GambleAware Lived Experience Council Chair Nicola Jaques awarded MBE

Statement from Nicola Jaques, Chair of the GambleAware Lived Experience Council:

“I am deeply honoured to receive the MBE on behalf of GambleAware’s Lived Experience Council. This award is a powerful acknowledgement of the vital role lived experience and the wider gambling harms sector plays in driving meaningful change to tackle gambling harm.
 
“This recognition is a shared one, belonging to every member of GambleAware’s Lived Experience Council, all voices of the lived experience community and other organisations taking a meaningful approach to ensure experts by experience are at the heart of the prevention and reduction of gambling harm.
 
“I want to play special tribute to Neil Platt and the team at Beacon Counselling Trust, for their leadership and unwavering commitment to a whole-family approach to addressing gambling harms. Their work, alongside others within the GambleAware commissioned National Gambling Support Network to adopt a forward thinking, inclusive and compassionate approach to tackling gambling harms plays a significant role in addressing this serious public health issue. 
 
“As the gambling harms sector moves through a period of change and transformation, I am looking forward to continuing to champion the voice of the lived experience community to work towards a society free from gambling harm with purpose, hope and unity.”