Wanganui Chronicle:
Eight pubs and clubs in Whanganui have agreed to "pause the pokie machines" for one hour on Wednesday in recognition of Gambling Harm Awareness Week.
For the last two years local Maori development organisation, Nga Tai O Te Awa, have run the initiative as part of Problem Gambling Foundation's national campaign.
Gambling harm promoter from Nga Tai O Te Awa, Hini Potaka-Gardiner, said the aim was to target working people who might have a gambling addiction.
"For anyone that has a gambling addiction, it's going to interrupt their routine and hopefully get them talking," Ms Potaka-Gardiner said.
Venues signed up will record how many people come in to use the machines while they have been turned off.
A form will also be offered to pokie users to record the reactions they have to the machines being turned off and whether they were offered information by Host Responsibility for gambling harm minimisation.