Speakers

Don Foster was the Liberal Democrat MP for Bath for 23 years between 1992 and 2015. He held a number of Front Bench positions within the Liberal Democrats and was a Minister and then Government Deputy Chief Whip under the Coalition. Following his retirement in 2015 he entered the House of Lords. As an MP, Don served on the committee which considered what became the Gambling Act 2005 and in 2010 was the first MP to call for the reduction of FOBT stakes. Following his work on the Lords Gambling Select Committee, Don formed, and now chairs, “Peers for Gambling Reform” (PGR) which is the largest cross-party group in the Lords. He’s also a member of the Lords “Communications and Digital” Select Committee and focuses on the Creative Industries and Public Sector Broadcasting alongside Gambling.

Andy has worked at the Committee of Advertising Practice since 2010. He is a gambling advertising policy specialist. His responsibilities include authoring and upkeep of the UK Advertising Codes’ gambling rules. He also authored CAP’s 2014 gambling advertising review and led on the introduction of new restrictions on appeal to children in 2022. Before working for CAP, Andy spent five years working in the ASA’s Investigation department.

Michael is Professor of Psychological Science where he is an expert in the science of social connection and interaction. He studies interpersonal communication, emotion, and social determinants of health. He has received awards from the British Psychological Society and the European Society of Cognitive Psychology for outstanding contributions to psychological research. He is also a member of the Royal Society Industry Fellows College and works with organisations to apply psychological science to everyday behaviours and policy.

Steffi De Jans is a postdoctoral researcher (FWO fellow) at the Department of Communication Sciences at Ghent University. She obtained her PhD in 2020 on how minors can be empowered to cope with digital advertising. Now, she conducts research on how consumers (both minors and adults) can be empowered to cope with marketing communications (such as sponsorship, social media advertising, influencer marketing) for dark consumption behavior (i.e., advertising for harmful products or behavior such as gambling and unhealthy eating behavior).

Passionate about youth representation in the realm of gambling harms, Guy Bray brings a unique perspective with his lived experience and active involvement with organisations such as GamCare and GambleAware. At the young age of 16, Guy spoke on behalf of GamCare, a leading organisation dedicated to addressing gambling harms, advocating for the recognition and inclusion of youth perspectives in this crucial field. Since joining GamCare's Youth Advisory Board last year, he has been instrumental in contributing to the board's initiatives, demonstrating unwavering dedication to raising awareness and effecting positive change in the sphere of gambling harms. Guy's invaluable insights and commitment make him a compelling voice in discussions surrounding this pressing topic.

Steph and Peter Shilton are established as prominent campaigners in the gambling harm domain, their work is recognised internationally. The pair possess a vast amount of experience in public service, healthcare and the sporting industry. Steph has 20 years experience as a highly professional NHS Manager with extensive knowledge in the Healthcare sector. Peter Shilton OBE is a former professional footballer who played as goal keeper and is still the England national team’s most capped player he also holds two world records. Peter lived with a gambling addiction for his entire adult life. With the help of Steph, he managed to stop gambling, and the couple have since been working to raise awareness of gambling harms for addicts and their loved ones. They recently published a book, ‘Saved: Overcoming a 45-Year Gambling Addiction’, which tells their story. Steph is a qualified therapist actively supporting affected others.

Dr Liz Riley is Head of Research and Evaluation at Betknowmore UK, a charity that supports people experiencing gambling harms. For Betknowmore UK, Liz has led two projects exploring women's support needs and the effectiveness of peer support groups. She has been part of NIHR-funded research led by Kings College on a gambling screening question for adult social services, three Howard League-funded projects on crime and gambling harms, and Ipsos and ClearView research on gambling harms in minority communities. She is also part of a research team led by Durham University and funded by the Gambling Commission that will examine gambling-related domestic abuse.

Dr. Tobias Hayer studied psychology at the University of Bremen. For more than two decades, Tobias has been conducting research there on the topic of gambling (formerly at the Department of Psychology and currently at the Institute of Public Health and Nursing Research, Department for Health and Society). He received his PhD in 2012 from the University of Bremen, the subject of the dissertation was "Adolescents and gambling-related problems: risk conditions, developmental models, and implications for preventive action strategies". Since 2021, Tobias has been Head of the Gambling Research Unit. His research interests include gambling disorder and migration, gambling disorder in seniors, online gambling behavior (incl. early detection and early intervention issues), the prevention of gambling-related problems, the effectiveness of player protection measures, the risk potential of certain gambling forms, problem behavior in adolescence, simulated internet gambling, and the regulation of the gambling market.

Sam is a Lecturer in the School for Policy Studies with interests in exploring practices, polices and experiences at the intersection of debt and welfare. He brings expertise across three areas. The first is carrying out ethnographic research with low-income individuals, the second is in communicating work on financial (and other) harms for broad audiences, and thirdly, his knowledge and expertise on the changing nature of payment, borrowing and investment practices. This background is essential to understanding how gambling practices – including those that may come under the remit of ‘investment’ or ‘leisure’ – are changing in the era of cashless payments and digital bookmakers.

For over 30 years, Wendy Knight has been a noteworthy leader in service provision for disadvantaged children and families. She was “Head of Centre” and founder of nine Sure Start Children’s Centres in West Yorkshire. Wendy can also be credited with being the only black woman to feature in number 10’s line up of leading authorities on Sure Start giving help and advice on child and family health, parenting, money, training and employment. Wendy was invited by Lord Peter Goldsmith KC, on behalf of the Howard League for Penal Reform and Commission on Crime and Gambling Related Harms, to attend the House of Lords on Thursday 27th April 2023 for her lived experience contributions to research on women’s experience of gambling and crime and lived experience of gambling, gambling-related harms and crime within ethnic minority communities.

Rob Davies is an investigative reporter for The Guardian. His investigation into the gambling industry and government policy won a British Journalism Award in 2019. His book, Jackpot: How Gambling Conquered Britain, was first published in 2022. It shows a striking exposé of the insidious business practices that have generated enormous profits for the companies operating within the UK’s gambling industry.

Jo is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology in the School for Policy Studies. Jo's research focuses on exploring where harm is embedded and often normalised, in the everyday practices of consumer leisure industries. Jo is currently researching the experiences of employees of betting shops in relation to their responsibility for implementing 'safer gambling' practices.

Lee is an interdisciplinary scholar who studies the politics of casino development in Asian cities. He is the author of Las Vegas in Singapore: Violence, Progress and the Crisis of Nationalist Modernity (NUS Press, 2019), a history of the control of vice that casts a critical light on the pastoral image of Singapore’s contemporary political and urban landscape. His current project traces the spread of large-scale casino projects in Asia-Pacific and shows how cities are being remade in its wake. Lee’s work has been supported by various research foundations. In 2021, he was a Fellow of the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study during which he wrote and published "The Myth of the Integrated Resort: Selective History, Retrospective Branding and Fungible Assets" in the journal, Critical Gambling Studies. He will contribute to the Hub with a specialised perspective on urban development and state regulation around casino-gambling industries.

Dr Reece Bush-Evans is a lecturer in Psychology and a member of the Gambling Research Group at Bournemouth University. His research focuses on social psychological aspects of behaviour change, and how technology can be used to detect, predict, prevent and intervene with harmful gambling behaviours. He has expertise conducting mixed methods research and exploring a range of sensitive topics, including staff suicide in healthcare settings and gambling-related harm in marginalised communities.

After a degree in Social Policy from Swansea University, Carolyn worked within her community, setting up centres for disaffected youths. This was followed by roles as a Regional Director for a capacity building not-for-profit organisation and as Regional Manager for a children’s cancer charity. Carolyn then worked for the former Member of Parliament for Swansea East, Siân James. On 7 May 2015, she was first elected as the constituencies Member of Parliament and was reelected in both the 2017 and 2019 elections. In April 2018 she became the first Deputy Leader of Welsh Labour. She has undertaken many frontbench roles including Shadow Home Office Minister, Shadow Women and Equalities Minister and Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition. She now sits as a Backbencher and Chairs the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Gambling Related Harm, Beauty & Wellbeing and Menopause. Carolyn has run a series of successful campaigns including lowering the stakes on fixed odd betting terminals.

Matt Zarb-Cousin is a co-founder of Gamban, director of Clean Up Gambling and senior government affairs advisor to YieldSec. As spokesperson for the Campaign for Fairer Gambling (CFG), he lobbied successfully for a reduction in the maximum stake on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals from £100 to £2 a spin. CFG has recently relaunched with a focus on policy reform in the US.

Jamie is a Research Associate in the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research. He has previously researched the digital transformation of the land-based betting industry, exploring its socio-economic impacts from a critical perspective. His current research interests lie in the exploration of the socio-economic and cultural impacts of gambling, as well as their intersection within sporting industries.

Ruth Persian heads up the Behavioural Insights Team's (BIT) Gambling Policy Research Unit (GPRU) and leads BIT's work on financial behaviour. The GPRU is a four-year research programme funded by a Regulatory Settlement fund via the Gambling Commission. The unit conducts research to reduce harm from gambling and to make the UK gambling market the most safely regulated in the world. Ruth has in-depth experience designing and evaluating behavioural insights interventions, having worked on behavioural insights projects with partners in the public and private sector on topics ranging from financial inclusion to revenue collection. She previously oversaw BIT UK’s research in international programmes, education and home affairs. She studied Economics and Political Science at the University of Tübingen and the University of Cape Town and holds a Master’s in Economics from Oxford University.

Chris May is the founder and Managing Director of Mayden, a digital healthcare company based in Bath. Formerly from a manufacturing background, Chris has dedicated the last 33 years of his career to the healthcare sector, initially as a hospital manager and information lead, and then as a management consultant specialising in information analysis and modelling. Chris is passionate about maximising the opportunities presented by the information age, both to provide joined-up healthcare, improve patient outcomes and to increase the cost-effectiveness of healthcare IT. At Mayden, Chris is building the kind of company people want to work for, with an agile, open working culture, a flat structure and shared responsibility; and where they can flourish.

Ara Recovery4all will provide in-person support, advice and information for those attending the event. They will also be able to facilitate referrals for those living in the South West and Wales needing more structured interventions or help to access the NGSN outside of these regions for those directly or indirectly impacted by gambling related harms.

Nadine is the director of thrivin' together cic, a lived-experienced-led organisation for UK women impacted by gambling. With half of her 8 years in recovery working in gambling recovery services, she has shared her experience and support to organisations and individuals. Nadine is available at this event to offer peer support to lived-experience attendees.