GambleAware Annual Conference Delegates page

Conference agenda

GambleAware’s final Annual Conference promises a varied and engaging agenda. The day will feature a range of lived experience community members and leaders from a variety of sectors sharing their insights on and experience of addressing this serious public health issue.

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Speakers

Our engaging agenda features key expert contributors from a range of sectors. Speaker biographies are displayed below in order of appearance.

We welcome questions and comments to the speakers prior to the conference.

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Liz Barclay, Conference Moderator and Chair

Liz Barclay is the Small Business Commissioner for the UK. She has a background in broadcasting and journalism specialising in small business, personal finance and consumer affairs and is author of several business books. She is also Chair of the Fair by Design Campaign (to tackle the poverty premium) and a non-executive Director of the Lending Standards Board and CCA Global.

Andy Boucher, Chair, GambleAware

Andy Boucher was appointed Chair of the GambleAware Board of Trustees in April 2025. Alongside working with GambleAware, his other roles include Chair of Sir George Monoux Sixth form college, London Place Director for Business in the Community, Partnership Director for the Social Mobility Business Partnership and Vice Chair and Honorary Secretary of the charity Making the Leap.

Baroness Twycross, Minister for Gambling and Heritage

Baroness Twycross was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on 23 July 2024. She is the Minister for Gambling and speaks on behalf of DCMS for all business in the House of Lords. Prior to being appointed a Minister, she was London's first Deputy Mayor for Fire and Resilience and a London Assembly member.

Ruth Champion, Director of Systems Commissioning, GambleAware

Ruth, a psychologist with 22 years’ experience addressing gambling-related harm, has pioneered initiatives from outcomes reporting, national data sets to women-focused treatment programs in the third sector. Joining GambleAware in 2018, she has overseen treatment and support commissioning and championed the importance of lived experience. As Director of System Commissioning, Ruth led the redesign and recommissioning of the gambling treatment and support system (NGSN) across Great Britain.

Steve Girling, Co-Founder and Chief Recovery Officer, Reframe Coaching

Steve Girling is in the eighth year of his personal recovery from a Gambling Addiction. Part of Steve’s recovery involved serving time in Prison, because of his addiction. Steve is now the Co-Host of Hold or Fold, a podcast by National Prison Radio and is the Co-Founder of the national charity, Reframe Coaching, who provide Recovery Coaching support to individuals who have been affected by Gambling.

Khudeja Amer-Sharif, Chief Executive, Sharma Women’s Centre

Khudeja has over 30 years of experience in leadership roles in Finance, Education and Voluntary Sector, leading diverse teams of professionals in new levels of success. She has implemented organisational change, spearheading the Equalities and Diversity agenda. As CEO for Shama women’s Centre, Khudeja has pioneered innovative mental health support programmes, exceeding KPI’s, improving outcomes in education, work and health inequalities.

Gwyn Thomas de Chroustchoff, Service Development Manager, The Big Issue

Gwyn manages various support services as part of the Big Issue's work with people in poverty. He oversees a gambling harm information outreach and support service in Scotland, England and Wales, supporting those in poverty with information and support around gambling harms, screening for risk from gambling harms and access to treatment, as well as access to mental health and financial support.

Darren Crocker, Gambling Harm Programme Lead, Simon Community Scotland

Darren is the Gambling Harm Programme Lead for Simon Community Scotland, and has lived experience of gambling harm. A main focus of his role is addressing gambling-related harm within the context of housing instability and those who are experiencing/at risk of homelessness. Simon Community Scotland develops programmes that train staff, build collaborative partnerships, and provide practical support pathways to those most affected

Nadine Ashworth, Founding Director, Thrivin' Together

Nadine Ashworth is the Founder of Thrivin’ Together CIC, a women-only, lived experience led organisation dedicated to meeting women impacted by gambling addiction where they're at.  Drawing on both lived and professional experience, Nadine champions peer-led, holistic approaches that empower individuals to heal, connect and thrive. Nadine advocates for women who are easily overlooked in the male-default landscape of gambling recovery.

Nicola Jaques, Chair, GambleAware Lived Experience Council

Nicola is a lived experience advocate, MBE recognised for her work in gambling harm reduction with regional treatment provider Beacon Counselling Trust. She is Chair of the GambleAware Lived Experience Council. Nicola’s advocacy is rooted in unifying purpose, ensuring that lived experience is not only heard but actively shapes the future of gambling harm prevention, education, treatment, support and recovery.

Bianca Colclough, GambleAware Lived Experience Council

Bianca’s lived experience of gambling harms is intertwined with a professional career and childhood trauma, “I guess you could say I became an expert of wearing a mask from a young age!” Sharing her story was empowering but it has also enabled her to capture the key elements of gambling harms to raise awareness and build a career in the industry. She is a proud parent to two young children who are her key driver to securing a safer future for the next generation.

Suhail Patel, Lived Experience Co-ordinator, GambleAware

Suhail Patel works as a Lived Experience Coordinator at GambleAware, helping ensure the voices of those impacted by gambling harm shape support services and future commissioning. He builds partnerships, strengthens lived-experience leadership, and champions compassionate, community-led systems.

Lucy Harte, Deputy Director of Multiagency Operations, Care Quality Commission

At the Care Quality Commission, Lucy leads most of CQC’s joint inspection activity with partner inspectorates and single agency SLA’s. One of the teams that she leads is the Gambling Harms inspection programme. She is proud to be a children’s nurse and Specialist Community Public Health Nurse (Health Visiting).

Baroness Clare Gerada of Kennington DBE, Primary Care Gambling Service

A General Practitioner for more than 30 years, having first trained in psychiatry, Clare has been working at the interface of mental health and primary care for her professional life, mainly in the field of addiction. Since 2019, she has been leading the Primary Care Gambling Service, a GP led, intermediate service for those with problems relating to gambling. Clare is also past President of the Royal College of General Practitioners.

Jonathan Simmons, Chief Executive, New Philanthropy Capital

Jonathan joined NPC in November 2024 as CEO. He has 25 years’ experience delivering purpose driven projects. He’s worked with many different organisations delivering digital transformation, organisational redesign, large scale participatory design projects, brand redevelopment, and impact investment strategies. He founded Zone (originally called Public Zone), a digital agency initially focused on charities which became the UK’s leading independent digital agency.

Anna Hargrave, Chief Executive, GambleAware

Anna joined GambleAware as Chief Commissioning Officer in 2021. In October 2025, following the Government’s introduction of a statutory levy to tackle gambling harm, she was appointed CEO to guide the charity through this change. Anna has led commissioning of the National Gambling Support Network and is working to ensure a smooth shift to the new system. With 13 years in NHS commissioning, she brings deep expertise in health and care, working nationally with government and regional boards.

Nigel Huddleston MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

Nigel Huddleston MP was first elected as Member of Parliament for Mid Worcestershire in the May 2015 General Election. In 2024, he was appointed Co-chair of the Conservative Party. In July 2025, he was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, with the aim of holding the Government to account on important policy areas such as sport, the BBC, media regulation, tourism, heritage, civil society, youth, the arts, lotteries and gambling. 

Neil Platt, Clinical Director, Beacon Counselling Trust

Neil Platt is the Clinical Director of the Beacon Counselling Trust, one of the founding members of the NGSN. Neil has been working in the Gambling Harms field, both nationally and internationally, for nearly 15 years, leading a comprehensive and muti-skilled  team at Beacon, delivering education, early intervention, treatment and recovery  approaches to population wide audiences.

Ian Semel, Chief Executive, Breakeven

Ian Semel has been involved in gambling for over 40 years. He spent 20 years as a pathological gambler and the last 25 years as a treatment provider for anybody affected by problematic gambling with Breakeven, a charity Ian started in 2001. Breakeven, is a member of the NGSN (National Gambling Support Network). Over the years Breakeven has delivered over a quarter of a million sessions and Ian has appeared on numerous radio and television programmes debating problem gambling issues.

Colin Hughes, Programme Manager, Wigan Public Health

Colin has held public health portfolios that include vulnerable people, substance misuse, gambling related harms, tobacco control and sexual health. Currently, he is working in the public health team in Wigan on the Mental Wellbeing Transformation in which Gambling Related Harms is embedded. As programme manager, Colin is also guiding Men's Health work and supporting the workforce development offer in his role as an assessor for UKPHR programme.

Inspector Sue Stribling, Merseyside Police

Inspector Susan Stribling led the development of the first police-led process in England to divert individuals affected by gambling-related harm into specialist treatment services. Through her work with Merseyside Police, she enhanced the Vulnerable Person Referral Form (VPRF), enabling officers and PCSOs to identify and refer individuals experiencing gambling harms directly to the appropriate support and treatment.

Ian Whiteside, Early Intervention and Education Programmes Manager, Beacon Counselling Trust

Ian is the Early Intervention and Education Programmes Manager at Beacon Counselling Trust. Ian is a professional Youth and Community Worker, with an MSc in Drug Use and Addictions and over 25 years’ experience working in the field. Ian supports the work Beacon deliver by ensuring their early intervention and education programmes are integral in its public health approaches and local systems work through the delivery of their core programmes, and universal education and prevention initiatives.

Tim Miller, Executive Director, Gambling Commission

Prior to joining the Commission in 2016, Tim was head of policy and communications at the Local Government Ombudsman and prior to that was head of public affairs at the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. In his role at the Commission, Tim is responsible for the Commission’s Research and Policy functions and leads the Commission’s programme of work to implement the British Government’s Gambling White Paper. He is also currently acting Executive Director for Operations at the Commission.

Haroon Chowdry, Director of Evidence and Insights, GambleAware

Haroon Chowdry is the Director of Evidence & Insights at GambleAware. He oversees the organisation's research, evaluation, analysis and insights to build the evidence base on gambling harms, including the experiences of different communities and what works to prevent or reduce harm. He also leads the organisation's work to improve our understanding of inequalities in gambling harms and how to address them.

Dan Riley, Senior Research Lead, GambleAware

Dan has worked as a researcher over 10 years’, working across different policy areas and health challenges. At GambleAware he leads on the commissioning of research to inform and evaluate marketing activities, such as the highly impactful stigma campaign, updated branding guidelines, and health warning recommendations. Dan also leads GambleAware's policy function, ensuring positions are evidence-led and rooted in public health principles.

Alex Ballinger MP

Alex Ballinger has served as MP for Halesowen since 2024. Before entering Parliament, Alex was CEO of a mental health charity supporting communities in Birmingham and the Black Country. In Westminster, he champions investment in manufacturing, town centre regeneration, road safety, and gambling reform. He chairs the Armed Forces APPG, APPG for Gambling Harms and sits on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.

Dr James Noyes, Senior Fellow, Social Market Foundation

Dr James Noyes is a Senior Fellow of the Social Market Foundation. He previously helped lead the Labour Party’s policy agenda on gambling reform and is the author of a number of reports on the subject.

Sam Starsmore, Programme Lead, YGAM 

Sam Starsmore is the Programme Lead: Education at Ygam and Deputy Chair at the GambleAware Lived Experience Council. After experiencing a devastating gambling addiction, he now uses his lived experience to raise awareness of gaming and gambling harms and to safeguard future generations. In his role, he leads the delivery of evidence-based education and advocates for stronger protections for young people.

Alistair Barfield, Founder, Deflect & Protect CIC

Ali is an autistic/ADHD man who is passionate about neurodiversity and radicalism.  He is the Director and Founder of 'Deflect and Protect CIC' a nonprofit that delivers training and consultancy assisting young people with Internet related harms. A particular focus of deflect and protect is the proliferation of gambling content designed to appeal to young people.

Watch live

Live streaming will start here at 9.30am on 10 December 2025.

Poster presentations and resources

National Gambling Support Network

The National Gambling Support Network (NGSN) plays a vital role within the gambling harms system, with 13 organisations covering Great Britain providing free treatment, advice and support on a range of gambling-related issues.

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Care Quality Commission: independent assessments of National Gambling Support Network Providers

The Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England, normally inspects, monitors, and rates registered services to ensure they are safe, effective, caring, responsive, and well-led. While gambling harms treatment services are not within its regulatory remit, CQC has been commissioned by the Gambling Commission and GambleAware to provide independent quality assessments of National Gambling Support Network providers.

Using its five key questions alongside NICE guidelines and GambleAware standards and key performance indicators, CQC reviews in-person, online, and telephone treatment services. These assessments focus on quality improvement and include engagement with people with lived experience. Reports are published on GambleAware’s website, with a national summary due in March 2026.

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National Gambling Support Network Services Directory Booklet

In this booklet you’ll find information about the confidential, free support available through the National Gambling Support Network (NGSN). The NGSN brings together organisations across England, Scotland and Wales to provide treatment, advice and tailored support for anyone affected by gambling harms, including family members and friends affected by someone else’s gambling.

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University of Brighton: GambLGBTQ+ exhibition

GambLGBTQ+ is a study aimed at understanding gambling in LGBTQ+ communities in Great Britain. The project is a collaboration between the University of Brighton, YouGov, Brighton and Hove LGBT Switchboard, and LGBTQ+ communities, including those with lived experience of gambling harms. The project is funded by GambleAware.

This exhibition presents a selection of the experiences shared during the qualitative phases of the project. It features photographs and accompanying texts from participants in the Photovoice Study, each introduced with a brief preamble that provides context and insight. In addition, diary entries and interview quotes from participants of the online community and interviews have been interpreted creatively through original photographs taken by members of the research team. These images are displayed alongside the quote that inspired them and an edited selection is shown in the accompanying catalogue.

We hope this condensed version of the original exhibition raises awareness, develops understanding and empathy, and provokes conversations and the need for change.

The voice of lived experience

Watch our videos to find out more about who we are, the work we do, and how our advice and tools are helping people with gambling harms find the right support for them.

Our Lived Experience videos

Contact us

If you have any questions please email us at events@gambleaware.org

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GambleAware Annual Conference 2025

‘Celebrating progress and welcoming the new statutory gambling harms prevention system'

On this page:

Conference agenda

Speakers

Liz Barclay, Conference Moderator and Chair

Andy Boucher, Chair, GambleAware

Baroness Twycross, Minister for Gambling and Heritage

Ruth Champion, Director of Systems Commissioning, GambleAware

Steve Girling, Co-Founder and Chief Recovery Officer, Reframe Coaching

Khudeja Amer-Sharif, Chief Executive, Sharma Women’s Centre

Gwyn Thomas de Chroustchoff, Service Development Manager, The Big Issue

Darren Crocker, Gambling Harm Programme Lead, Simon Community Scotland

Nadine Ashworth, Founding Director, Thrivin' Together

Nicola Jaques, Chair, GambleAware Lived Experience Council

Bianca Colclough, GambleAware Lived Experience Council

Suhail Patel, Lived Experience Co-ordinator, GambleAware

Lucy Harte, Deputy Director of Multiagency Operations, Care Quality Commission

Baroness Clare Gerada of Kennington DBE, Primary Care Gambling Service

Jonathan Simmons, Chief Executive, New Philanthropy Capital

Anna Hargrave, Chief Executive, GambleAware

Nigel Huddleston MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

Neil Platt, Clinical Director, Beacon Counselling Trust

Ian Semel, Chief Executive, Breakeven

Colin Hughes, Programme Manager, Wigan Public Health

Inspector Sue Stribling, Merseyside Police

Ian Whiteside, Early Intervention and Education Programmes Manager, Beacon Counselling Trust

Tim Miller, Executive Director, Gambling Commission

Haroon Chowdry, Director of Evidence and Insights, GambleAware

Dan Riley, Senior Research Lead, GambleAware

Alex Ballinger MP

Dr James Noyes, Senior Fellow, Social Market Foundation

Sam Starsmore, Programme Lead, YGAM

Alistair Barfield, Founder, Deflect & Protect CIC

Watch live

Poster presentations and resources

Contact us

However you’re feeling right now, we’re here to help.