|TOP|The Salvation Army and the Methodist Church are urging local groups to take a stand against any proposals for casinos to be opened in their communities under the new Gambling Act.

Resources have been produced by The Salvation Army and the Methodist Church for all faith and local action groups wanting to get actively involved in the growing debate over casinos in their communities.

The call comes as councils submit formal proposals to the Government’s Casino Advisory Panel by the end of March 2006 regarding the new licence under the Act to establish one regional casino, 8 large casinos and 8 small casinos.

According to a Methodist Church press release, 45 local authorities have approached the Advisory Panel regarding an initial interest in establishing a regional casino – the so-called Super-casino, which features hard forms of gambling as yet not seen in the UK such as £1 million jackpots.

|QUOTE|All formal applications will be considered by the Panel before it makes recommendations to Local Authority areas on the locations of the new casinos.

The Salvation Army and the Methodist Church are particularly concerned by the latest developments with casinos in the UK, highlighting that the number of problem gamblers in the country, which already stands at 370,000, is likely to rise following the new gambling opportunities.

|AD|Major Bill Cochrane of The Salvation Army urged locals to speak out against any proposals to open the casinos in their community: “If your city or town is listed here it is now up to you and your church/faith group or concern group to tell your local council how you feel about the proposals.”

“People must not underestimate the power of local campaigns and the effect that letters and petitions can have. We have supplied briefing papers to explain the issues to people, so that if any local groups or individuals want to take action they have the necessary tools to do so.”

Alison Jackson, Secretary for Political and Parliamentary Affairs for the Methodist Church, added: “Local church groups can mount an effective and successful campaign if they want to challenge proposals for a casino in their area.

“The changes to the Gambling Act 2005 achieved by the joint campaign mean that the local people must be heard and that social responsibility is at the heart of the legislation. This guidance explains in detail how to target efforts and join with others to achieve success.”

The appeal of the The Salvation Army and the Methodist Church follow the success of an award-winning campaign against the Gambling Bill which called for added measures to protect children and vulnerable people against the negative effects of gambling. One of the measures included a limit on the number of regional casinos to one in order for proper research to be conducted on the impact of the casinos on the community in which it is built.