GwL awarded grant from Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust

News by Tom Fleming

Gambling with Lives (GwL) is delighted to have received a three-year grant from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.

The £127,000 grant will enable GwL to advocate for stronger regulation to prevent future gambling-related suicides.

It was awarded by the Trust’s Power and Accountability programme, which “explores and promotes ways for all forms of media to play a constructive role in holding government, companies and other powerful actors to account.”

“On behalf of everyone at Gambling with Lives, thank you to the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust for choosing to stand with bereaved families and support our work for change.”

Liz Ritche, GwL Co-Founder

GwL was founded by Liz and Charles Ritchie in 2018 following the gambling-related suicide of their son Jack. Since then, GwL has had a significant impact on the public and political narrative around the risks of gambling.

Thanks to the efforts of bereaved families, the clear link between gambling disorder and suicide is now widely recognised, with gambling included in the government’s National Suicide Prevention Strategy for the first time.

The government published its long-awaited white paper on gambling reforms in April 2023, but GwL families continue to advocate for areas left largely unaddressed, including the relentless levels of gambling advertising.

The support from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust will provide GwL with the necessary resources to continue advocating for change to ensure the white paper is delivered in the strongest possible terms, while continuing to challenge harmful gambling industry products, practices and marketing.

Liz Ritchie, GwL Co-Founder and GwL Family Service Trustee, said:

“On behalf of everyone at Gambling with Lives, thank you to the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust for choosing to stand with bereaved families and support our work for change.

“The partnership will help address the urgent need for intervention to address the public health crisis caused by a gambling industry that has so often put profit above people.”

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