Former online gambling addict David Bradford and his entrepreneur son Adam are building upon five years of campaign work, by establishing The Safer Online Gambling Group.
The non-profit organisation aims to raise awareness of online gambling addiction, bring about support for gambling addicts under an NHS framework and work with operators and the government to tighten up gambling policy to protect vulnerable players.
Meetings are already in place with Sky Bet and industry self exclusion scheme GamStop, with hopes in place of “forming a customer-led coalition between gambling operators, customers with real life experiences and policy makers”.
Through these steps which are set to be undertaken, David and Adam hope that operators will commit to a safer online gambling charter, which the group will also audit through user testing and discrete research.
David, who hid his 30-year gambling addiction from his family and ended up in jail after stealing £50,000 from his employers, explained why he is so determined to help individuals suffering from addiction: “Online gambling became a devastating addiction for me. An addict will not know they have the problem until it’s too late. Psychologically it takes you over. I was like a hamster in the hamster wheel.
“This work is going to become the rest of my life, and I am proud to be able to turn a corner by providing a solution which will improve the lives of thousands of addicts across the country.
“Free bets and glamorous adverts kept me betting until there was nowhere else to go but to steal money to keep the whole facade alive. It was a desperate and unforgivable situation, I just wish help was around at the time.”
Amongst further steps the pair would like to see implemented are an advertising reduction, robust ID and affordability checks placed on online accounts and national campaigns run to highlight gambling addiction, in addition to the further roll-out of a national NHS gambling addiction provision.
David’s two youngest sons, Alex and Ryan Bradford, who were 17 when David went to jail, have spoken for the first time about the impact their father’s gambling addiction had on them in a media statement: “Our dad is a very brave man. We understand he lost control of his gambling but nothing was there to help him.
“We fully stand by him, no matter what happens, our family is united in providing hope and a real-life experience of gambling addiction, which will help others if they find themselves in trouble too.”
