Christopher Gilham has lived in Brentwood since 2007, a place he’s pleased to call home because as well as the beautiful countryside “there is a wonderful community vibe with lots of people who seem to care for each other and I like that”. Chris, like many readers, is an avid football fan and as football fans will be fully aware the sport dubbed ‘the beautiful game’ has a rather ugly relationship with gambling.
CommunityAd had the pleasure of a frank chat with Chris who opened up about his gambling addiction. “I did not gamble until I was 30 years old and by 35 years old, I had planned my suicide. Fortunately, I found recovery but my first bet was on a football match. I downloaded a very well-known app after a very well-known actor told me to (that was the tone of the advert). Within weeks I was not gambling on just the outcome of football games but also in-play, which makes football betting more dangerous and it becomes more like a casino experience. This is because the frequency and speed of betting increased.
“Very quickly I was being cross sold products and I was gambling or thinking about gambling 24 hours per day. Not just betting on football which was my plan, but also betting on horses, greyhounds, virtual events, slots, roulette and blackjack.
“Did you know there are an estimated 250 – 650 gambling related suicides in the UK every year and that there are 55,000 children addicted to gambling in the UK? When we see adverts telling us “it matters more when there is money on it”, these kinds of statistics are not shared.”
Chris has thankfully overcome his addiction and has started a podcast called All Bets Are Off to raise awareness and help others.
The podcast, which came about through a conversation on Twitter on April 30th 2020, has received fantastic feedback and has achieved its aim in many cases with listeners writing in to tell Chris and the gang that their content is helping them. The podcast is now in its fourth season having welcomed 87 guests with 59 voices of lived experience.
Thanks to the success of All Bets Are Off he has also created TalkGEN C.I.C, which is a non-profit organisation that is built independently and by individuals with lived experience. Their purpose is to utilise lived experience of gambling-harm to help guide gambling-harm prevention strategies.
Chris is far from alone when putting together this podcast, integral to the content being created are Ryan, Kish, Tracey and Kelly: “Myself, Ryan and Kelly are all in recovery having suffered from gambling disorder, while Kish is a passionate researcher whose father struggled with a gambling addiction. From season two, we were joined by Tracey, whose partner was able to find recovery around the same time the pod originally launched. This gives us a nice balance of recovering disordered gamblers and affected others (those harmed by someone else’s gambling).
“The podcast is designed for those that are in recovery or those that are contemplating joining us. This is a gambling addiction recovery podcast but it’s available for everyone and so – whatever your motivation for listening to us – we just hope that you enjoy and get something from it.”
The team behind All Bets Are Off are working with another couple of great teams in the form of Billericay FC and Brentwood FC as Chris tells us “Billericay Town FC have been incredible.”
“We contacted them because I know what a fantastic community club they are. We did not know what their response would be but when Ryan spoke with Nick Hutt, co-owner of Billericay Town FC, he was met with intrigue. It is fair to say that until we contacted Nick this is not a subject he had thought much about. However, when Ryan explained who we are and why we are worried about football’s relationship with gambling, Nick agreed that Billericay Town FC would share information and statistics about gambling harm on their social media for a week. This was incredible and more than we had hoped for.
“We engaged with others in the gambling recovery community and got them involved too. Gambling with Lives, The Big Step, RecoverMe App, GamFam and GamBan all got involved as well as All Bets Are Off. During the week All Bets Are Off and Gambling With Lives both had the opportunity to be match sponsors.
“Since the initial engagement the relationship has grown. Representatives from Billericay Town FC, including Nick Hutt, photographer Nicky Hayes and current player Lawrie Wilson joined me on the last Big Step walk. We walked from Brentwood Town FC to Billericay Town FC and a huge thanks also goes out to Brentwood Town FC. Their manager and a couple of their players also joined us on the walk.
“Billericay Town FC are now a member of the Coalition Against Gambling Ads and All Bets Are Off and The Big Step / Gambling with Lives both have pitch side boards at New Lodge.”
All Bets Are Off Fundraising Fun Day
“We will be hosting a family fun day on Saturday 17th July at New Lodge. The day itself revolves around a charity football match between All Bets Are Off and The Peoples FC, a charity YouTube football club from South East London. All Bets Are Off are the new kit sponsor of The Peoples FC. What they do for mental health is incredible.
“On the day, there will be a number of ‘sharing hubs’ i.e. talks around gambling addiction, recovery and support, and mental health. Further information surrounding these will be made available in due course.
“Gates will be open from 1 pm with the match kicking-off at 3 pm. There will be food and refreshments available to purchase at the club bar.
“All monies raised will be evenly distributed between the NHS Northern Gambling Service, Gamvisory’s Hardship Fund and Rosie’s Legs. We hope that there will be lots of interest among the local community. Not only will it be a fun day but also a day to learn about a very important, yet not very well-known public health issue. For those who cannot attend, the game will be streamed live and I will be one of the commentators.”