The Addiction You Can Hide In Plain Sight

Send us Fan MailGambling harm can look like nothing more than “a flutter” right up until it has swallowed someone’s work, relationships, confidence and mental health. I’m joined by Matt Smith, Director of External Affairs at Betknowmore UK, who speaks with rare honesty about his own recovery and why gambling addiction is so easy to hide even from yourself. We get into what harm actually means in day-to-day life: the shame that drives isolation, the cognitive dissonance that makes everything feel manageable when it is not, and the gaps that can appear when professionals do not yet have the right awareness or pathways. Matt also explains why gambling harm affects people from every background, and why “affected others” such as parents, partners and friends often carry serious distress in silence too. Matt breaks down how Betknowmore UK approaches gambling harms support as a public health issue, working with local authorities, NHS England and Public Health Scotland, and building community-based services that meet people where they already are. We talk prevention through accredited training, peer support through Peer Aid, women-only support via New Beginnings, and outreach like Goals that brings brief interventions into everyday community settings. We also explore the practical realities that sit underneath recovery, including debt, money taboo, and housing stability as a foundation for rebuilding life. If you find this conversation useful, please subscribe, share the episode with someone who might need it, and leave a review so more people can find practical, stigma-free gambling harm support and recovery stories.Contact Betknowmore UK: https://www.betknowmoreuk.org/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/betknowmore-uk/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betknowmoreuk/Welcome to Make Impact Podcast, where we dive deep into the stories, strategies, and solutions that drive real change. I'm Heidi Fisher and I work with organisations on a mission to tackle poverty, reduce health inequalities, and create lasting social impact. In each episode, I bring you inspiring conversations with change makers, social entrepreneurs, and thought leaders who are making a difference.  Thank you for joining us on this episode of the Make an Impact podcast. I hope you found today's conversation as inspiring and thought provoking as I did. If you enjoyed the episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with others who want to create positive change. You can connect with me on LinkedIn and learn more about my work at Makeanimpactcic.co.uk.Until next time, let's keep making an impact in the world.Support the showHi, I'm Heidi Fisher, the host of the Make an Impact Podcast.  I'm an impact measurement expert, passionate about helping you make a bigger impact in the world by maximising the impact your services have. I can help you to measure, manage and communicate the impact you have better to funders, investors, commissioners and other stakeholders, and to systemise your data collection and analysis so that it frees up time and doesn't become an additional burden.  I love helping you to measure social and economic impacts, including Social Return on Investment or value for money assessments, as part of understanding the change you make to peoples' lives. You can get in touch via LinkedIn or the website makeanimpactcic.co.uk if you'd like to find out more about working with me.