.
Email: mayor@torbay.gov.uk

Wolverhampton: The Right Worshipful the Mayor of Wolverhampton, Cllr. John L G Davis, The Mayor’s Parlour, Civic Centre, St. Peter’s Square, WOLVERHAMPTON, WV1 1SH.
Email: mayoral@wolverhampton.gov.uk

Action Group:
You can also form or link in with an action group. Contact Christian Voice for help in getting up and running and for campaigning tips based on our prayer-and-action experience. CONTACT US