Stacey Goodwin appointed to help EPIC tackle female gambling addiction
Our work to support even more women suffering from gambling harm has been strengthened by the appointment of Stacey Goodwin, author of The Girl Gambler, as the first associate of our official charitable arm, EPIC Restart Foundation.
EPIC is committed to tackling the issues of female gambling addiction and welcoming Stacey on board is a huge step forward to enabling further support for females both within EPIC Restart Foundation and EPIC Risk Management’s awareness and education sessions within targeted high-risk sectors, for example educating young women at school sessions or professional female sports teams.
Stacey will be ensuring that the Foundation’s programmes are fully accessible for women and offer the necessary tools to support more women with life after their gambling addiction.
Since finding recovery from her own lived experience of gambling harm, Stacey has dedicated much of her time to raising awareness of women and gambling and educating others on this devastating addiction; one that does not discriminate, and that anybody is susceptible to.
Talking about her new role and the help she already offers to fellow females who have been gripped by addiction but have struggled to find a listening ear with an understanding of their situation, Stacey explains:
“Having undertaken the EPIC Restart Foundation programme myself, I realise how many other women can benefit from this fantastic programme. I really hope that I can pass on what I’ve learned and help other recovering females to put everything back into place after gambling harm.
“When I was gambling, I looked for another woman who had been through this; another woman who understood, who I could’ve messaged to talk to, or even a celebrity whose story I could have read. I never found that!
“Everything I’m doing now is to put that in place. There is someone for women to talk to and importantly, someone who won’t judge and understands from a female perspective. I’m ensuring others have what I felt I didn’t, and really needed, during addiction.”
Stacey is otherwise known as The Girl Gambler on social platforms, where she has been sharing her personal lived experience story bravely, openly, and honestly in the hope of supporting others who may otherwise be suffering in silence. Commenting on her social presence, Stacey adds:
“I mainly use TikTok and Facebook to get my message out there to tell women they aren’t alone! It was lockdown that drove me to share my story because I had a genuine concern that a) I’d be trapped in the house and could turn back to gambling and b) how many other women were going to feel this same way?
“I thought a lot about how to share my message and TikTok was so popular at this time. My TikTok has grown and proven to help so, so many people in letting them know that other women go through this. I never believed my videos would gain as much engagement as they do!”
Though after the release of latest figures via Gamble Aware on female gambling addiction, it’s evident that so many women are facing similar struggles and reflecting on this, Stacey says she wasn’t in the slightest surprised by the concerning statistics shared:
“I speak to hundreds and hundreds of women who are going through the same thing. My average message count amongst the platforms I use is between 60 and 100 most days. I do my best to speak to all these people.
“This is where I’ve realised just how much of a problem this is. Even I didn’t expect this number of women to come forward, to express they’re struggling, and are in the same situation. It is huge, the number of women I have spoken to!”
Speaking of Stacey’s appointment with the Foundation, CEO of EPIC Risk Management, Paul Buck, adds:
“It’s fantastic to have someone else on board with the EPIC Restart Foundation who is authentic and genuinely wants to help and support people.
“It’s very important to have more women involved in the programme as this isn’t just a male addiction!”
Pictured above: Stacey (2nd right) and fellow EPIC Restart Foundation colleagues Mark Pickering (left) and Steve Ramsey (right) on a recent visit to their close associates, Gordon Moody.
