PokerStars & Microgaming are proud to announce that they have joined forces to help sustain DASH – a local Drug Advice and Support Helpline. Earlier this year DASH was facing closure following a cut in funding; the services they provided to so many people on the Island were at risk of being lost.
Microgaming had already made a significant contribution to the service in 2012 and PokerStars joined them in 2013; since then both companies have worked together to help save the service – not just with financial backing, but with advice and support on marketing and fundraising –with the aim of making the charity sustainable for the future.
Roger Raatgever, CEO of Microgaming, commented ‘Despite being a very small Island people aren’t often aware of some of the social issues that we face – we were certainly surprised by some of the stats that DASH presented about drug abuse on the Isle of Man. We firmly believe that a healthy body equals a healthy mind and as we are a sporty bunch, we were determined to play our part in helping to keep this service going as we would hate to think that there are people out there not reaching their potential due to a dependency. DASH provides a confidential service to people who have very complex needs; the end result is that it makes a real difference to their lives. We are proud to support this worthwhile service.’
Sue Hammett, Head of Corporate Giving for PokerStars said ‘we wanted to find a way of giving DASH the best opportunity for long term survival and we knew this couldn’t be done with just a one off donation; having the opportunity to work with the team at Microgaming to come up with a longer term plan for the charity seemed an ideal solution and we would encourage other companies to do the same. We all have different skills within our work forces and time and expertise can be just as valuable as money to organisations such as DASH.’
DASH’s annual results will be announced at a reception hosted by Microgaming and PokerStars on 14th November 2013 in Douglas, Isle of Man. During this reception Shelly Stanley Director of Services at DASH will be highlighting that there is still an opportunity for other companies to get on board and help.
Shelly Stanley explains, ‘Both DASH and our clients are sincerely grateful to Microgaming and Pokerstars, two of the largest e-Gaming Gaming companies on the Island for joining together to support DASH to give us time to build sustainability. We have had much support from the local community over the past 17 years and that shows an understanding in the public of the issues affecting the Island. What we need now is partnership from the corporate sector, to come on board to help us make the difference we have already started. Drug and Alcohol problems are part of a complex mix of other social, individual and environmental issues, they don’t occur in isolation; that means we can all improve the outcomes in our community by working together.’
