The NGO has forwarded a grant worth £375,000 which will be distributed over the next three years, which will see the Gambling Lived Experience Network, or GLEN, seek to establish itself as an independent entity after the initial funding period.
Gambling Lived Experience Network Gets Backing from GambleAware
In order to make a lasting change, GambleAware wants to see GLEN as a self-sufficient project in the long term. GLEN acting chair David Quinti welcomed this opportunity and said that he was pleased that GLEN was doing well and that it was able to stand on its own two legs as a charity.
The charity’s efforts focus on the market in Great Britain and it seeks to actively reduce gambling-related harm by empowering people who lived through these difficulties and are open to talking about them with others. Quinti added:
GLEN is an independent voice of the gambling harm lived experience community, raising awareness and championing support for all people who have experienced gambling harms.
GLEN acting chair David Quinti
Quinti spoke highly of the opportunity to amplify the voice of people who have suffered from gambling harms and who can now “break down barriers” in order to raise awareness for the issue. GambleAware CEO Zoe Osmond was equally excited about the continued support for the initiative and said that it was a meaningful way to elevate the significance of GLEN and make it more impactful. Osmond added:
As the largest network of its type, GLEN has a diverse and democratic infrastructure allowing it to speak with a representative voice across the whole of Great Britain, underpinning GambleAware’s commitment to championing and supporting the Lived Experience community at large.
GambleAware CEO Zoe Osmond
GLEN Gives a Platform to Raise Awareness for Problem Gambling
GLEN plays an important overall role in the broader debate and discourse about gambling-related harm in the United Kingdom. Thanks to its initiatives and through empowering people who have struggled with gambling-related harm, GLEN stands to benefit the public by providing a platform to discuss the matter and address it head-on.
Lived experiences in communities matter as role models can emerge and show how people can overcome what is a serious issue in British society from within. “If you have lived experience of gambling harm and would like to be involved in the network or inquire about working for GLEN, please get in touch: GLEN is your network,” Quinti concluded.
GambleAware has made the community-focused approach one of its main strategies in tackling problem gambling across the country. According to the organization, addressing the specific needs of particular groups of people and tailoring an approach to tackle problem gambling specific to that group is what it takes to reduce gambling-related harm altogether.
Destitute groups made up of mostly young men have been the biggest victim of the spread of gambling-related harm. The prison population is also suffering disproportionately from gambling and related harms. These issues, GambleAware insists, must be addressed.