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Gambling Harm UK has submitted a complaint to the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) about the proliferation of gambling games we believe have a ‘strong appeal’ to children and young people. Research has repeatedly found that children and young people are particularly vulnerable to gambling harms and can suffer potentially devastating life-long effects. Despite this, the Gambling Commission estimates that over 100,000 children aged 11-16 suffer harm from their own gambling. For this reason, the proliferation of games which appeal to children is unacceptable. We have previously surveyed our lived experience community to gauge opinion on whether certain games appealed to children. Due to the results of that survey and the introduction of updated guidance by the ASA, we endeavoured to investigate eleven of the top gambling sites. We found that whilst there were some improvements since our survey, a majority of the games we looked at were in breach of one or more of the ASA’s guidelines around ‘strong appeal’ to children. The full complaint letter and report can be found below: We received a response from the ASA, which maintained it was not failing to enforce standards. However, they committed to contacting each company in our report to ‘remind them of their responsibilities and highlighting any particular areas of concern’. They also committed to conducting a monitoring exercise this October (one year after the new guidance was published) to assess ‘whether there still remain any concerns about gaming tiles and strong appeal to under-18s’. We look forward to the results of this exercise and will re-examine the situation in October.

How FinTechs can help reduce harm from gambling By Sharon Collard Please note: This blog discusses harmful gambling and its impacts. In July 2023, a team from the Personal Finance Research Centre, FinTech West and the lived experience-led charity Gambling Harm UK delivered a workshop to consider how FinTech can help reduce harm from gambling. This was a great example of ‘grounded innovation’ in action: bringing FinTechs together with people who have lived experience of gambling harms to focus on real-life issues and how to solve them. It highlighted useful products and services that FinTech firms already offer as well as opportunities for further innovation. Most of all, it showed the invaluable contribution that experts-by-experience like Gambling Harm UK bring to the table. We are grateful to Higher Education Innovation Funding for funding the workshop. A key part of the workshop was Chris Gilham, Julie Martin and John Gilham from Gambling Harm UK sharing their own personal experiences, which illustrated the complex and messy nature of gambling problems and their serious long-term impacts. Chris told us about having been diagnosed with Adult ADHD just over eighteen months ago at almost 40 years of age, and how he has battled with his mental health since his mid-teens and using alcohol to cope. Then when he was 30 years old, having had no previous interest in gambling, he saw an advert and that day, he decided to try it. He explained that whilst gambling initially made him feel calmer, it wasn’t long before he was suffering from gambling harm. After almost five years of harm he finally found recovery following a two-day gambling binge, when he was planning to win and leave money to his family before ending his own life. Julie described the severe financial toll that her ex-husband’s gambling had on her and her children, meaning she had to work four jobs just to pay off loans he had taken out in her name, as well as the verbal, mental and sometimes physical abuse that she experienced. John (Chris’s dad) told us about his experiences as the parent of someone with a gambling addiction, how his life and that of his wife and family had been turned upside down and his role now supporting Chris in his recovery journey, including helping Chris keep tight control of his money. These real-life experiences really resonated with workshop participants – even if they had no experience of gambling harms. Our rich discussion touched on many issues including the links between ADHD and impulse behaviours such as gambling; the fact that there is no single reason for gambling problems; and the normalisation of gambling-like behaviours in online games that are so popular among children and young people, through features like microtransactions and loot boxes that are played to get an edge. John reminded us that 55,000 young people aged 11-16 in Britain are categorised as ‘problem’ gamblers – a term which stigmatises those suffering from this illness – with a further 85,000 young people estimated to be at risk of harm from gambling. How FinTechs can help reduce harms from gambling There is no perfect solution to help someone control their gambling. Blocks, self-exclusion schemes and other features can all be circumvented if gambling has become the most important activity in someone’s life and dominates their thinking, feelings, and behaviour. Nonetheless, the workshop highlighted a whole range of things that FinTechs are already doing as well as challenges still to be solved, such as joint accounts that give more control and protection. It also illustrated the invaluable contribution that experts-by-experience like Gambling Harm UK can bring to the table in terms of product ideation, design, and testing. Data-driven early intervention: Starling Bank described how it had a specialist team that proactively contacted loan customers to offer help where their underwriting team identified potential harm from gambling (or where they were in other potentially vulnerable situations), including links to external sources of support. It accepted that the message won’t always land well with customers but in its experience, there was more positive than negative feedback from customers. Saying the right things, in the right way is key, which Chris, Julie and Julie all confirmed was so important, means testing the language and training staff. Indicators of potentially harmful gambling might include applying for large loans late at night and multiple gambling transactions across several sites in a very short space of time. Enhanced friction and control features: At a time when it is quicker and easier than ever to set up a new bank account or take out a sizable loan, there is significant potential to give customers more control over their spending from the get-go. This might be a bank account where you have to opt-in to be able to gamble rather than opting out; or a non-gambling banking app with enhanced transaction monitoring. Through its personal financial management features, Moneyhub enables its users to set up spending flags across multiple accounts, making it easier for people to see what they are spending on different expenditure categories (such as gambling) where they may want to exercise more control and set spend limits. As Chris attested from his personal experience, tools to help people set up, and stick to, a budget can be an invaluable part of someone’s recovery from gambling addiction, ideally with a human element as well. Joint accounts: As an affected other, Julie highlighted the problems that resulted from having a joint account with her then-husband. He took her earnings and their savings from the joint account to gamble leaving her in dire financial straits, but Julie was unable to close the account without his permission. While joint accounts nowadays offer both parties easier visibility of the account data, for example via banking apps, in practice there may not be equal access or control if one partner is the victim of coercive control or financial abuse. Other research has highlighted the potential for a safer joint account using Open Banking payment initiation, but while the technology exists to build such a product, it is not yet available. Help to rebuild finances in recovery: John wanted to see financial services do more to support people with gambling problems to achieve sustainable recovery, by helping them rebuild their finances and their credit rating. Partly this is about raising awareness among FinTechs and other financial firms that gambling addiction is an impulse control disorder; and that people in recovery may be returning to a life they need help to cope with. In practical terms, it is about helping people build their finances so they can rebuild their lives, for example offering lower interest rates to people who have shown they can stick to a loan repayment schedule; allowing people to pay back debt over longer periods without penalising them; providing money management features such as ‘account sweeping’ to help repay debt or to start saving. Make gambling harms a normal thing to talk about: making it normal for us to talk about gambling harms and their potentially devastating impacts makes a lot of sense, given that millions of people in the UK are affected – not just the person who gambles but those around them as well. And taking the conversation to FinTechs and other financial services firms has the potential to stimulate even greater innovation for good. “Thank you so much for speaking to us in Bristol today. You really brought home how important it is for financial service providers to engage and to think bigger and better about how we can prevent and reduce harm and aid recovery. And for me most importantly, some immediately actionable insights which we can do something to address now in our own lending practices. Every step in the right direction, however, small, is very valuable in making change.” James Berry CEO, Great Western Credit Union. “Thank you for organising such a fascinating yet poignant discussion. Matthew Barr, John Dyer and I left energised planning how we at Moneyhub can do more to support those affected by gambling harm and how financial institutions can position themselves as a first line of defence to protect those who are vulnerable.” Jonathan Bell, Sales Director (Decisioning), Moneyhub. If you have been affected by any of the issues in this blog, you can contact the National Gambling Helpline which provides confidential advice, information and support by telephone and webchat free of charge. To find out more about the work of Gambling Harm UK, please contact John Gilham, CEO: john@gamharm.co.uk

As Gambling Harm UK we believe the voice of lived experience is important in helping to inform those changes required to reduce gambling harm. We have been approached by the Gambling Commission to ask if we could assist them in bringing this opportunity to the awareness of those who may fulfil the criteria to undertake this role. The Gambling Commission are looking for people aged 18+ living in the UK, who have personal experience of gambling related harm to join their Lived Experience Advisory Panel. They currently have 8 – 10 vacancies available for these roles now that some of their members 4 year terms are coming to an end. If you would like to find out more about the role then please use the link below: Info (gamblingcommission.gov.uk)

Our purpose as Gambling Harm UK(GHUK) is the relief of those who are in need as a result of a gambling addiction or gambling-related harm and their families through: a. Improving and providing education towards matters relating to gambling harm and addictions by using an evidence-based public health approach, with a focus on discussions on recovery of those suffering harm; b. Improving the health of those suffering from gambling harm by promoting addiction recovery, the mitigation of harm, and preventing harm in the first place through the development and dissemination of insights, advice and support; c. By engaging with and/or conducting evidence-based research that helps to further understand gambling harm and addictions’. Last week we looked to help make a difference by attending a workshop that Sharon Collard, Research Director at the University of Bristol ‘s Personal Finance Research Centre had invited us to. We met with her, Stuart Harrison Director of FinTech West and with a number of other FinTech organisations. These organisations had responded to the opportunity to meet members of GHUK to learn more about gambling harm, and to discuss and consider how FinTech can help reduce harm from gambling in the UK. Financial technology (better known as fintech) is used to describe new technology that seeks to improve and automate the delivery and use of financial services. ​​​At its core, fintech is utilised to help companies, business owners, and consumers better manage their financial operations, processes, and lives. We discussed a range of topics around both opportunities for prevention and for supporting sustainable recovery of those who may have been harmed. The interest shown by those present and their commitment to helping reduce gambling harm was refreshing. Hearing the positive conversations between the different organisations on ways they may be able to help was inspiring. Following the event, several positive messages were sent to us from those who had attended. Two examples of these are shown below: James Berry CEO at Great Western Credit Union “Thank you so much for speaking to us in Bristol today. You really brought home how important it is for financial service providers to engage and to think bigger and better about how we can prevent and reduce harm and aid recovery. And for me most importantly, some immediately actionable insights which we can do something to address now in our own lending practices. Every step in the right direction, however, small, is very valuable in making change.” Jonathan Bell Sales Director (Decisioning) – Moneyhub “Thank you for organising such a fascinating yet poignant discussion. Matthew Barr, John Dyer and I left energised planning how we at Moneyhub can do more to support those affected by gambling harm and how financial institutions can position themselves as a first line of defence to protect those who are vulnerable.” We will continue trying to make a difference at Gambling Harm UK by engaging with organisations and others to help increase their awareness of gambling harm so that they can support us in achieving our purpose. Improvements don't happen overnight. But one step at a time, hopefully by engaging with organisations such as FinTech things will start to improve, and if financial institutions can position themselves as Jonathan Bell says as a first line of defence to protect those who are vulnerable, then harm may be prevented and sustainable recovery achieved.

Following the success of Gambling Harm UK's - Real Patient Simulated Based Medical Education (RPSMBE) Upskilling Programme developed in 2022, we have now developed a second new training programme for medical students. This programme was delivered to year one medical students at Imperial College on the 5th June 2023. The feedback on the new programme was excellent and we will be now looking to offer this programme to medical schools along with our RPSMBE programme. The new programme has been designed to achieve two learning objectives for the students: · The first is to help them achieve an understanding of gambling harm as a public health issue. · The second is to increase their understanding from a clinician’s perspective. A short summary of the evaluation feedback from those students who attended these new workshops, along with testimonials from Doctors Donovan and Thakerar who we worked with to plan the new programme are shown below: Dr Molly Donovan: The workshop by Gambling Harm UK for Imperial medical students was really impactful. It broke down the complexities of gambling harm and provided unique insight through lived experience which set it apart from conventional teaching methods. Students gained both practical skills to identify and address gambling harm, and a wider awareness of the need for a multi-faceted, population level approach in tackling the harm from gambling. I strongly believe that all medical students should have the opportunity to attend a workshop like this. Thank you, John and Ben! Dr Viral Thakerar: The session delivered by John and Ben for our medical students was a powerful call to action. The blend of neuroscience, data on harms from gambling including on affected others, film clips, lived experience and discussing what clinicians and wider society should do, seemed to resonate with our students. There were plenty of thought-provoking questions and responses throughout the session. SUMMARY FEEDBACK FROM STUDENTS At the end of each of the one hour and fifty-minute session, students were asked: Would you prefer more, less, or the same amount of learning on gambling harm at the Under Graduate level? Responses by group were as follows: Group 1: 27 attendees (17 responses submitted via Menti) Less More The Same 0 3 14 Group 2: 24 attendees (13 responses submitted via Menti) Less More The Same 0 1 12 In response to the question: What is your key takeaway message? Students responded as follows: Group 1: Gambling is a learned behaviour Gambling is very common The process of gambling is just as rewarding as winning the bet The harms of gambling and the way the industry uses tactics and marketing to get people into gambling Affects more deeply than previously thought There is a strong psychological & biological basis behind gambling Gambling can affect anyone, and may not show immediate signs Gambling can affect every aspect of life That gambling is an impulse and that although it may be due to neural circuits developed in the brain and life stressors, there's a huge degree of responsibility on gambling companies Gambling is more widespread and more harmful than it seems. Significance of MECC (Make Every Contact Count). Also ask about gambling when relevant in patient history taking There is no deliberate choice involved in gambling and the process is as rewarding as the satisfaction of winning. Gambling harm can manifest in several forms That gambling is a hidden addiction which needs to be treated with good support and empathy The gambling industry heavily encourages gambling much more than I originally thought Loss-chasing, crime, disguising losses as wins, bright imagery to camouflage bad habit The effects gambling can have on all aspects of someone’s life Gambling harm can have varying extents between individuals. Gambling harm can include financial, social, cultural legal. It’s a behavioural addiction increased by the industry but helped by charity, NHS There are various different methods the gambling industry uses to get people to gamble more Not enough awareness on gambling as a public health issue Not enough updated legislation on gambling after phones Not enough research on gambling Gambling can occur due to an array of different factors, not solely down to the idea of making money quickly Group 2: Gambling is a serious disorder Gambling disorder can affect not just the person suffering but the people around them Gambling can affect others as well as the gambler Gambling isn’t always a matter of being irresponsible Gambling is a disorder - not the persons fault Gambling can affect you and those around you The process of gambling is almost the same in the brain as winning. It's an uncontrollable impulse disorder that can affect anyone Gambling is not the gamblers’ fault and is more than just a lack of willpower Gambling harm affects mental health greatly The harm caused to the individual and affected others Gambling can affect anyone and is a much more prevalent problem than I previously thought Gambling is a health condition Important to not look at people gambling with prejudice but instead be open to help them especially as clinicians There are many reasons why someone may gamble It is not normally mentioned in consultations and hence should be asked about whilst taking a social history. Be aware of the many aspects gambling can affect in someone’s life Gambling has many serious repercussions for the person gambling and their relationships with people around them Gambling may likely need intervention When asked - What did you like most about the session? Students gave the following responses: Group 1: Interactive Interactive, liked the videos shown and thought the content was very engaging. Engaging, interesting topic, like the way it was delivered with videos Personal anecdotes Personal experience of facilitators Used personal experiences to make the point. The cases and videos I liked that personal stories were shared which showed us that gambling affects normal people too. Liked the video and the gamblers story Enthusiasm of the talkers It was very informative and comprehensive Very informative and personal story The organisation Group 2: Informative Very interactive and videos were helpful and engaging. It was really informative, as I had never given gambling much consideration before. The videos It was very informative and interactive. Very multifaceted, with multiple causes and effects explored Talking about the techniques Gambling companies use. Very enlightening session and highlighted the issues of stigma Information given aside real-life stories When asked - What did you dislike most about the session? – Key themes were Would have valued more opportunity to speak with facilitators during the session A little long and may have benefited from being broken down into more than one session or done during earlier in the day. Wish a greater proportion of the time could have been allocated to personal lived experience stories Maybe more of a group type discussion rather than lecture style Leaving Nothing - Nil Facilitator ratings given by students: Group 1: 14 Excellent, 3 Good Group 2: 11 Excellent, 2 Good.

Well, 25 years have passed, and in all that time, whether I knew it or not, I was living as an affected other through gambling harm and my husband's mental illness, which brought on his coercive and controlling behaviour. What is my life like now? It's not perfect. I am and will always be an affected other, but with help from the gambling harm community and teaching myself to look after me a lot more, I feel better and know there is a happy future ahead. I still miss my family life and having my husband, a partner, as, at times, it can be lonely dealing with everything by myself. Occasionally it is challenging, but you grow, and your resilience grows. I now have a fantastic job with Gambling Harm UK. It has been such an insightful few years. Sadly, this must change soon, but I've enjoyed every second of being able to give back, bring awareness, and teach others about what I've been through and how it feels to be me. I have hopefully helped both affected others and recovering gamblers to see their lives differently and to have hope for their futures and ultimately know that we can get through this. There is a way out and a light at the end of the tunnel. My work with Gambling Harm UK has been a key part of my journey to a new future. Over the last year my work has mainly been within schools. A project we have worked very hard on has now brought gambling harm awareness and the potential dangers of gambling to around 8000 young people aged 14 to 24, which is so important to me. One thing I strongly believe in is prevention, which is so much better than a cure. So the more young people we can talk to, the more we can bring awareness to, the better it is. The white paper “High Stakes” gambling reform for the digital age, was recently issued by the government. It was so anticipated and long waited that, unfortunately, I think for many of us, it was an anti-climax. Still, the gambling harm community must be proud of the work that everybody has done to lobby parliament and government about the people we have lost and the many living with gambling harm today. These people have gone through so much due to gambling harm that although the white paper did not make the changes we wanted, it brought inroads to where we wish to be. I've always thought we shouldn't rely purely on government and legislation change to make a difference. I think the real change will come from our voices, those with lived experience of what gambling harm means. People will begin to hear what we're saying, understand the real potential impact of this harm and realise that this addiction is a medical disorder which impacts people’s wellbeing both physically and mentally. Hopefully, this will enable those who can gamble safely within their financial limits to carry on doing so. And for those who are at potential risk of harm to be able to seek help faster than they ever did before and then potentially save themselves, their partners, and their families the upset and the sadness that can come from the gambling harm. The other work Gambling Harm UK has done, which I was privileged enough to be part of, was taking our Charity's real patient simulated-based medical education programme to Anglia Ruskin University School of Medicine and having a day with year three medical students going on to be GPs. I found this a fantastic and very emotional day. Getting feedback from these 23/24-year-old young people who are already on a long and challenging route towards their goals for their future that our stories were so helpful and would enable them to become better healthcare professionals was so amazing to hear. They all said they did not know how gambling harm could affect people so badly. So, our work with these students will make such a difference in the future to every person who walks into their GP surgeries and talks about the symptoms that they're having. These future new young GPs will now consider when they meet patients “is gambling harm occurring in their lives?”, and if so, they can get them the help they need and the support they're crying out for so much quicker because the stigma of gambling harm stops people from speaking out all too often. I am very proud of my new voluntary position with Healthwatch Essex which has resulted out of the work Gambling Harm UK is doing with them. I'm now an ambassador for their mental health and trauma programmes, which means I get to sit in and talk to others like me, with professionals from the NHS, and various people from county councils. We discuss the issues with the support network for people with mental health issues. We talk about trauma and how it affects people in their daily lives, and what support is needed and required for these people. I will attend events this year where we bring everybody together. Again, awareness is brought to the needs of many people in many different situations. So, I'm trying to say that being an affected other doesn't mean your life has to continue to be negative. If you work and try hard enough, you can turn things around and make it positive. I think that is probably the best thing I've done so far. That's what I've managed to do more than anything in these last 18 months. I felt safe and secure with the people that I've worked with. I've been happy that my children finally have the support and the network they need around them to survive what they have been through, the trauma and the pain they have seen. I am happier that I have learnt to understand myself a bit more. I am kinder to myself now; that is such a significant learning curve I needed to discover. What must you do now to help yourself as an affected other? It is essential to talk and share your feelings and questions. There are many charities and organisations online that you can get in contact with (see below for details). I found that exercise also helped me. A five-mile walk with my music playlist for company was always so helpful in clearing my mind. I am also an avid swimmer, so 50 lengths a few times a week meant an hour where I couldn't think about anything and enjoyed an empty mind. Have you thought about Mindfulness? An opportunity to release yourself from daily life. A few moments of inner peace and relaxation, breathing and allowing your stress or anxiety to leave you. It's a technique that's not easy to master but so well worth it when you can catch that five minutes of peace. Remember, you are so important. As an affected other, I am sure you will have your life consumed with others, their recovery, their worries, and their anxieties. But it would be best if you looked after yourself too. Never undervalue your worth, as you are priceless. Please find below our link to Life Changing Fund Raising opportunity, I would be very grateful if you would be so kind as to donate anything you can afford to help us to continue our work. https://www.gofundme.com/f/dzyc74-a-lifechanging-opportunity Other support organisations: https://gamfam.org.uk/ https://www.betknowmoreuk.org/ https://www.gamblingwithlives.org/ https://www.gamlearn.org.uk/

How have I been since November of 2021, when sadly, my husband took his own life in a gambling-related suicide? To be honest, I thought I'd already reached my lowest point. It was at this point I realised I hadn't. It was such an awful time for the children, me, my family, and my friends. It felt like I was living in a dream, a nightmare, a film. It has taken me months, if not longer, to come to terms with what happened, and when I say come to terms, it doesn't mean I still understand it. It doesn't mean I'm over it. It means I know a little more and understand why we lost him. I was working in a dementia care home on the evening my husband died. I was driving home when I received a call from my son to say his father was shouting and banging on the door. I remember the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, how scared I felt, and how much panic. I called the police and knew I'd get help but never realised his intentions or plans that night. I would have done anything to save him. I would have done anything to stop what happened, and the guilt I felt for months afterwards was awful. I now understand there was nothing more I could have done. He was at a point and a place where he had lost all control of reality. I'm so sorry that he didn't accept the help offered over the previous months. Again I had to seek help and counselling for myself and my children. At that point, I was working very hard in my 12-hour shift job with the care home and also part-time for Gambling Harm UK. I was fortunate to have the community around me, like-minded people who understood a bit more about gambling harm. Who helped me through my very darkest days. I think working kept me busy and my mind active. It was at night though I didn't sleep. I would lay awake just thinking about what I could have done to change the outcome. What could I do now to help my children? Where was my life going to go? Due to COVID, we had to wait a long time for the coroners inquiry. Hence, it was nearly the year's anniversary of my ex-husband's death. I relived the night again in court, which was a challenging and emotional experience. A year after his death, I began working full-time with Gambling Harm UK. Getting involved with awareness workshops, talking to others in the gambling harm community, and being brave enough to share my story with others. Collaborating with charities like Gambling with Lives has been great, taking us to Parliament to talk to MPs. Trying to make them listen and understand that the regulations' white paper needs to be published. I've even been on the radio now and had a few interviews, and although I get nervous, I'm proud I can bring awareness and talk about gambling harm and how it's affected my life. As I talk about my life and experiences, I hope to help remove the stigma of gambling harm by being honest and open about my emotions. I don't want anybody else to go through what I have been through. I don't want anybody else to feel the sadness, hurt and stress I have felt over the years. I hope by opening up. I can normalise discussing gambling harm and being an affected other, like the normalisation of gambling adverts on television, radio and in sports. We need to ensure that the Government, authorities, and gambling industry start to listen and, most importantly, assist charities to help reduce gambling harm to a much lower level than it is today. I think my mental health is the main thing or the most challenging thing about the last 15 months. How I've managed to keep going some days, I don't know. I've struggled so much that it has been hard to carry on. I am fortunate to have talked to professionals who immensely helped. I feel privileged and grateful to have worked with and known some fantastic colleagues who have helped me. It has been an uphill battle, a daily one, fighting myself, fighting my thoughts, and trying to adjust to what being an affected other means to me today and in the long term. As I've said before, I know things will get better. I see them getting better. What doesn't change is what happened. Always in my mind and heart, but I've got to learn to live with that. Use my positivity and work to ensure that my life and my children's lives move forward in a healthy, happy, positive way. In the next and final part of my story, I will share some more about how working for Gambling Harm UK has enabled me to start to re-build my life and give me some proud moments in what has often being challenging days. I will also share some of things I am doing on my journey to re-build my life. If you or anyone else you know is suffering from gambling harm, then please consider accessing the services that are available. Over recent years services have started to improve and more are available today to help those like me, the affected other. GamFam is a support service I use myself. They offer support through GRA5P – The GamFam Recovery and Support Programme. GRA5P is a structured 5-stage self-help peer support programme, which was designed to support those affected by someone else’s gambling. More recently and out of increasing demand they have also now developed a programme to support those in recovery too. I wish I could have accessed their service when I first needed help back all those years ago. You can find more details about all what they do at www.gamfam.org.uk Services for affected others are also available through GamAnon www.gamanon.org.uk and Gamcare at www.gamcare.org.uk

Trigger warning: This article contains images of gambling ads that may be distressing or triggering to some individuals. If you may be adversely affected by viewing gambling ads, please proceed with caution or refrain from reading this article. Gambling-harm has been increasingly recognised as a public health issue globally, with the WHO reporting that the amount of years of healthy life lost from gambling-harm is on a similar level to the healthy life lost from alcohol misuse disorder or major depressive disorder. One key tenant of UK regulations on the gambling industry includes the protection of children. Notably, children are at-risk of suffering severe harms from their own gambling and from another’s gambling such as a parent’s. It is important to highlight that gambling harm in young people is not a rare occurrence, in fact, the Gambling Commission (GC) reported in 2020 that among 11-16 year olds in England and Scotland, 4.6% have experienced gambling harm from their own gambling and 5.5% were harmed from a family members’ gambling in the past year. There is a growing evidence-base that demonstrates how gambling products and industry practices maximise yields by manipulating cognitive biases and by framing gambling as a widely popular low-risk or no-risk source of entertainment; with such messaging engineered and delivered through a £1.5 billion annual advertising spend. Game design and related advertisements are recognised as being likely to contribute to appeal of gambling and therefore gambling consumption in younger people. As such, following the introduction of the Gambling Act in 2007, the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) set rules and advice for gambling ads which must adhere to the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing (CAP Code) and the law. In 2017, the GC and the ASA were among the signatories of a letter that ordered 450 online gambling operators to remove games such as “Jack and the Beanstalk” and “Pirate Princess” as ads for these games were deemed to be likely to appeal particularly to people under the age of 18 and were freely accessible. Five years later, in April 2022, The Committee for Advertising Practice (CAP) announced new rules set to come into force on 1st October 2022 that replaces “particular appeal” with a “strong appeal test”. Within the guidance, there are themes to help guide operators towards compliant gambling ads so that they are not of particular and more recently strong appeal to children, and these include: Use of licensed characters must be responsible, Cartoon animals, fairy tales and colourful, exaggerated graphics are likely to appeal Names may also appeal particularly to children In our study, a selected sample of fifteen slot-game advertisement images, that were freely available online on platforms belonging to ten of the most popular gambling platforms, were explored in relation to the ASA CAP Code which sought to prevent advertising that is of a particular appeal to children and young people. Our survey results composed of ninety participants who engaged with our charity’s social media and website, show that the majority of participants found each of the images as having a particular appeal to children and young people and so in breach of ASA guidance. In conclusion, whilst the survey was limited in scope and the participants were non-representative of the national population, its results indicate that the gambling games in this survey have a particular appeal to children. Indeed, across eleven of the fifteen ads in our survey, a majority of respondents identified at least two of the three ASA’s themes as being causative towards particular appeal to children and young people. While Gambling Harm UK welcomes the strengthening of ASA guidelines which took place in October of 2022, the guidance based on a ‘strong appeal’ rather than a ‘particular appeal’ does not appear to have yielded a marked reduction in the availability of games selected in our survey. Note: While Big Bad Wolf was no longer available on 888Casino on 25/02/23, it was found on Unibet’s website. Similarly, while Frozen Gems was no longer available on Bet365 on 25/02/23, it was found on Genting Casino’s website. Gambling Harm UK urges the ASA to investigate the games included in our survey. Further, due to the significant nature of gambling harm and the vulnerability of children and young people, the ASA should take a more active role in examining gambling products for breaches of its guidelines. The ASA should also consider whether current guidance is sufficient in protecting against normalisation and trivialisation of risk. Full report:

Are you able to help us make a potentially life-changing or even life-saving impact on someone else’s life? At Gambling Harm UK, we are working to increase awareness of gambling harm. We recognise some people can gamble without harm, but for those where gambling leads to harm, the impact can be devastating to their lives. Both to the person who gambles and to their families and friends around them. Data indicates that at least 10% of the population is affected directly or indirectly by gambling harm. For us to continue to deliver our programme of work, we require funding to meet our costs. Like any charity, we depend on people’s goodwill and support. Our work includes the following: · Educating young people, students, healthcare, and other professionals. · Raising awareness in corporate organisations. · Gambling harm research efforts. We aim to be independent, and raising funds via donations is an essential part of being able to do this. As CEO, I have decided to launch our “Life-changing Opportunity” appeal. We aim to raise £125,000 to cover the charity’s costs from 1st August 2023 to 30th July 2024. Our donation link can be accessed at https://www.gofundme.com/f/dzyc74-a-lifechanging-opportunity Funds raised will be spent on our educational awareness raising and research activities. Examples of our work over the last twelve months include delivering awareness sessions to almost 5000 young people, and developing and delivering the first-of-its-kind medical students upskilling programme focused on gambling disorder achieved with the support of the Anglia Ruskin University School of Medicine. I appreciate times are financially challenging, and some people who may want to donate will be unable to. We understand that. If you are in that situation but would still like to help, you can share our appeal with others. If you receive this appeal and are suffering gambling harm, please contact the national gambling helpline on 0808 8020 133.

I know that my story as an affected other is one of the more severe ones, but it is a true story and an example of how gambling addiction, an illness, and an impulse control disorder can devastate lives. And what is the root cause of this? In my view, it is an industry where making money is seen as more important than people's and families lives. Will that change? Well, not likely unless those responsible for causing gambling harm are personally held accountable. However, if more people start to share their stories as affected others, and more data is collected, we might help bring the needed changes. This first part of my story details my life as an affected other until November 2021. In the following two parts which I will post over the coming months, I will share what I have learned about gambling harm, things I wish I had known and could have looked out for, and what I would do today if faced with the same situation. Then in the final part, I will talk about starting the journey to rebuild my life and the work I do as the Project Officer for Gambling Harm UK. As I said, I hope that by sharing my story, others will feel able to share theirs. I hope it will start to remove the stigma around this illness that leads many not to seek the help they need. The gambling industry has normalised gambling. I hope together we can normaIise talking about gambling harm. If we don't, others will suffer from gambling harm, behind closed doors at home, in their workplace, and at school. Their mental and physical health will be harmed, just like mine. I believe where I am now was my destiny, not a destiny I would have chosen, but one where now I can and must try to make a difference. I need to start my story by saying this is a never-ending story. What I went through has changed my life forever. That's not saying things can't or won't get better, but being an affected other will always be there. For most of my married life, I have suffered gambling harm due to my then husbands gambling disorder (an impulse control disorder as I know it now). My harm manifested from medium to severe over the last 15 years, and I can probably describe them best in three stages. I came from a family who never gambled, so my husband's enjoyment of the lottery and football bets did not flag any alarms initially. During a period of financial difficulty, when the children were six and ten, he worked two jobs, but money still wasn't coming in. He worked day and night, so he was out of the house most of the time. I was proud of his efforts. It was only when a bank payment of a loan of 10,000 pounds for a car went missing and wasn't paid to the bank as promised that my life started to crumble. I was left answering the bank manager's questions and so confused and scared, apologising for the missing payment. At this point, I found out he had been spending nights gambling away all his earnings in casinos. He became angry when he had to start to admit his actions. If I could use five words to explain my feelings, I would use shame, shock, fear, panic, and anger. How could my husband be irresponsible, stupid, and selfish to do this to us? Over the coming months, our debts grew higher, as did my stress and anxiety. My husband became less willing to talk. I had to juggle five credit cards to live, sometimes having hardly any food left in the cupboards with two children. I hid it all from my friends and family as his gambling intensified. Despite everything, including living with his anger, my love for him and my lack of understanding of his addiction made me feel I could save him. However, he threatened me and wouldn't let me go anywhere or do anything alone. He told me he would kill me if I tried to take the kids and leave. My fear grew, and after a particularly nasty evening and my daughter's fear, she contacted a family friend. The call resulted in his arrest for harassment for leaving threatening messages on my phone. We separated, and a restraining order was placed, so he couldn't contact us. I told the police about his gambling issues, but they did nothing to help him. I got domestic abuse support, and my family then had to be told what had happened. It drove a heart-breaking wedge between us all. Everyone was so confused as to whom he had become. It was so easy for all of them to say he was gone. You're free of this horrible life, be happy now. But what about me? What about my love, relationship, loss of a man I married, or feelings? We were separated for six months. I contacted Gamcare after researching on the internet, looking for help. I got some telephone counselling to help me. Also, a visit to the GP got me antidepressants and six more counselling sessions. That was all the support I got back in 2012. Things have improved today, but I was left alone and vulnerable with two young children. My family and friends were disjointed from me. Nobody understood. I began to allow him back into my life. I thought I was doing the best for the children. I loved him so much and believed he had changed. He came home, and after a few months, my family did accept it. I felt torn and guilty between my husband's and my parent's feelings, pulled every which way. We had a good five years, he stayed coercive and controlling, but I had become stronger too. My research and my group work with GamFam taught me about the disease that is gambling. I understood why he couldn't stop and the impact of dopamine running through his brain that had developed a craving which he couldn't control. I tried to learn to look after myself a bit more as well. But the stress was always in the background, the fear of his relapse in the pit of my stomach. Five years on, I started seeing signs again, too much time on his laptop or phone, irritability, and being secretive. I was damned if I accused him, and I was damned if I didn't. Only when a vast amount of savings went missing did my heart sink, and the fear came back with force. The shame intensified the second time around. I felt like an idiot, and I was angry and hurt. Why did he not love us enough to stop? Lockdown came, and his gambling became a 12-hour-a-day problem. His anger and threats returned; sadly, he physically assaulted me this time. My mental health was at rock bottom. I had days I didn't want to be alive anymore, but I kept going for the children. He was finally arrested and did time on remand. His mental health was a mess. He wouldn't get help. His coercive behaviour still got to me through our daughter. Although young adults now, both children have struggled with their father's behaviour and required professional support. Then the night of the 10th of November 2021, he came to our family home, demanding to be let in, shouting for me. I wouldn't answer, so in front of myself and our 16-year-old son, he poured petrol over his head and set himself on fire. He died on the operating table in the early hours of the next day. That night will never leave us. The guilt I felt for a long time was awful—the pain of losing my husband and the father of my children. Even in a crowded room, the loneliness still gets to me today. Life moves on, good days and bad, but I try to be positive both in my life and my work with Gambling Harm UK. Every day is new, and I'm working hard to make them better for all the people who have suffered from any degree of gambling harm, Affected Others, or are in Recovery, and of course myself. If you are suffering from gambling harm yourself, or know of someone else who is, and you or they require any help or support, please use the organisation links below. If you want to hear more of my story and where I was as a person back in 2020, you can listen to a Podcast interview I gave back then, to "All Bets Are Off". The link to this is available below. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/s2-ep10-affected-others-the-story-of- julie/id1511740988?i=1000497258947 Support organisations: https://www.gamcare.org.uk/get-support/talk-to-us-now/ GamCare: National Helpline https://gamfam.org.uk/ GamFam: Recovery and Affected Other Support https://www.gamblersanonymous.org.uk/ Gambling Anonymous: Support for Gambling https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/addiction-support/gambling-addiction/ NHS Treatment services

Would you know if a family member, friend, or employee was suffering from gambling disorder? How do you recognise it? Unlike alcohol or drug addiction where individuals show associated visual signs of their addiction those suffering from gambling disorder are less visible and one might say generally invisible. So much so that in those cases where individuals complete suicide family members say they had no idea their husband, wife, son, or daughter was suffering from gambling disorder. So being the invisible addiction, this poses a number of challenges to those family members or employers who want to help. I want to look at this from an employer's perspective and with the assumption that the employer is truly interested in balancing the success of the organisation with the well-being of their staff. Firstly though, we need to consider what impact the addiction has on one's mental state, especially when at the height of the addiction. To answer this I have to depend on the information that has been shared with me during general conversations with those recovering from the disorder. Also, as an affected other, I can look back on my son's own situation. They have explained it in a variety of ways but all imply that the only thing constantly on their mind was gambling or gambling-related for example looking for loans to fund their next bet and that they found it very difficult to concentrate on anything else. So much so, that their general performance and health declined. If you then link this to sleep deprivation either caused by playing online games through the night or lying in bed at night worrying about the consequences of their disorder, then in my own words it would suggest that they were in a mentally fragile state where they were more prone to making human errors. So, what might this mean to a business? Risk: If your business requires your employees to perform tasks that require high levels of concentration then could this be increasing product or service defects? In the worst-case scenario, this could result in an incident or accident leading to injury or fatality. Brand: Could your business brand be damaged as a result of the above risks? What damage would this do to your company image and to the well-being of your employees? Productivity: If your employees are not focusing on the task required to be delivered then it is likely their productivity will be less. If they are using technology as part of their work activities could they in fact be spending less time working and some of their work time gambling online? With mobile phones being one of the main modes for doing work and also for gambling online how would you know? Staff Well-Being: If you are committed to staff well-being do your policies and culture enable and encourage your staff to feel safe enough to discuss their disorder. If not you may find your sickness levels being increased and your risks increasing. Incident/Accident Reporting and Investigating Procedures: Do these look at the human factor and if they do, how do they assess the individual's mental health well-being at the time. In my view, the current level of harm from gambling disorder is underestimated as procedures do not look for this area of risk. For alcohol and drug-related accidents/incidents, taking a blood sample enables you to assess if these addictions are a factor. With gambling disorder, there is no such test. The aim of this post is to help employers to be more aware of this disorder and to think about how they respond appropriately to it. With online gambling products now offering a "casino in your pocket" 24/7; a high proportion of the population who like to gamble and with the National Audit Office in 2019 reporting that in the UK there are around 55,000 aged 11 to 16 year old problem gamblers with a further 85,000 assessed to be at risk, then this is something which is likely to be an ongoing issue which may grow further with time. So employers need a sustainable approach to respond to this. Whereas an employer can introduce random blood sampling to monitor alcohol or drug intake to mitigate this risk, this cannot be done for gambling. The World Health Organisation states that " The gambling related burden of harm appears to be of a similar magnitude to major depressive disorder and alcohol misuse and dependence. It is substantially higher than harm attributed to drug dependence disorder". Interestingly, many of those I have met in recovery from the disorder are becoming or have become more successful in their employment life. This suggests to me that employers can get a win: win by doing the right thing. I am aware that by writing this post some employers could just try to identify and dismiss those with gambling disorder from the organisation. The stigma around gambling often portrays individuals as selfish and weak. This is not true. This fails to recognise that this disorder needs treatment and support like any other. Also, such an approach will fail to reduce organisational risk. In fact in my opinion it will increase it. I am, however, hopeful that there are more employers who truly care about their staff's well-being. Recognising that they are key to their success and by looking after them when they need help, they in return will do their best for their employer. If you would like to discuss gambling disorder further with people who have lived experience, then please contact Gambling Harm UK (GHUK). https://www.gamblingharm.com/contact

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."