They are not three versions of the same thing. GamCare runs the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133, 24 hours a day, and is the fastest door. Gamblers Anonymous is a free peer fellowship you can walk into without an appointment. The NHS National Gambling Clinic is a clinical service with an age and area catchment. Most people end up using two of the three.
Start with the helpline, whichever you end up with
If you are not sure, ring 0808 8020 133. It is free, confidential and open at three in the morning, which is when this decision usually gets made.
You are not committing to anything by ringing. You do not have to have a diagnosis, a total, or a plan, and you do not have to have stopped. Talking through what is happening with somebody who does this all day is a better way of choosing a route than reading comparisons, including this one.
The three, side by side
| | What it is | What it asks of you | What it costs | |---|---|---|---| | **GamCare, National Gambling Helpline** | Information, advice and support for anyone affected by gambling, on the phone, 24 hours a day, on 0808 8020 133 | A phone call. No referral, no waiting list, no diagnosis | Free | | **Gamblers Anonymous** | A twelve step fellowship of people who have gambled, running meetings across the UK. 0330 094 0322, or 0141 647 4673 in Scotland | Turning up, and a willingness to sit in a room with strangers. No appointment | Free | | **NHS National Gambling Clinic** | An NHS clinical service. In its own words, "a free, confidential NHS service supporting people who are experiencing harm from gambling aged 13 to 18 years from anywhere in England, and 18 or over living in Greater London" | Meeting the age and area criteria, and a referral process | Free |
What NICE actually recommends
Worth knowing before you choose, because the national guidance is less either-or than the internet is.
NICE published the UK's first gambling guideline in January 2025. It tells services to "discuss and agree the aim of treatment for gambling that harms (typically abstinence) with the person", to "offer group CBT to reduce gambling severity and frequency", and to "offer peer support as an integral part of the support and treatment for gambling-related harms for people who wish to engage with it".
Read that last one again. Peer support sits inside the clinical guidance rather than opposite it. Nobody is asking you to pick a philosophy. A fellowship on Tuesday and a clinical appointment on Thursday is a normal shape.
Gamblers Anonymous, honestly
It is a fellowship, not a service. Nobody assesses you, nobody keeps notes, and there is no waiting list. Their own material is blunt about how to start: "meetings are the most important part of Gamblers Anonymous. NO APPOINTMENT IS NEEDED, JUST TURN UP!"
What it asks is that you sit in a room and listen, and eventually that you speak. What it offers is other people who have done the thing you did and did not die of it, at a frequency no clinical service can match.
It is a twelve step programme with its own language and its own beliefs, and plenty of people use it happily without signing up to all of them. If a room does not suit you, another one three miles away often will, because the character of a meeting is mostly the people in it.
One structural point, from the UK government's own clinical guideline rather than from a fellowship: twelve step fellowships "maintain independence from professional bodies and make sure they remain led by people in recovery in a volunteer capacity and do not accept funding from external sources". That independence is why they are free and why nobody there is going to refer you anywhere.
Ignore any online questionnaire claiming a specific number of yes answers proves you belong. That threshold is not something we could verify, and it does not decide anything. Turning up does.
The NHS clinic, and the catchment people get wrong
The National Gambling Clinic is run by Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, and its adult catchment on its own current page is **Greater London**. A great deal of content still describes it as covering London and the South East. For 13 to 18 year olds it takes referrals from anywhere in England.
It is free and confidential. It is also, in its own words, not an emergency service: "please note we support those suffering from gambling harm and cannot offer crisis interventions." If tonight is a crisis, use Samaritans on 116 123 or 999 and come back to the clinic afterwards.
If you are outside Greater London and over 18, this particular clinic is not your route. Your GP is a reasonable place to start, and the helpline will know what exists near you better than a directory will.
How to choose in one paragraph
If you want to talk to somebody in the next ten minutes, ring the helpline. If you want other people who understand it, and you want that this week rather than in six weeks, go to a Gamblers Anonymous meeting. If you want structured clinical treatment and you are in Greater London or under 18 in England, look at the NHS clinic and speak to your GP as well. If you want a secular, CBT-based group and no twelve step framing, SMART Recovery UK runs free meetings online and in person on 0330 053 6022.
None of these are exclusive and none of them require you to have stopped first.
Before your first anything, do the blocking
Support works considerably better on top of friction than instead of it. If Gamstop and your bank's gambling block are not on yet, do them tonight, because they take ten minutes and they hold on the evenings when nothing else does. [The full stack is here, in order](/guides/gambling/gamstop-bank-blocks-and-blocking-apps).
If money is the emergency, that is a separate, free route: StepChange on 0800 138 1111, Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm, and [the right order to deal with debts in](/guides/gambling/gambling-debt-what-to-do-first).
Some people find it easier to keep the blocks, the meeting they are going to and the person who knows in one place, which is what [Renovyn's Shield](/shield) is for. Friction, plus somebody in the loop. It is not treatment and it is not a replacement for any of the three above.
Common questions
**Is Gamblers Anonymous free?** Yes. It is a volunteer fellowship, and the UK clinical guideline notes that twelve step fellowships do not accept funding from external sources and are led by people in recovery in a volunteer capacity. There is no fee and no referral.
**Do I need a referral for the NHS gambling clinic?** There is a referral process, and the catchment matters more than most people realise: adults must live in Greater London, while 13 to 18 year olds can be referred from anywhere in England. Speak to your GP, and ring the helpline on 0808 8020 133 to find out what exists locally if you are outside the area.
**What is the difference between GamCare and Gamblers Anonymous?** GamCare runs the National Gambling Helpline, which is a 24 hour advice and support line staffed by people doing a job. Gamblers Anonymous is a peer fellowship of people who have gambled themselves, meeting in rooms across the country. One is a phone call now, the other is a chair on Thursday.
**Do I have to stop gambling before I ask for help?** No, and waiting until you have stopped is how people spend years not asking. NICE's guidance says the aim of treatment is discussed and agreed with the person, typically abstinence, which means it is the beginning of the conversation rather than the entry requirement.
Sources
- [CNWL National Gambling Clinic](https://www.cnwl.nhs.uk/services/addictions/national-gambling-clinic). That it is a free, confidential NHS service, the 13 to 18 England and 18 plus Greater London catchments, and that it cannot offer crisis interventions.
- [NICE NG248, Harmful gambling recommendations](https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng248/chapter/recommendations). Agreeing the treatment aim, group CBT, and peer support as an integral part of support and treatment.
- [GOV.UK, Clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment, chapter 6](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/clinical-guidelines-for-alcohol-treatment/6-recovery-support-services-and-lived-experience-initiatives). How twelve step fellowships are structured, funded and led.
- [GamCare](https://www.gamcare.org.uk). Information, advice and support for anyone affected by gambling, and the National Gambling Helpline.
