GambleAware appoints new CEO

London, 14 January 2021: GambleAware is pleased to announce that following its recent competitive recruitment process, Zoë Osmond will be replacing Marc Etches as the charity’s new Chief Executive as of end of March 2021.

Zoë Osmond brings a wealth of knowledge to the role, having been Communications and Engagement Director at GambleAware for the past two years. She also has a strong track record of driving business growth across the charity and business world, having previously held CEO, Managing Partner and Global Business Director roles.

Since 2018, Zoë Osmond has been leading the delivery of GambleAware’s multi-million pound Safer Gambling and treatment campaigns and has worked with stakeholders across public health, government, media, academia and the industry to ensure campaign success. Through this work, and the delivery of a comprehensive review of the charity’s strategic positioning and communications agenda in 2019, which helped to inform the direction of GambleAware, Zoë Osmond has developed a clear understanding of the opportunities and challenges the charity and sector faces.

Prior to starting with GambleAware, Zoë Osmond held the role of Chief Executive for the National Advertising Benevolent Society (NABS), a national charity that supports people working in the media and advertising industry. While working with NABS, Zoë Osmond led the transformation of the charity, by developing and commissioning new support services, and putting NABS on a secure financial footing.
Commenting on Zoë Osmond’s appointment to the role, Kate Lampard CBE, Chair of GambleAware, said: “In the past two and a half years that I and trustees have worked with Zoë, she has demonstrated to us that she fits the criteria we are looking for perfectly. Her knowledge and experience of GambleAware means she can hit the ground running, something that is of particular importance when starting a leadership role during a pandemic.

“Her background as a charity leader and experience of driving business transformation shows that she understands what it takes to lead a major organisation working with a complex stakeholder group that requires a confident, consultative and collaborative approach. Her ability to work with a wide range of subject matter experts and her experience of transforming a charity, building businesses, and leading change will be instrumental in taking GambleAware to the next stage in its development.”

Zoë Osmond also commented: “GambleAware is at an exciting moment in its history, and over the past ten years, Marc Etches has done a phenomenal job in leading the charity to this point. It is a critical time for the gambling sector and the recent pledge of up to £100 million from the gambling industry means this is a significant time to shape and drive forward GambleAware’s vital work and develop its own expertise. I am excited by the prospect of transformation and the opportunities now available to GambleAware to work with other organisations to prevent gambling harm and I look forward to taking on the challenge.”

About GambleAware

• GambleAware published an updated briefing note, which can be viewed online: https://about.gambleaware.org/media/2304/briefing-note-november-2020.pdf

•  GambleAware is an independent charity (Charity No. England & Wales 1093910, Scotland SC049433) that champions a public health approach to preventing gambling harms – see http://about.gambleaware.org/

• GambleAware is a commissioner of integrated prevention, education and treatment services on a national scale, with over £40 million of grant funding under active management. In partnership with gambling treatment providers, GambleAware has spent several years methodically building structures for commissioning a coherent system of brief intervention and treatment services, with clearly defined care pathways and established referral routes to and from the NHS – a National Gambling Treatment Service.

• The National Gambling Treatment Service brings together a National Gambling Helpline and a network of locally-based providers across Great Britain that works with partner agencies and people with lived experience to design and deliver a system, which meets the needs of individuals. This system delivers a range of treatment services, including brief intervention, counselling (delivered either face-to-face or online), residential programmes and psychiatrist-led care.

• In the 12 months to 31 March 2019, the National Gambling Treatment Service treated 9,008 people and this is projected to rise to 24,000 people a year by 2021. The Helpline received about 39,000 calls and on-line chats per annum. GambleAware also runs the website BeGambleAware.org which had 7.7million page views and signposts people to a range of support services.

• GambleAware produces public health campaigns including Bet Regret. A Safer Gambling Board, including representatives from Public Health England, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and GambleAware, is responsible for the design and delivery of a campaign based on best practice in public health education. The Bet Regret campaign is being funded through specific, additional donations to the charity, in line with a commitment given to the government by the broadcasting, advertising and gambling industries. See:

https://about.gambleaware.org/prevention/safer-gambling-campaign/.