GambleAware appoints four new trustees to its Board

• The charity expands its Board of trustees in a move to support its overarching vision to deliver a society safe from gambling harms.  
• The new trustees bring a wealth of public health and public policy experience to the charity, joining other senior figures from across the NHS and Public Health Wales.
• The new trustees are Baroness Hilary Armstrong, Marina Gibbs, Mubin Haq and Dr. Koravangattu Valsraj.

London, 3 November: GambleAware is pleased to announce the appointment of four new trustees to its Board.

The appointments focus on building public health, governance and commissioning expertise at GambleAware, to guide the delivery of the charity’s five-year organisational strategy and its vision of a society safe from gambling harm.  

The trustees were selected following an extensive recruitment process. The new trustees joining the Board are:   

• Baroness Hilary Armstrong, Labour member of the House of Lords, who has extensive experience in non-executive leadership roles including her role as a Board Member for Durham and Darlington Hospital Foundation Trust; Chair of Tony Blair Sports Foundation, and Trustee of Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales. Baroness Armstrong was, until 2018, also Chair of the charity Changing Lives, which supports people with complex needs, and continues to work with the organisation advising on their work with women.
   
• Marina Gibbs, Policy Director within Ofcom’s Networks and Communications group who currently oversees Ofcom’s work in the postal sector and directs policy projects across Ofcom’s regulatory sectors. Marina brings over 20 years’ experience in operating at Board level in both executive and non-executive roles. Marina has served as Lay Non-Executive member on the Legal Services Board, the legal sector’s oversight regulator, and as Co-Chair of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications Remedies expert working group. Prior to moving to Ofcom, Marina was a Partner with Spectrum Strategy consultants.
   
• Mubin Haq, Chief Executive of Standard Life Foundation, which funds and commissions research, policy work and advocacy activities focused on improving living standards and addressing financial problems of low-to-middle income earners, which will bring valuable insight, knowledge, and perspective to GambleAware. Mubin also has extensive Board-level experience, having served as Director at several organisations including London Strategic Migration Partnership, London Funders and serving on a committee of London & Quadrant Housing Association. He was also recently Director of Policy & Grants for Trust For London.
   
• Dr. Koravangattu Valsraj, is a consultant psychiatrist at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and Senior Clinical Lecturer at Kings College London. He is on the specialist register of the General Medical Council with dual accreditation in Psychiatry of Learning Disability and General Adult Psychiatry with specialty endorsement in Liaison Psychiatry. Valsraj has substantial experience in clinical leadership roles in different boroughs in London, has provided leadership services for two mental health trusts, and has been part of a senior leadership board for a leading University Hospital in India. He is currently serving as a Trustee at mental health charity Careif and will be instrumental in GambleAware’s efforts to increase access and support for gambling harms amongst minority communities and networks. 

Current Board members include: Kate Lampard CBE, Chair of GambleAware; Saffron Cordery, Director of Policy and Strategy and Deputy Chief Executive for NHS Providers; Professor Sian Griffiths OBE, Past President of the UK Faculty of Public Health and Non-Executive Director for Public Health Wales; Michelle Highman, Chief Executive of The Money Charity; Rachel Pearce, Regional Director Commissioning at NHS England South West; and Paul Simpson, Chief Finance Officer and Deputy Chief Executive, Surrey & Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust.

GambleAware’s Chair of trustees, Kate Lampard CBE, said: “We are very pleased to announce the appointment of four new trustees, each of whom bring with them skills and experience which will help guide and support GambleAware as it works to deliver its new five-year strategy.

“Our current Board composition is strong on health and public health, but we recognised there was a clear need to increase the diversity of the Board and extend the skill base of trustees. With these new appointments, we look forward to building and expanding the Board’s expertise that will support the charity in the years ahead.”

The press release is also available to download here.