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"Harms in affected others challenge the industry in two ways. First, measures to raise awareness and prevent gambling harms in individuals who do not gamble will reduce the appeal of gambling and contribute to its social unacceptability. Second, the 'freedom to gamble' argument is confounded if individuals who do not gamble are harmed." An extract from 'Gambling Explained' (Executive Summary). 'Gambling Explained', among many other things, demonstrates that affected others are significantly harmed and yet often omitted from discussion and consideration, let alone action. We, the authors of this report and submission to the Gambling Act Review, have a combined lived experience of affected other harms of over 25 years. We are particularly pleased to share 'Gambling Explained' as this piece has been written and funded independently. The attached report is a collation of salient scientific evidence and disconcerting comments made by the industry and other stakeholders across ten key topic areas, which are: Chapter 1: Gambling and health Chapter 2: Gambling and addiction Chapter 3: Gambling in children and young people Chapter 4: Gambling and advertising Chapter 5: Gambling research, education, and treatment Chapter 6: Design of gambling products Chapter 7: Gambling and the way it is conducted Chapter 8: Gambling and voluntary bans Chapter 9: Gambling operators as multinational corporations Chapter 10: Gambling and crime In addition to shedding light on critical matters pertaining to the Gambling Act Review, 'Gambling Explained' hopes to validate the significance and role of emerging lived experience voices, particularly those of affected others, in driving change. Charlotte Bradley: "When the opportunity arose for me to be involved in the authorship of this report, I was extremely humbled yet keen to further a rapidly developing evidence base surrounding gambling harms. The overwhelming urge to be involved and seek to uncover the extent of current evidence derives from a personal lived experience of gambling harms. Harms accrued through no direct involvement nor fault of my own. A not too dissimilar set of harms to that experienced by my children, stepchildren, and in-laws, amongst others. All of us harmed, tied by one mutual connection - somebody we love suffering from a gambling disorder. Thankfully, now three years into recovery, our story is one of hope and positivity, yet the past is still a part of us and will be for as long as we live. The extent of harm to which our children have faced is yet to be uncovered. As parents, we try our best to protect our children, the next generation, from being harmed. However, harms that result from gambling disorder are inevitable and can only be prevented by preventing gambling disorder in the first place. We hope 'Gambling Explained' will inspire many others to feel as passionately about this issue as we do. And lastly, to promote and drive positive change, especially for people who are affected by another individual’s gambling disorder." Kishan Patel: "As someone who has experienced gambling-harm continuously from birth, this issue is an extremely pertinent one to me due to its wide-reaching impacts on my life. I have repeatedly struggled with ideas that neither my family members nor I should have existed to suffer in the way that we have. This outlook has been difficult to displace, leading to anxieties such as repeating the same journey as my Dad, who had often described his life as like 'going to hell and back'. Despite the significance of harms on my life and loved ones, my first comprehension of gambling harm only began at the age of 22 while in my 4th year of Medical School under the directive of investigating neglected public health issues. Over the past year, besides learning that my family is not unique in our gambling harm experience, I have also come to realise the extraordinary significance of gambling harm on a population level. Additionally, it has been comforting and yet frustrating to discover public health efforts to combat gambling harm in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand; meaningful change is possible in Great Britain. Inspired by 'Tobacco Explained', 'Gambling Explained' culminates our understanding of what is known and what the industry and other stakeholders have said." Note: We do not believe it to be appropriate to use stigmatising language in this space, especially in the pursuit of a public health approach. Hence, we have avoided the term ‘gambler’ and instead used the phrase ‘individuals who gamble’. We also have avoided the use of 'problem gambler’ and instead used the phrase ‘individuals suffering from a gambler disorder’. Full version of Gambling Explained Gambling Explained as a short PowerPoint Deck

It seems that every year we have the same conversations regarding Denise Coates' extortionate salary. However, on this particular anniversary of the draw-dropping figures being released into the public domain, I was asked to give my thoughts on them by The Times newspaper. The full article is behind a paywall which can be accessed by clicking here. My comments are as below: - Kishan Patel, from the gambling harm group TalkGEN, said that the money could be used to fund services to address gambling addiction. "Research, education and treatment into gambling harm has been chronically underfunded for several years now and the Denise Coates Foundation sites on £300 million and [has] never made any donation to reduce or prevent gambling harm," he claimed. "I presume the foundation isn't going to lose that source of income any time soon and this is a huge amount of money that could have been hugely useful during this difficult period for the UK. "The UK is miles behind other countries like New Zealand and Australia in tackling gambling harm. Using a larger chunk of this huge sum could help the UK catch up and avoid more families suffering from the devastating consequences of gambling addiction."

Earlier today I was delighted to be involved in the 'Voice of Awareness' discussion hosted by Tana Russell and Julie Hynes of the Evergreen Council on Problem Gambling. The show was streamed live on both YouTube and Facebook and included follow gambling addiction recovery podcasters Brian Hatch (ALL IN: The Addicted Gambler's Podcast), Jamie Salsburg (The After Gambling Podcast), Brian Ward (Voices...The Podcast) and Tony O'Reilly (The Problem Gambling Podcast). It filled me with immense pride to have been invited to take part in this hour-long production, alongside content creators that I hold in such high-esteem, many of whom I look up to. If you missed the show you can catch-up via the video link below.

As news broke yesterday of our new education programme in collaboration with YGAM, Red Card Gambling Support Project CIC and Clearview Research (click here for news item), the Gambling Harm UK team was delivering a remote workshop centering around gambling and gaming harm to young people from Slough-based charity Aik Saath. Who are Aik Saath? The words "Aik Saath" mean "Together As One" in Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu. They also embody the ethos of the charity. Aik Saath believes in working together for positive social change. Their mission is to work with people from all communities, faiths and backgrounds to promote and encourage conflict resolution and community cohesion through training, campaigns and projects. Purpose The two-hour delivery, inclusive of in-built focus groups, was separate to our collaborative rollout which is due to begin in the coming months. The primary purpose of this session was to both raise awareness and address the issue of gambling harm and to greater understand the service provision gaps from a young ethnic minority persons perspective to help us shape future content, talks and overarching projects. We would like to thank all of the young people for their input into this session. They appeared to be engaged and impassioned on the subject and their consultation and feedback will play a key role for GHUK moving forward.

A pioneering new education programme has been launched in Greater London and the Home Counties to raise awareness and address the issue of gambling harm disproportionately affecting young people from ethnic minority populations. The ‘Preventing Gambling Harms in Diverse Communities’ initiative has been developed through a unique collaboration between YGAM, Gambling Harm UK (GHUK), Red Card Gambling Support Project CIC and Clearview Research. The prevention programme will deliver free specialist workshops to young people from ethnic minority populations aged 14–24, as well as free training to community and faith leaders. The programme content centres on an understanding of socio-cultural and religious contexts on shame and stigma relating to gambling harms. YouGov Research published in 2020 shows that 1 in 2 adults from ethnic minority backgrounds have gambled in the UK in the last 12 months, and around 1 in 4 of these past-year gamblers suffer significant gambling-related harm. Moreover, a 2019 study by Clearview Research on the young BAME perspective reported that 90% agreed that gambling is seen differently within their ethnic cultures than within white British cultures, and 95% of participants could not identify how they could access help for gambling harm. The three partner organisations have all been established by individuals who have personal lived experience of the harms and impact of gambling addiction. The partners will channel their lived experience and insight into workshops that equip young people with the knowledge to recognise and prevent gambling harm and the confidence to support themselves and others through recovery. GHUK and Red Card Gambling Support Project CIC will work collaboratively to maximise synergies and combine resources to create young person facing educational content, using insight from the YGAM and Clearview Research content co-creation sessions. The content will include culturally-specific gambling-harm awareness short films that cover different areas in the black and Asian communities as well as self-help information and age-appropriate signposting material. Over the two-year pilot, 16,600 young people will be reached directly. Kishan Patel, 5th Year Medical Student at Imperial College and CEO at GHUK said: “In general, young people today are increasingly growing up with finger-tip access and exposure to gambling products and advertisements online. Despite this, the vast majority are not aware of the sudden or insidious but potentially devastating effects of gambling harm. It’s just not talked about enough, especially in schools or GP surgeries, where it is desperately needed. The situation we have now is one where young people are vulnerable to harms from their gambling or a family member’s gambling, but sadly feel unable to access help and support.” Tony Kelly is a former professional footballer and now CEO of Red Card Gambling Support Project CIC. Welcoming the launch of the programme, he said: “We are pleased to be working with YGAM and GHUK on this project, as I believe we share the same goals and vision. This initiative is very much needed as gambling addiction within these hard-to-reach communities is something that is still a taboo subject so it is important we break down that barrier of stigma. I hope to use my professional football career and my story to engage our young target audience on this topic. Coming from a Caribbean background myself, I hope many young people from the community will hear my voice as one they can listen and relate to.” Lee Willows, CEO of YGAM said “We’re proud to be part of this purposeful collaboration with lived experience and diversity at its heart. The project builds on the recommendations from the Clearview Research; ‘Gambling: The young BAME perspective’, commissioned by GambleAware in 2019. YGAM will take the lead on the training of community and faith leaders who once trained will deliver the programme to young people. Over the two-year pilot, YGAM will aim to train 323 practitioners, who will in turn reach 18,050 young people in their care. With the talent, specialist insight and commitment from all partner organisations, I am confident that collectively we’ll deliver some helpful perspectives on how to engage with minority communities, contributing to the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms.” The programme will seek formal assured status from City & Guilds. Clearview Research have been appointed to lead the creation of a Theory of Change model for the programme and will act as independent evaluation partners. Clearview Research also worked with YGAM in 2020 to undertake a comprehensive BAME Audit, working with the charity to co-create content specifically aimed at minority communities. The initiative has received funding from the Gambling Commission regulatory settlements and will contribute to the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms, specifically within the Prevention and Education priority area. In addition, a prominent Advisory Group will be established to examine the stigma of gambling harms in these communities. The programme will be recruiting members to this group in the coming weeks. If you are interested in finding out more about the programme and the free workshops available then please contact PGHDC@ygam.org.

Having lived experience of both gambling-harm and alcoholism I occasionally get invited to talk about either or both. So when Lee Davy, host of the 1000 Days Sober podcast got in touch I obviously thought he wanted to talk about alcohol.....wrong! Yes, we did talk about my history with alcohol briefly but Lee wanted to discuss gambling harm and my recovery. Turns out Lee has had his own issues with gambling and I must say recording this podcast was an absolute blast. Here is a link to the show notes; a special workbook dedicated to my podcast episode: Getting Over a Gambling Addiction with Chris Gilham (mykajabi.com) To check out the full episode follow this link: 1000 Days Sober Podcast - Getting Over a Gambling Addiction with Chris Gilham | Free Listening on Podbean App

An endorsement from Arsenal legend and former England international footballer 'The Magic Man' himself. Paul Merson gives his verdict on our podcast...

Recently the All Bets Are Off podcast invited grassroots football clubs from across the UK to apply for sponsorship for 2021-2022 season. At a time where that has been a lot of coverage regarding gambling partners in football, something that is rife in our beautiful game, we wanted to bring something different to the table and promote a good cause and have our logo emblazoned on the shirt of a football club that matched the podcast's values. Furthermore, supporting grassroots teams following a pandemic is a very worthy cause and we feel privileged to be in a position to give something back. Be sure you keep tabs on the All Bets Are Off podcast website and/or social media for further updates. You can find out more about this partnership by clicking here. .

A team of lived experience researchers surveyed 133 individuals from the lived experience community consisting primarily of individuals with gambling experience and a smaller contingent of affected others between 21st January 2021 and 29th January 2021. The value of lived experience cannot be overstated, especially in a neglected public health issue where understanding and awareness is limited. Ultimately, there is no way of ensuring that only individuals with genuine lived experience fill in an online survey. Therefore, we utilised a mixed-methods approach to maximise the internal validity of any findings reported. Contents 1. Duty of Care 2. Responsibility for Safe Gambling 3. Gambling Activity Data 4. Customer Data 5. Soft Cap 6. Hard Cap 7. Uniform Restrictions 8. Gambling as a Financial Service Duty of Care “Do online gambling companies have a duty of care, to interact appropriately and in a timely manner?” N = 132 survey participants. Nearly all (94%) survey participants felt that online gambling companies have a duty of care, to interact appropriately, and in a timely manner. Based on the experiences that you have seen, why do you think gambling companies should have a duty of care to its customers? (N=125) Both harm prevention and addiction (49/125) “I am a compulsive gambler that would make numerous attempts to load money into accounts when I had no funds…” “Because of the power of addiction and the harm it can cause to both addicts and their loved ones.” “Throughout my addiction…I never once received an intervention from anyone…despite displaying clear levels of harm…A compulsive gambler like myself just doesn't see responsible gambling messages. My addiction doesn't compute this self-serving system..” “My son took his own life due to his gambling addiction and one of the things I found after his death was his frustration with the gambling companies when he reached out to them for help.” Harm prevention (40/125) “Prevention of problem and underage gambling” “gambling has the ability to destroy life’s on the first interaction. Inheritance blown on choosing red over black.” “Player protection, LCCP, the right thing to do” “Because they sell a harmful product, and for moral obligations” Addiction (31/125) “from my own experiences it's pretty obvious when someone is struggling to control gambling and I'm sure the online sites can see this but choose to ignore it” “Because they provide a high intensity service with known addictive triggers” “They have the data and algorithms to identify their at risk users, but have too often exploited them by rewarding them with free bets and VIP bonuses rather than intervene positively.” “When sometimes they're the only person that can see how bad someone's gambling is. They should have a duty of care to step in and make sure that person is being responsible and isn't showing the signs of addiction” Neither (5/125) “Because the customer has found themselves in or on one of their licenced premises” Based on the experiences that you have seen, why do you think gambling companies should not have a duty of care to its customers? (N=8) Should have a duty of care (3/8) "They should care more" "As I am a compulsive gambler they should stop the TV adds and also we as people are starting to expect gambling as part of normal day live as everywhere you turn its about gambling" "They should care thats the end of it or even better they can f*** off!" Personal responsibility (2/8) "There is a lack of personal responsibility in the current climate with those who choose to commit crime being able to use gambling as an excuse for their actions with now many militant anti gamblers using crime as an excuse to profit in breach of the Gambling Commissions own objectives" "A person must take responsibility for their own actions." Unclear (2/8) "Yes" "I believe they take care of their customers to the extent that they are predisposed to consume and develop their spending power with them." Inadvertently caused more harm (1/8) "Creation of perverse incentives/ risk-free gambling. If vulnerable people can get their losses back, they are more likely to experience more gambling-related harm than less." Responsibility for Safe Gambling “Is it fair for safe gambling to be solely the responsibility of the customer?” N = 133 survey participants. Most (92%) survey participants believe it is unfair for safe gambling to be solely the customer's responsibility. Could you explain where you think the responsibility for safe gambling should lie and why? (N=133) Both the individual and the operator (50/133) “It is a joint thing for both customer and client but the overriding responsibility must be with the company providing the service. A pub would not keep serving alcohol to a customer until they died of alcohol poisoning, so a gambling company should not be allowed to facitate gambling to the point where a person has no money left for food, rent, heating etc...” “With the individual and the provider. Gambling is addictive and those who are susceptible and who become addicted need support and care that the providers, without regulation, would do nothing about because their sole motivation is profit.” “It should lie with both parties. But as a CG I couldn’t see that I was digging myself into a hole financially and had there been some safeguards in place to monitor or alert that I was gambling excessively I might not have gotten into so much trouble with it all.” The operator (44/133) “Bookies should be looking after their clients.” “The Gambling Industry profit from addiction. Their bottom line is profit. Their most profitable customers are those on the addiction spectrum. If they have no responsibility, they will encourage and permit addiction. That's what people think about drug dealers… Grooming like this is closer to what is seen among paedophile rings, and human trafficking.” Broad and multiple bodies (30/133) “Gambling Regulator/Commission/Public Health/Government. As with any legal activity that is known to cause harm, safeguarding must be put in place. The Customer of course is ultimately responsible however they most be informed/protected and not coesered into harmful behaviour by gambling companies” “responsibility ought to lie with everyone. The DCMS, The Gambling Commission; the banks, the operators; the people themselves. We all have a part to play” Unclear (6/133) “Amounts you’re able to stake should be some what relative to what you actually earn (money you’ve won would be treated differently) so that people don’t lose a months wage in minutes and then get into debt just to survive the rest of that month etc” Individual (3/133) "People have to take some responsibility" "The 18+ consumer. A gambling company can never accurately determine how much a person is able to spend on their leisure and entertainment activities, so the onus is on the adult to do so." "With the customer who makes a choice" Customer Data “What information should operators obtain to ensure customers are not gambling beyond their means?” N = 133 survey participants. The majority of survey participants consider income (80%), lines of credit (77%), loans (71%), payment history (68%). Just under a majority of participants felt that collections accounts (50%) should be considered and a small portion (6%) of survey participants regard that operators should obtain no further information. Additionally, 5% responded with suggestions such as "source of money" and “all and any suitable information that would be easily available”, should also be obtained. Gambling Activity Data “Which gambling-related factors, other than money spent, should operators have to consider?” N = 132 survey participants. Why should an operator look at other gambling-related factors as well as the amount of money spent? (N=128) "A gambler's behaviour and circumstances will directly influence the amount of money they spend gambling." "Because gambling when it becomes a problem is not just about money... Money is not the only factor, spending more time playing slots rather than spending time with family and friends or working for instance." "Because it would quite quickly become apparent to an operator that someone who is gambling 8 hrs a day, multiple deposits and manic activity that the person was/is out of control" "As the other factors often are an easier indication that individuals have lost all control" "Because gambling addicts lose interest in their lives and isolate themselves spending to much time gambling, Also could be drug related" Soft Cap “Do you agree with a £100 per month affordability threshold?” N = 133 survey participants. How would you have reacted if you were stopped from gambling until you passed an affordability assessment? (N=132) Positively (47/132) "If it was after £100 I would accept that. If it was after £1000’s of pounds I would be annoyed. To me it says, we can take a lot off you and then decide whether you are spending within your means and if you are not you have lost that money. If it’s done at the start the responsibility returns mainly to the customer." "I surpassed that threshold 100's possibly 1000's of times. If it was introduced early on in my gambling career then maybe I would have saved a lot of damage" "As a gambler without a disorder, I would be happy knowing that the operator was acting responsibly.I would be satisfied that they were acting in a matter that was both appropriate and acceptable. I would be appreciative that I might not be allowed to gamble if I could not prove I could afford to lose. However, as gambler with a disorder. I would be angry that I have to wait. I would not be understanding or patient. I would be bitterly disappointed and frustrated and I would be concerned that the affordability checks would prevent me from gambling." "Had it been done early on then it would have avoided many losses and harm and I would have engaged with that. If you don’t have a gambling disorder then why would you mind, if reasons are explained and they are fair I see no reason why a person wouldn’t want to engage." "I've gambled 3 times. Once, I gambled £300+ on a cricket game, as I chased and chased. I wasn't doing so well mentally. If they stopped me at £100, and that was set as the maximum of normal, then I wouldn't have continued to gamble. I would have thought that £100 is enough money lost." Both positively and negatively (39/132) "Angry. Frustrated. Relieved. Relaxed" "As a gambler without a disorder, I would be happy knowing that the operator was acting responsibly.I would be satisfied that they were acting in a matter that was both appropriate and acceptable. I would be appreciative that I might not be allowed to gamble if I could not prove I could afford to lose. However, as gambler with a disorder. I would be angry that I have to wait. I would not be understanding or patient. I would be bitterly disappointed and frustrated and I would be concerned that the affordability checks would prevent me from gambling." "At the time I would of been gutted but being a compulsive gambler and recovering addict looking at it now it is a major factor to helping people out" "I wouldn't have been happy, because I believed I was in control, but in hindsight it would have made a huge difference to my life. I would often gamble away a month's salary within minutes of waking up on payday. That's clearly not affordable. If my gambling was then limited the damage would have been limited. It seems to me to be a simple correlation." "I would have been disappointed later on with my gambling but it would have helped me at the start to highlight there was caution to me doing this so I need to take note." Negatively (32/132) "At the time thinking back I would have likely attempted ways to go elsewhere. Such as another operator. I'd likely also have attempted to show wasy in was affordable when wasn't." "I would have been angry because I only ever wanted to gamble - I would have never passed an assessment as I gambled to excess, maxed out on all forms of credit, and with stolen funds too. Whether this will have made me reach out for help sooner I really couldn't say. It would have made it tougher to gamble though. I think it's important to remember that most people in the UK won't come remotely close to spending £100 p/month on gambling. A study in March 2019 found the average disposable income in a British adult was just £276 - food for thought." "Angry, this has happened in the past on a number of occasions in the past in live casinos (although the limit was dramatically higher) I was only ever questioned whilst in a huge spiral with increasing bets, so my rage was the fact I could not instantly place a roulette bet, always felt, of course my number is going to come down now." "This happened to me and due to being a gambling addict I was quite annoyed and tried to open other betting accounts. Someone could have 10/20 betting accounts with different companies so the £100 per account could be questionable. The company in question asked for affordability and I provided wage slips which showed I was earning £1000 a month but depositing £3000+ per month. The company then allowed me to continue which looking back is shocking." "I wouldnt have liked it and just found somewhere else to gamble with no threshold issues always somewhere that will take your money" Unclear/unsure (14/132) "It would depend on the trigger point and the ease of completing the process." "Can’t say but I guess it would have made a difference" "Friction, slow down decision making, reconsider expenditure." Hard Cap “To prevent gambling-harm, what should be the maximum percentage of disposable income that should go towards gambling?” N = 129 survey participants. 75% of participants agree 20% or less should be the maximum disposable income going towards gambling. Half of the participants agree 10% or less of disposable income should be the maximum. The modal and median percentage reported was also 10%. Uniform Restrictions Should all gambling products be treated the same with the same set of limits and restrictions?”. N = 133 survey participants. Should be treated the same (93/133) "Because they can all get out of hand. An unmanageable for problem gamblers" "Because gambling is so prolific in our country its like its our national sport! With the level of abject poverty we have, coupled with the high suicide rate, its not something to be encouraged at a young age. With a blanket age restriction, we are protecting young people from harm. My gambling problem started at a young age and I did so much damage, I'm still paying for it 30 years later. If it were incredibly difficult to gamble at a young age, with the support that is available now, I would hope the vast majority of young people would not have to suffer the pain I went through." "Gambling is gambling. some people have problems with bingo some with horse racing some with slots. problem gamblers can be addicted to all types or just 1 specific type of gambling. everyone is an individual case." "Any form of gambling can become addictive" "Will stop people from spending above there means and getting in debt regardless of what they are gambling on" Should not be treated the same (40/133) "Blanket one size fits all approach wouldn't be applicable as product ranges differ drastically." "They have different risk profiles" "There are differences in SOME products, which have a dramatically larger amount of winning players, but thats games would be completely changed, poker for example in a live casino has an averagebuy in of £240 per game much higher on average than slots or casino games. The review would punish poker players in a much more aggressive manner" "Gambling differs. Think of alcohol. Spirits like Vodka are poured in measures. You can't order a pint of Vodka at the bar! Whereas lower impact alcohol (take lager), can be ordered in larger amounts. A similar approach should be taken with gambling. Gambling should be categorised. E.g. the more dangerous, rapid and most harmful products (i.e. online slots and roulette) should be limited, or at least forewarned. Less harmful products (i.e. lottery tickets) should be categorised as lower harm. A traffic light system could be used, like on food packets with sugars/salt content. Red= dangerous. Amber= not great for you. Green= fine to use." "Different sporting events may happen once a year for example the grand national, so someone may want to place £100 on numerous horses for that event. However, virtual horse racing is on every 30-45 seconds so placing £100 on each race every day should not be allowed. Maybe restrict a customer to so many virtual races or X amount of spins on slots and roulette" Gambling as a Financial Service “Should gambling operators be required to conduct as thorough checks as banks have to go through when issuing loans or credit?” (N=132) Yes (107/132) "I believe that they should and possibly the gambling companies set the limit for each customer depending on their credit history/score. If a customer believes this should be increased then they should provide clear evidence that it is affordable to them" "exactly correct, people are using large sums of money as a 'gamble' without any credit checks whatosever" "It would certainly help problem gamblers" Potentially (8/132) "Not at first only if want to wager larger and longer amounts" No (10/132) "No as customer not seeking a financial product. There are other ways to review customer affordability. What about customers who play lottery or go to Grand National once a year?" Unsure/unclear (7/132) "I think proof of income when setting up and online account is absolutely necessary."

When TES (the Times Educational Supplement) approached me about an article about how to educate students about the dangers of gambling, I felt compelled to lend a hand and share my lived-experience in and among the expert opinion and analysis. Stopping gambling-related harm is what it's all about, I wouldn't wish for any youngster to go through the same. Unfortunately, the article is behind a paywall and so to read the full article you will need to subscribe (click here). That said, I've shared my involvement below:- "I cry myself to sleep sometimes," he says. "I look back, and I'm ashamed and I'm guilty. I've ruined many, many relationships. I should be in prison, to be honest." "I didn't go to further education. I got kicked out of home, then for 15 years, I was gambling like it was a full-time job. I'm 33 now and I haven't been able to accomplish any of the things I would have hoped at the age of 15, 16, 17. Everything came second to gambling and I wouldn't want any young person to be in the same position." On the possible introduction of a monthly soft-cap: "We hear horror stories where kids are spinning roulette wheels at hundreds upon hundreds of pounds a go, and it's linked to their father's or mother's account," he says. "It's really, really scary just how simple that is. I was speaking to someone the other day who signed on and deposited £6,000 very quickly without any verification at all," says Pitcher. "We don't know how old the person is, we don't know how much money they've got - it's ridiculous. The proposed affordability checks in the gambling review will help stem that."

Gambling Harm UK are proud to work with The Young Consultant to help understand how best to drive our organisation forward in reaching our aim of eliminating gambling-harm. Why did we choose the The Young Consultant to work with us? They are composed of students from the UK's leading universities from all academic fields and disciplines They have completed over 300 projects for clients in a range of markets across the globe They partner with professional consultancy firms who in turn help TYC to deliver excellent strategic advisory to their clients

Today I appeared on the Voice of Islam Drive Time show. It’s great to see the station dedicating time to gambling-harm and I was chuffed to be asked back having appeared on the show back in November. The discussion focused on the impact of gambling advertising on children. It was fabolous to be joined by Tony Parente (founder of GamLEARN) and Danny Cheetham, two people that I have great respect for. You can find my segment in the video below or click here to listen to the full programme.