The Prevention Project

Aim

Help us deliver free gambling-harm prevention workshops to young people in the South West, with free follow up 1-to-1 recovery support.

What if we reached somebody before they ever got there?

The Prevention Project was created from my own experience of gambling harm.

My gambling started when I was young. What initially felt exciting, social and harmless gradually became something I couldn't control. Over time, it contributed to more than £100,000 of debt, damaged relationships, lost opportunities and a significant decline in my mental health.

I chased losses. I hid what was happening. I made promises to stop and then went back.

I know what gambling harm looks like because I've lived it.

That's why we're raising £15,000 to deliver free gambling-harm prevention and recovery support across the South West.

Prevention before harm

For young people today, gambling sits alongside gaming, loot boxes, in-game purchases, social media, influencers, sport, advertising and technology.

Our workshops are honest, interactive and age-appropriate. We explore gambling, gaming, online spending, advertising, risk, decision-making, betting and the warning signs of harm.

Because our work is led by lived experience, young people aren't just hearing statistics. They're hearing what gambling actually looked like for someone who lived through it — how it started, how it progressed and what I wish somebody had told me earlier.

We know there is a need

Since launching The Prevention Project, we've received more than 80 enquiries and messages from people looking for help, support or information around gambling harm.

We've also spoken to schools and organisations that recognise the importance of prevention but simply don't have the budget to bring specialist support in.

We've heard:

“We'd love to bring you in, but we just don't have the budget.”

We don't believe a school's budget should determine whether a young person gets an important conversation about gambling harm.

What we're raising £15,000 to do

We're raising £15,000 to deliver a 12-month programme of free prevention and recovery support across the South West.

A typical workshop day consists of three one-hour sessions, with up to 35 students in each — meaning £399 can deliver a full day reaching up to 105 young people.

We also provide free one-to-one gambling recovery support, costing £40 per hour to deliver.

This gives us a simple pathway:

PREVENT → RECOGNISE → GET SUPPORT → RECOVER

What your donation can help deliver

£40 — one hour of one-to-one recovery support

£400 — one full day of prevention workshops, reaching up to 105 students

£1,200 — three workshop days, potentially reaching up to 315 students

£4,000— 10-15 workshop days, potentially reaching up to 1,2000 students

Every donation helps us deliver more prevention and support more people.

Building recovery across the South West

We've recently appointed a Head of Recovery in Bideford as we begin building our recovery work and addressing the lack of accessible gambling-harm support across the South West.

We believe prevention and recovery need to work together. Someone might first hear about gambling harm through one of our workshops, while someone else may already be struggling and need somewhere to turn.

We want that route to support to exist.

Why I'm doing this

Gambling harm can be incredibly hidden. Someone can look completely fine while struggling with debt, secrecy, relationships, anxiety, shame or loss of control.

I know because I've been there.

I can't change what happened to me or get back the money, opportunities and relationships gambling took from me.

But I can use what happened to me to make sure somebody else gets the conversation earlier.

We don't want to wait until somebody reaches crisis point before we have the conversation. We want to have it first.

Help us make prevention happen before harm

£15,000 will help us deliver a year of free prevention and recovery support across the South West.

Whether you give £10, £20, £30 or more, you're helping us get closer to another workshop, another conversation and another person hearing something that could change the direction of their story.

I can't change what happened to me.

But together, we might be able to change what happens to somebody else.

What if we reached somebody before they ever got there?

Please help us make prevention happen before harm.

Funding method

All or nothing – this project will only receive pledges if it reaches its target of £15,000 by 5th November 2026 at 11:04am