Gambling harms prevention charity hires senior health professionals to top roles
26 August 2021 by Stephen Delahunty
A gambling harms prevention charity has made a number of senior hires as part of a restructure that aims to expand its capacity to deliver a public health approach to its work.
GambleAware said the appointments were needed to help meet the objectives laid out in its new five-year strategy, which includes increased investments based on a public health approach, underpinned by three tiers of harm prevention: universal, selective, and indicated.
The charity said this was made possible as a result of longer-term financial commitments from the gambling industry, which have enabled the charity to focus not only on grant-making and procurement of services but on investment in preventing gambling harms for the longer term.
New chief commissioning officer Anna Hargrave has worked in NHS commissioning for 13 years, and brings "hands-on experience" with government at a national level that the charity said will help expand its National Gambling Treatment Service.
The service includes a helpline and a range of other treatments, including brief intervention, counselling and psychiatrist-led care.
Additionally, Alexia Clifford has left her role as marketing director at Public Health England, where she led on a number of public health campaigns, to become GambleAware's chief communications officer.
The charity made several other senior hires in areas such as research and fundraising, as well as appointing a chief operations officer, but said it will announce the new COO at a later date.
Zoë Osmond, GambleAware's chief executive, said: "We are very pleased to welcome our new senior leaders, each of whom bring with them invaluable skills and knowledge in areas integral to the successful delivery of our new five-year organisational strategy.
"We are working hard to drive forward GambleAware's new programme of work which demonstrates leadership in establishing, developing, and maintaining a co-ordinated network of services, including the expansion of the National Gambling Treatment Service."
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