Search Results

Having only just got back home from a gruelling 130 miles walking in five days, I had hoped to relax a little. However, when the opportunity came up to talk about my story on BBC Radio Berkshire’s lunchtime show, I couldn’t resist. If just one person out there finds me relatable then I have done my job – it could even save a life. During this comprehensive interview we talked about my experience as a gambling addict, how I found recovery earlier this year, and some bits about the formation of The All Bets Are Off podcast and the work we do on there.

It’s day one of The Big Step, and I’m approximately 20 miles in, and Lincs FM has just put out a news story that ‘a Lincoln man is fighting for the government to end all gambling sponsorship, advertising, and promotion in football.’ That ‘Lincoln man’ would be me. Although I’ve been living down south for the past dozen or so years, ultimately, I am a yellowbelly and proud. As a child, I actually had a tour of the Lincs FM studio on a school trip. Being so young and innocent back then, I certainly never envisaged some 20 years or so later that I would be part of a feature talking about my life as a gambling addict. Whilst I am a proud Lincolnite, I am even prouder to be in recovery and walking alongside my peers who have been impacted by gambling addiction either directly or as an affected other. Together, we fight to end gambling advertising and sponsorship in football. Make sure you sign The Big Step’s petition by clicking here and following the process.

Upon reflecting on my experiences as an affected other of gambling-harm, one of my biggest frustrations is that once upon a time, I knew nothing about gambling harm and anything about it from a health perspective. These are words that I had never even heard of before the age of 23. For those of you who may not know, this is extremely odd considering that I had spent almost 16 years of my life with someone suffering from a gambling disorder. Despite attending health appointments with my Dad, gambling was never mentioned by either my Dad or the healthcare professionals. Across four years at Imperial College Medical School, gambling was never mentioned across lectures or clinical placements. Although this is hardly surprising considering how gambling has only recently been recognised as a public health issue, I still find it hard to believe, considering the significance of gambling harm. When I first started this journey of talking about gambling harm, I met far too many future doctors or current doctors who knew nothing about gambling harm. In fact, many shrugged their shoulders and said that they had not been taught about gambling harm. Whereas Medical Students are repeatedly taught about alcohol harm and tobacco harm and even get substantial teaching about substance use disorders, we receive zilch on gambling harm. That's why I was extremely pleased to work with my Medical School to help create primary care teaching on gambling-harm for Medical Students. It's minimally reasonable that GPs and other healthcare professionals are appropriately trained such that they are equipped to be a part of alleviating and minimising gambling harm.

Day four of The Big Step is more media, and it doesn’t really get much bigger than the BBC Breakfast News. One has to say that James Grimes has done an excellent job of drawing attention to this campaign. This particular piece was recorded the evening before the start of the event, at a time in which I was feeling much fresher than I am today, that’s for sure. When I got to the hotel last night, I was in absolute agony and didn’t think that I would be out here walking again. However, seeing the faces of so many ‘Experts by Experience’ has really perked me up and kept me going, and they are the primary reason I am chugging along to Leicester. The reaction that we’ve had to this particular video which features James, Steve Ramsey, and I, has been phenomenal. During the recording, I got rather emotional (as the clip clearly shows) when reflecting on those dark times. But those difficult moments have made me the person I am today, someone that I am slowly learning to love and accept.

This evening I was back on BBC Essex having a chat with Rob Jelly (host of BBC Upload). A show that has supported the All Bets Are Off podcast from the very beginning. We discussed mental health, gambling recovery, collaboration with Billericay Town FC, and affected others, which was the main purpose of this discussion. Rob played a clip of Julie Martin’s experiences as an affected other from S2 EP10 Affected Others - The Story of Julie Martin (including Steve Watts, founder of GamFam). To listen to my discussion with Rob, click on the video below.

I got a call asking me to appear on BBC 5 Live to talk about gambling-related harm. The Sunday night time slot didn't put me off. It's a subject that I would talk about any time, day or night, to raise awareness and help others. After I was Lisa, a guest on S1 EP5 - Women's Week - Raising Awareness of Female Gambling Addiction and Matthew Hickey from Gordon Moody.

Recently I spoke with journalist Joanna York of Welcome to the Jungle – a multi-channel media company that aims to inspire individuals to thrive in their professional lives. The article's title is ‘How remote work has impacted addiction…for better and for worse and having had spoken about this to a few people over the past eight months; I think I’ve got somewhat of a unique take on this particular subject. I came into recovery right at the beginning of the first lockdown, and for me personally, I found that disruption very helpful indeed. The article explains this in much more detail – click here to view.

I had listened to The Happiness Algorithm myself on numerous occasions, so when James Roast approached me to come on, I was chuffed. I got the opportunity to talk in-depth about my life from childhood to now and its challenges. The biggest challenge being myself. I talked about alcoholism, how that lead to gambling addiction, and dark times. I also spoke about the good times. Recovery, learning to share my emotions and the beauty in vulnerability. Click here to listen to the full episode.

'RecoverMe' is a mobile application to help those who suffer from a gambling addiction. This app was designed with the help of psychologists, psychiatrists, and those others suffering from gambling addiction. As an NHS Clinical Entrepreneur, I could fully appreciate the value of a digital health solution towards gambling-harm could have. And so it was a pleasure to get in touch with the amazing junior doctor team of Tejus and Minal and Adil.

Kishan, a 5th Year Medical Student at Imperial College London, wrote a blog titled 'Tackling Gambling – The Social Epidemic.' In this article, Kishan makes the case to medical students that gambling should be considered holistically as part of the social history in routine medical care. To learn more, visit https://geekymedics.com/tackling-gambling-the-social-epidemic/.

Yesterday my story was posted on Lucy Holmes’ website ‘Cost of Gambling.’ Lucy is a trainee journalist, and in February 2021, Cost of Gambling will launch its first radio documentary exploring gambling addictions. In the meantime, I believe that she is uploading stories and other content up onto the website. To read my story, click here.

The All Bets Are Off podcast was proud to match sponsors for Billericay Town U23’s Essex Senior League Reserve Division fixture against Hashtag United Reserves earlier today. Over the past week-and-a-half, Billericay Town Football Club has been raising awareness of gambling-related harm across their social media channels. This campaign has included sharing information about the podcast and several specially selected partners. ABAO were due to be match sponsors for the fixture between Billericay’s first-team and Chelmsford City earlier in the week, but, unfortunately, due to a positive coronavirus test, the game was postponed. On the plus side, this meant that Chris and I were able to attend the match that we later became sponsors of. The Ricky ran out 6-1 winners, and we awarded our Man of the Match to Louis Dunwell (as pictured below). The central-midfielder was a deserved winner scoring an exquisite 35-yard lob and assisting two further goals in what turned into a drubbing by the home side. Both Chris and I would like to thank Billericay Town for their hospitality. With special praise going to co-owner Nick Hutt and club photographer Nicky Hayes.