Abstract

Gambling-related harms is a serious public issue impacting millions around the world. Gambling isn’t what it was – fast paced electronic highly addictive products are pushed by a powerful industry, are available 24/7 and normalised in our societies through mass advertising. We all have a casino in our pockets and protections are inadequate.

I should know. Following a twelve year gambling addiction that destroyed my life and left me on the brink of suicide I have spent the last six years leading nationwide campaigns to reform gambling as well as developing & overseeing prevention programmes to get people information and support much earlier.

I work for Gambling with Lives, a charity set up by families bereaved by gambling-related suicide. There are hundreds of people who take their life because of gambling every year in England – we support those families that are left behind and do everything we can to save lives.

I would like to share my lived experience of addiction, my story of recovery and the lessons from my advocacy and prevention work here in the UK to the conference. I have presented at multiple other conferences and appeared in national media hundreds of times.

The title would be ‘Using lived experience of gambling addiction to prevent the next generation being harmed”