Andy brings his lived experience from gambling harm to the board.

Joe Seet is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales and an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.  His professional career has been in the wholesale and investment banking and private investment management sectors and he is a specialist on corporate governance, regulatory, accounting, audit, pension and tax matters. He is currently a non-executive director of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a trustee of the Commercial Education Trust and has held similar positions in other not-for-profit organisations.

Betknowmore’s approach to help support individuals, in my view, especially appropriate with the documented increase by the NHS over the last few years and its Peer Aid service is particularly important and it’s success is self-evident. The soul-destroying nature of long-term gambling addiction and the harms it causes to personal, family and social life are well known.  Betknowmore’s staff and volunteers work tirelessly to help others and have the full support of all the Trustee Directors and I am honoured to be able to help, in my role as trustee and non-executive Treasurer.

I went from being your average safe and responsible weekend sports bettor to living a chaotic lifestyle as gambling addiction took over my life. Whilst simultaneously hiding my problems from my family, this culminated in me committing fraud to fund my gambling and I served a prison sentence accordingly.

Training as a recovery coach in the summer of 2023, I am keen to continually expand my learnings around addiction. Having never had the courage to reach out for appropriate support when I was struggling, I want to do what I can to reduce the stigma around gambling addiction and encourage people to get help.

In recovery now for three-and-a-half years, I have taken part in various media projects to support GambleAware’s stigma campaign and I hope to utilise my experiences during a negative period in my life for the good of others.

I am Michelle, I am 51 years old, and I live in Essex. I am married and I have two sons aged 31 and 28. My husband is an ex-London Firefighter and since he retired from the brigade we have run our own training company.  

I have lived experience as an affected other through my son’s gambling addiction. Charlie became an addict at 13 when he discovered online poker and slot machines. Of all the addictions that I have experienced, gambling is the most frightening. There is no immediate tell that would help you identify someone as having a problem with gambling. We have lost a lot through this horrendous illness, but I haven’t lost my son, so I count myself as one of the lucky ones.

Charlie received treatment in a well-known addition centre, but they allowed him to have his mobile phone meaning he was able to gamble in his room in the evenings. This opened my eyes to the lack of understanding and support around gambling addiction.

I am proud to be a part of the Betknowmore UK Lived Experience Advisory Board and I hope that I can bring a little of my experience to the table. I want to help reduce the stigma around gambling addiction, help start the conversation and keep it going.  

My youngest son, as well as working in the family business, is a professional wrestler and I really enjoy watching him at the various shows he is booked to perform at. I also love walking my eldest son’s dog, Daisy.

My name is Robbie and I started gambling around 16/17 years old. It started to become an issue when I was 20/21 and I experienced significant harm, both financially and mentally. It helped me escape from reality and my emotions but this was always only until the money was gone. When there were no more funds to gamble, negative feelings would always come back worse than before, but I was in denial and I didn’t believe that I had an addiction, despite the harm I was causing. When I look back now, it is so clear that this was a progressive addiction.

The last time I gambled was 28 January 2020. Recovery is hard but regret is harder so I choose to take each day as it comes and I fight this addiction on a daily basis. The early days of recovery were difficult as I did not have an escape for my negative emotions, but gradually I was able to explore positive activities that give me an outlet. I never had an excuse not to gamble so I try not to offer any excuses to not engage in positive outlets.

I have nearly two decades of lived experience of gambling harm, directly and indirectly, and I have been in recovery for the past three and a half years. I am also one of the founding members of the Gambling Lived Experience Network (GLEN) where I helped form a lived experience panel in 2021 and collaborated with others to establish its core principles.

I am passionate about supporting others who are suffering from the harmful effects of their gambling, and I have worked as a peer researcher on projects with Betknowmore UK, Ipsos MORI and GamCare, and recorded a national radio advert for GambleAware. I frequently chair my local Gamblers Anonymous (GA) meetings and I participated in the Howard League report on gambling-related harm within ethnic minority communities.

I have been employed by Royal Mail for the past 12 years, where I am currently a workplace coach, and I have a love for cricket. I am an English Cricket Board (ECB) Level 1 coach, working with youth teams at my local cricket club where I am also a social secretary and Sunday team captain.  

I am fluent in English, Hindi, Punjabi and Guajarati, and I was also recently elected as a councillor for Slough Borough Council.