New research in New Zealand indicates that the country's charitable gambling trusts are allocating their funds toward appropriate projects.
"The results of the survey confirm what we have believed for a long time. Charitable Trusts which operate gaming machines are seeking to support people in the community to help children to participate in activities which their parents may not be able to afford," said the Rt. Hon. Paul East, chairman of New Zealand's Charity Gaming Association.
The Charity Gaming Association commissioned Colmar Brunton Research to conduct a survey of people who had applied for grants from charitable gaming trusts in 2007.
"The survey sought to find out more about who in the community benefits from applications for grant money from gambling," said Mr. East. "The data shows a definite skew towards benefiting school age children from low to medium decile schools and from low income families. The findings strongly contradict the assertions made by anti-gambling activists."
"During 2007 the significant majority of applications were for grants designed to benefit groups of 50 or more people. National organizations typically sought grants which would benefit 1000 or more people.
"Survey respondents strongly approved of the current grant distribution model and supported continuation of grant making from gambling proceeds by charitable gaming trusts. They strongly noted that the availability of charity gaming grants saves volunteers from the time and effort of fund raising.
"Nine out of ten respondents agreed with the strict rules and criteria around the access to gambling proceeds."