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Bingo is a game enjoyed by adults of all ages and although classified by law as a game of chance, it has been used to provide an enjoyable evening out; raise money for special causes; and in the classroom to teach vocabulary, mathematics, geography and so on.
Although UK Bingo clubs are currently regulated and licensed under the Gaming Act 1968, Bingo is widely acknowledged as being very much at the soft end of the gambling spectrum, in view of the environment and context in which it is played. More than two-in-three people presently playing bingo in licensed clubs do so for social reasons rather than financial gain. The social aspect of bingo means that for many communities the local bingo club is an important social facility, providing a safe and secure environment, especially for women, who are less inclined to enter more traditional social facilities, such as pubs and clubs un-accompanied.
The Bingo industry is an important, and often overlooked, sector of UK's economy, contributing over £261 million to the Exchequer in duty and VAT during 2002 and employing about 20,000 people. The burden of duty and VAT has been a contributory factor to the decline in the number of clubs, which stood at 657 in 2006. This is a burden felt particularly by the smaller, independent operators who represent over a third of the total number of clubs.
New legislation in the form of the Gambling Act 2005 comes fully into force on 1 September 2007. It brings increased regulation and costs to the Bingo industry without providing material benefits.
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