GambleAware has swelled the size of board to ten members, with four new additions made in a move to support its overarching vision “to deliver a society safe from gambling harms”.
The appointments are said to have been made with a focus on building public health, governance and commissioning expertise at the charity, to guide the delivery of the charity’s five-year organisational strategy.
Labour House of Lords peer Baroness Hillary Armstrong is among those to join the board of trustees, to provide GambleAware extensive guidance on its charitable and societal mandate.
The current chair of UK poverty prevention charity Changing Lives, Armstrong is a former board member for Durham and Darlington Hospital Foundation Trust; chair of Tony Blair Sports Foundation, trustee of Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales.
Ofcom policy director Marina Gibbs is another to join, and will work to strengthen the charity’s organisational oversight and communications strategy.
Gibbs has served as a non-executive member on the Legal Services Board, the legal sector’s oversight regulator, and as co-chair of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications Remedies expert working group.
Furthermore, GambleAware’s research units will be supported by the appointment of Mubin Haq, the current chief executive to the Standard Life Foundation, which leads research on UK living standards and addressing financial problems of low-to-middle income earners.
The final appointment sees senior clinical lecturer at Kings College Dr Koravangattu Valsraj, a psychiatrist at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, join the board of trustees.
Valsraj will be “instrumental” in GambleAware’s efforts to increase access and support for gambling harms amongst minority communities and networks.
Kate Lampard CBE, GambleAware’s chair of trustees, explained: “We are very pleased to announce the appointment of four new trustees, each of whom bring with them skills and experience which will help guide and support GambleAware as it works to deliver its new five-year strategy.
“Our current board composition is strong on health and public health, but we recognised there was a clear need to increase the diversity of the board and extend the skill base of trustees. With these new appointments, we look forward to building and expanding the board’s expertise that will support the charity in the years ahead.”
