How many bookies is too many bookies?

Good afternoon readers — and welcome to our Monday briefing.

We all want new shops in the city centre, right? Sheffield is crying out for investment and anything that brings in new money has to be a good thing surely. But what happens when one of those new shops could cause some people serious harm? Today we look at a new plan to open a fifth betting shop in Castlegate and what that could mean for Sheffield’s hopes to combat problem gambling.

As well as that we have a great photo of Sheffield by night, a luxury flat with stunning views over the city and a talk about the science of magic mushrooms.

Catch up and coming up

For our historical weekend read, Thomas McGrath delved into Sheffield’s murky past for a gruesome tale about anatomy schools and grave-robbing. You can still read that piece here.

Last week we sent out two great newsletters to our 796 paying members. In the first we spoke to two anti-fracking activists for an in-depth look into the possible return of the controversial technology to our region. And in the second we took a look at what the future might hold for Doncaster Sheffield Airport after owners Peel announced its closure and their plans to turn it into a high-tech business park. An extract from that first piece is below:

“They are weasel words,” says Bob Street of the government’s latest line. “Truss said only communities who wanted fracking would get it but now all Jacob Rees Mogg is saying is that the oil and gas companies should compensate local communities instead. They are effectively telling them to bribe people into accepting something they don't want.”

This week we’ll send out two more including a report from the anti-abortion protests outside the Royal Hallamshire Hospital and an interview with a professor of Russian and Slavonic studies at the University of Sheffield about the impact on student numbers of the war in Ukraine. To get both of those and help fund a new way of doing journalism in Sheffield focused on the needs of readers rather than advertisers, please consider subscribing using the button below. It costs just £1.34 a week if you pay upfront for a year.

Subscriber testimonial: “The Tribune’s mixture of articles covering local history, and national and local events seems tailored to my interests and consistently proves you can write local news without resorting to the hackle-raising click bait that plagues our other local papers. I’ve been trying to cut back on spending but this is writing worth supporting!” James Thompson

The big picture: Sheffield by night 🌃

Sheffield may not be New York City, but it still looks pretty damn impressive by night. The brilliant photo above was captured by Norfolk Park drone pilot Chris Pickering from near Victoria Quays.

This week’s weather ⛅️

Our weather forecast comes from dedicated Sheffield weather service Steel City Skies, who say our weekend ridge of high pressure gets squashed south to allow low pressure and blustery winds to funnel showers south and east. Mild throughout.

Monday ⛅️ A dry day is expected with bright or sunny periods and a general trend to higher cloud amounts. Mild with highs of 17°C.

Tuesday 🌧 Cloud continues to thicken with an increasing chance of rain later in the afternoon and overnight. Breezier with highs of 18°C.

Wednesday 🌦 A very blustery but mild day with rain clearing to bright spells and scattered showers. Highs of 18°C.

Thursday 🌦 A gusty westerly pattern remains with further bright spells mixed in with blustery showers which the hills will bear the brunt of. Highs of 18°C.

Friday 🌥 Depending on how fast our low clears east, Friday should trend drier with winds also easing. Highs of 17°C.

Outlook: Low pressure threatens to the southwest, but more prolonged drier and brighter periods are likely too. Temperatures closer to average.

To see the full forecast and keep up to date with any changes to the outlook, follow Steel City Skies on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

The big story: How many bookies is too many bookies?

Top line: Concerns have been raised after a giant bookmaker submitted plans to open a new shop in Castlegate — making it the area’s fifth betting shop.

Vitality and viability: Local democracy reporter Molly Williams reported last week that giant bookmaker Paddy Power had submitted plans to open a shop in the former Savers health and beauty store on Haymarket.

• They say the shop would bring a vacant shop quickly back into use in the city centre, ensuring that the unit will “contribute to the vitality and viability of the area”.
• However, the application has attracted complaints including one which questioned how another bookmaker would help Sheffield during the cost of living crisis.

Too many bookies? If Paddy Power gets the go ahead, it would be the third bookmaker on Haymarket (in addition to the two amusement arcades as well). Over the other side of Commercial Street, on Fitzalan Square, there is another amusement arcade plus a Betfred bookmakers, while round the corner on Castle Square there is a Bet Extra shop.

Betting “clusters”: As Guardian journalist and author Rob Davies has shown, betting shops often tend to be clustered in areas of high deprivation. Paddy Power’s other Sheffield shops are in Darnall, Shiregreen and Highfield. As well as four bookmakers and amusement arcades, Castlegate also has several pawn shops and discount stores as well — all aimed at the city’s less well-off.

Social harm: A 2021 report by Public Health England found that problem gambling was a major public health issue which seriously impacts on people’s health.

• The report found that people at risk of gambling harms were concentrated in areas of higher deprivation and may already be experiencing greater health inequalities.
• As well as suicide and mental health, it noted harms caused by gambling including financial, employment, relationships, physical health and criminal activity.

Outdated language? However, some believe that using the term “problem gambling” lets the betting industry off the hook. Sheffield’s director of public health Greg Fell is a vocal critic of the gambling industry. On his blog, he has argued that betting companies should take far more responsibility for the serious harm they cause. He says:

We do see a great deal of language in the media around ‘problem gambling’ and the ‘problem gambler’. This is outdated language. Those harmed by gambling are not the ‘problem’. The ‘problem’ lies with predatory industry practices, and completely inadequate government policies.

Bottom line: While gambling is a harmless pursuit for many, there is increasing evidence of the serious social harm it causes. However, a long-awaited government white paper on gambling reform is still nowhere to be seen — partly as a result of a well-funded lobbying operation by the industry itself. Last year, PHE said a properly-funded public health approach was essential to reducing harmful gambling. It’s difficult to see how carpeting parts of Sheffield city centre with bookmakers and arcades is compatible with this approach.

Further reading:

• How gambling claimed the lives of two young Sheffield men
• Jackpot: How Gambling Conquered Britain by Rob Davies

Home of the week 🏡

This two-bedroomed apartment is on the eighth floor of the new Hallam Towers development and has a private balcony with stunning views across Sheffield. It is on the market for £360,000.

Our media picks 🎧

Sheffield woman with incurable illness is face of Adidas campaign 📸 A nice piece in The Star about Emma Fisher, a Nether Edge woman who has been living with incurable cancer for four years. The 41-year-old has been chosen as the face of a charity campaign by Breast Cancer Now and sportswear manufacturer Adidas. Emma is one of three women selected to tell their stories in a new campaign for this October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

A riotous satirical farce brought bang up to date 🎭 A four-star review in The Guardian for the first play to be staged at the newly renamed Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse: Dario Fo’s Accidental Death of an Anarchist. The play is an angry broadside at police malpractice, but none of that would matter if it wasn’t so funny, with Daniel Rigby giving a performance which is “explosively and hilariously larger than life”. The play is on until Saturday, 15 October.

Later…with Jools Holland 🎤 There is still time to catch up with Sheffield pop sensation Self Esteem’s appearance on BBC2 last Friday night on the iPlayer. As well as performing two songs from her latest album Prioritise Pleasure, she also sits down for an interview with Jools in which she talks about saving The Leadmill, and gets to choose her own personal highlight from the show’s extensive archive (she picks Sheffield legend Richard Hawley).

‘Pay the workers, tax the rich’ 🪧 

Hundreds of demonstrators came to Sheffield city centre on Saturday for the Enough is Enough march, a protest group set up to campaign against the cost of living crisis. Demonstrators assembled on Devonshire Green before marching through the city centre via The Moor and on to Barker’s Pool, where the crowd heard speeches from union leaders. Similar protests happened in cities all across the UK, attracting thousands of people. The Star’s write-up of the day is here.

Things to do 📆 

Talk 🍄 Tonight at The Leadmill (Monday, 3 October) Maria Balaet, a neuroscientist at Imperial College London, will explore the science behind magic mushrooms. It is now thought that psilocybin (the psychedelic ingredient in some fungi) could lead to a revolution in our understanding of mental health, helping us better understand the mind, treat depression and increase wellbeing. Tickets are £12.35 and doors open at 6.45pm.

Books 📚 At the Millennium Gallery on Tuesday, October 4, author Paul Fischer will discuss his new book The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures, a true tale of obsession, murder and the movies. The book tells the story of Frenchman Louis Le Prince, who in 1890 was granted patents in four countries for his motion picture camera. However, just weeks before unveiling his invention, he mysteriously disappeared and was never seen again. Tickets are priced £8.

Music 🥁 Jazz at The Lescar returns this Wednesday (5 October) with an act that combines minimalist percussion with exuberant synths. Boing! are made up of composer, percussionist and gyil player Bex Burch and electronic musician Leafcutter John from Mercury-nominated British jazz pioneers Polar Bear (this YouTube video gives you an idea of the kind of sonic experimentation you can expect). Tickets are £10 (£7 NUS) and doors open at 8.15pm.