National Lottery operator, Allwyn’s, 2024 Local Retail Champions, Natalie and Martin Lightfoot – who own Londis Solo Convenience in Glasgow – have completed the first stage of their Social Value store makeover by installing new colleague headsets to help with security at the store.

The husband-and-wife shopkeepers were awarded £5000 cash and a Social Value store makeover worth up to £20,000 when they were crowned National Winners at Allwyn’s first ever Local Retail Champions awards in December. They had been nominated for the award by their customers for a host of community-focused work, such as organising charity fundraising events and local litter-picking activities, as well as providing a home delivery service for those in need.

Natalie and Martin have beallgun the Social Value store makeover work – which will take a number of months to complete – by installing six new colleague headsets to improve security at the store. The headsets enhance communication between store staff, increasing safety for both customers and staff and enabling colleagues to respond quickly to assistance requests.

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The next stage of the store makeover activity will see the installation of new CCTV equipment, replacing the current 15-year-old system. As well as protecting the store, the CCTV currently helps keeps the community safer, with cameras located outside of the store successfully having been used in the past to help with investigations.

The final stage of the makeover will include installation of retail AI technology, with initial plans for this currently being looked at by Natalie and Martin.

Natalie said: “We’re really grateful to Allwyn for what the Local Retail Champions store makeover money is helping us do with security in the store. The headsets have been a godsend. The store has thick walls, making it difficult to hear each other in different areas of the shop, so the headsets allow us all to communicate and respond to things quickly as a team. We’re also in the process of getting new CCTV installed which will provide clearer pictures as the current system is quite pixelated and very dated. We wouldn’t have been able to get any of this new equipment without the Local Retail Champions makeover money, not for a long while anyway.”

Allwyn’s Director of Commercial Partnerships and Retail Sales, Alison Acquaye-Acford said: “We know Natalie is passionate about store security for retailers and has spoken publicly about the subject in the past, so we’re really happy we’ve been able to support her own store’s security needs with the store makeover. And she and her husband are absolutely deserving of the prize – they are a shining example of retailers who go above and beyond for their local community, which is precisely why they were crowned one of our two National Winners at Allwyn’s 2024 Local Retail Champions awards. We’re looking forward to hearing about how the project progresses further.”

The Local Retail Champions initiative is paid for with money from Allwyn’s dedicated Social Value Fund, which is an annual £1 million that the company has committed to using to support operating The National Lottery in an environmentally and socially responsible way. Last year, Allwyn used a portion of the fund to reward and recognise the important role its retail partners play in every community across the UK and Isle of Man – and arrangements for this year’s programme will become available over the coming months.

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Bank of Ireland has introduced voluntary blocks on debit cards for customers who want to stop transacting with gambling operators. An analysis of the Bank’s Q1 card spending data revealed that 90% of gambling transactions took place online, with 99% funded via debit cards.

While total Q1 card spending on gambling fell slightly (-2%) year on year, there was a large increase (+19%) amongst 18 to 25 year olds, with a decline of 8% amongst over-65s. 71% of bets placed in Q1 2025 were placed by men, with betting activity rising the most in counties Wicklow (+37%), Kilkenny (+24%), Limerick (+20%) and Laois (+17%) as popular sporting events such as the Cheltenham Festival and the Six Nations took place.

The new card-blocking feature, which also blocks access to online casinos, slot machines and lottery websites can be put in place following a customer request. It stops any payments identified as being made to a gambling operator, improving the financial wellbeing of customers, with problem gambling impacting relationships, finances and mental health.

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The block can be requested for both personal and business debit cards and will be extended to include credit cards in the coming months.

Áine McCleary, Chief Customer Officer of Bank of Ireland, said: “Problem gambling can have a devastating effect not just on the person involved, but also on families, friends and loved ones. For those with a gambling addiction it can often seem like help is out of reach. This initiative we are launching is designed to help customers take positive steps to improve control over their finances. It also furthers Bank of Ireland’s ambition to improve the financial wellbeing of our customers and communities, especially those going through difficult times.”

Oisín McConville of GamblingCare.ie said: “Measures such as this are very welcome, as we can see from the latest gambling spend insights that betting amongst younger people is on the rise. In order to combat the scourge of problem gambling, a wide range of supports are essential to prevent the issue becoming overwhelming for those impacted. The introduction by Bank of Ireland of gambling blocks is another step in the right direction and will further safeguard their customers.”