Let me be clear, I don’t have a problem with the Christmas Lottery per se. It’s a great fundraiser for local events, and for the vast majority of the population it doesn’t lead to addiction and debt.  

But for some it does. And you shouldn't be able to tell us about addiction and the very real issues some people face, while also organising, promoting and distributing scratch cards. It smacks of hypocrisy. 

And by 'YOU' I mean the banner of government: The States of Guernsey. These messages may come from different groups who believe different things, but they are funnelled through the government machine and presented side by side. The nuance of inter-governmental relations is lost on the public who see every message under one header: The States of Guernsey.

The Health Impact Assessment was undertaken pre-pandemic and it’s understood by some in Public Health that these trends are likely to have worsened. The Director of Public Health, Dr Nicola Brink, said herself that “it is my view that pandemic pressures and the ongoing economic challenges that have followed are likely, if anything, to have worsened or exacerbated the trends that were detected in 2019/2020”. 

One HIA finding is that there is a clustering of poor health outcomes around scratch card use, and that under-18s have been gambling by illegally buying Christmas Lottery tickets. 

In fact, 67.5% of those who responded to the survey said they took part in the Channel Islands Christmas Lottery, and “scratch card use was found to be associated, more than any other gambling activity, with poor health indicators including poor general health, low mental wellbeing, living with excess weight/obesity, regular GP visits, mental health/counselling service attendance, poor diet, tobacco smoking, financial problems and violence perpetration”. 

How does this tally with another States body, the States Trading and Supervisory Board, promoting a lottery where half of the ticket is a scratch card?  

One representative telling us that the lottery is ‘OK’ because it raises money for charity and any negative health impact is being mitigated by ‘promoting responsible play’, while another tells us that it leads to regular GP visits. That 80% of respondents to a survey gamble, which is directly comparable – apparently – to 57% of the Great British population. 

"Tut tut, you gamble more than your peers... have another scratch card." 

Perhaps it’s my fault. Perhaps I shouldn’t look at the States of Guernsey as a homogenous mass. Perhaps it's ok that one action directly contradicts or confuses another.

Or perhaps it isn’t. Perhaps you don't get to do both. Let us gamble in peace, or stop the lottery. Don't guilt trip us for something you're facilitating.