GambleAware is on a mission. It wants to ensure that responsible gaming is at the forefront of all U.K. gambling operators’ minds at all times and is developing a new system to help it achieve that goal. As the country’s main responsible gambling advocacy group, GambleAware is always looking at how to support its objectives, and is now bringing in Expert Link to give it some additional support. The two entities are going to team up to develop GambleAware’s new ALERTS initiative. 

ALERTS, Affected Lived Experience Research, Treatment and Support Group, was devised to enhance responsible gaming initiatives in the U.K., while also supporting equality and diversity in the gaming industry. It is built around individuals with “lived experience” in gambling harm, and GambleAware is funding the program for 18 months. After that, the goal is to have the group auto-sufficient and self-sustaining, possibly even sourcing its own funding to become more independent. 

Expert Link has been brought in to co-design the platform because of its work with “marginalized communities,” according to GambleAware. It has worked with individuals who have experienced social condemnation and has been involved in the creation of policies to address social issues. It’s hoped that ALERTS, with the assistance of both GambleAware and Expert Link, will become an integral part of national gambling policies to help shape the UK’s gaming industry. Explains GambleAware Research Director Alison Clare, “We hope this new group will serve as a single, inclusive network that is representative of all people with lived experience of gambling harms across Great Britain. We know there are other lived experience groups already out there doing good work in this area, and this new group will fill any gaps and reach those who are harder to engage with. Our ambition is to see this independent network grow and develop so that it can help inform all aspects of the gambling debate, from policy and regulation, to research, treatment and prevention.”

ALERTS will work through a membership model, with those members setting priorities and internal structures. Expert Link will help establish the start-up process and will likely continue to be involved after it’s up and running to ensure it stays on track. The platform will focus on existing treatment services and act as an advisor to several entities, including GambleAware, the National Clinicians Network Forum and the National Gambling Treatment Services.