Lived Experience: A Story That Drives Recovery
This event is free to attend. Please register on Zoom.
Speaker:
Ladipo Abiose Akolade is a social impact strategist dedicated to tackling gambling addiction and advancing responsible gaming across Africa. He is the Founder and Executive Director of GamblePause Initiative Africa, a nonprofit organisation leading gambling awareness, youth empowerment, and addiction recovery efforts. Under his leadership, the Initiative has reached over 500,000 young people and established Nigeria’s first free Gambling Rehabilitation and Recovery Centre, supporting hundreds of recovering gamblers. Through debates, community engagement, and arts programmes, he has helped drive a national movement for behavioural change.
Abstract:
Lived experience plays an important role in understanding gambling harm and supporting recovery. This session explores how personal stories of gambling-related harm and recovery can help reduce stigma, encourage help-seeking, and inform more effective prevention and support services.
The session will discuss how lived experience can be shared safely and ethically, ensuring that individuals are supported and protected while telling their stories. It will also highlight the value of community-led recovery approaches, showing how peer support and shared experiences can strengthen pathways to healing and long-term recovery.
By bringing together research insight and real-world perspectives, this session aims to demonstrate how lived experience can contribute to compassionate, practical, and sustainable responses to gambling harm.