An online learning event hosted by Alcohol Change UK
10:00 to 12:20, Tuesday 17 June 2025
There has been a growing recognition in recent years of the similarities between alcohol and gambling issues.
Both behaviours are socially acceptable up to a point, but both have enormous potential for harm. Both industries are using digital technology to expand their reach and make their products more easily available.
Periods of heavy alcohol use and harmful gambling may alternate in a person’s life or co-occur. And when the disinhibiting effects of alcohol are combined with the financial risks of gambling, the consequences can be devastating.
Both gambling and alcohol consumption are less common amongst people experiencing economic disadvantage, but the harms resulting from both are more prevalent in more deprived areas. So, alcohol and gambling are health inequalities issues too.
Join us on 17 June, when we’ll be looking at the complex interface of alcohol and gambling issues, and asking what we can all do to support people who find themselves at that interface.
The speakers will be:
- Jodie McGarry, discussing the double stigma faced by women who are drinking and gambling
- Jamie Torrance (pre-recorded presentation) on the parallels between alcohol and gambling advertising
- Christopher Gilham, telling his own story of alcohol-dependence, gambling harm, neurodivergence and recovery
- Rob Parker and Matt Losing on what alcohol treatment services need to know about gambling