We're guided by an independent Board of Trustees.
Trustees are selected based on their expertise to support the commissioning of national prevention, education, treatment and support services to prevent and treat gambling harms.
The Board is chaired by Professor Siân Griffiths CBE.
Siân is public health physician who has played leadership roles at local, regional, and national level in the UK as well as internationally. A former President of the UK Faculty of Public Health, she chaired the Hong Kong government Inquiry into SARS in 2003, experience of which led to active engagement in the UK during the recent Covid pandemic.
She founded the Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) in 2005 and her tenure at CUHK saw the development of multidisciplinary approaches to public health education, close working with government on policy and creation of extensive networks across China, Asia and beyond.
Returning to the UK she has continued to be engaged in providing public health advice to a variety of organizations and has been a Trustee, now Chair, of GambleAware since 2016. She is also currently a Non-Executive Director for Public Health Wales, remaining as Emeritus Professor at CUHK.
Andy is a retired senior professional services partner and chartered accountant with a long-term passion for addressing social issues, including how business and community organisations can collaborate more effectively.
Marina Gibbs brings over 20 years’ experience in operating at Board level in both executive and non-executive roles.
Marina is currently Policy Director within Ofcom’s Networks and Communications Group directing projects across the telecoms and postal sectors. Marina has led a number of regulatory projects, including telecoms market reviews, projects aimed at securing better outcomes for consumers of communications services as well as a strategic review of the future of the universal postal service. More recently Marina has been leading Ofcom’s strategy for combatting telecoms scams.
Prior to joining Ofcom, Marina was Partner with boutique strategy consulting firm Spectrum Strategy Consultants focused on the telecoms, online and media sectors.
Marina has also served as lay non-executive director of the Legal Services Board, the oversight regulator for the legal profession in England and Wales.
Rachel Pearce is Regional Director Commissioning at NHS England South West.
Alongside her NHS career, Rachel maintains a commitment to the non-statutory sector and has been a Trustee for 13 years with charities providing drug and alcohol services and latterly mental health support. This includes serving as Vice Chair of the Gloucestershire-based charity The Independent Trust until 2014.
Paul Simpson is Chief Finance Officer/Deputy Chief Executive of Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust.
Paul is a chartered management accountant (FCMA and CGMA) and has been working as either a Finance Director/Chief Finance Officer or Deputy in NHS trusts since 2002. He joined Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust in December 2007 from Queen Mary's Sidcup NHS Trust, where he was Finance Director and Deputy Chief Executive. From 2002 Paul was Deputy Director of Finance at Berkshire Healthcare NHS Trust, which he supported through its successful foundation trust application in 2006.
Paul’s previous experience has been in central financial oversight and performance management (NHS Regional Office, at the Department of Health HQ and the Benefits Agency), and an eclectic mix of other roles ranging from being an occupations assistant at Broadmoor Special Hospital, to working in private office at the Department of Health in Whitehall.
From 2017 to 2019 Paul was the Chair of the Sussex and East Surrey Sustainability and Transformation Partnership Finance Group. From 2018 he has been a Trustee for GambleAware.
Paul achieved accreditation for SaSH+ Lean for Leaders in 2018 (SASH+ is the Trust’s continuous improvement programme) and in April 2021 he added Estates and Facilities to his span of work at the Trust.
Despite following an entirely unrelated career, Paul has a degree in zoology.
Dr. Koravangattu Valsraj is the Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust.
Before this, he was a Consultant Psychiatrist at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and Senior Clinical Lecturer at Kings College London. He is on the specialist register of the General Medical Council with dual accreditation in Psychiatry of Learning Disability and General Adult Psychiatry with specialty endorsement in Liaison Psychiatry.
Valsraj has substantial experience in clinical leadership roles in different boroughs in London, has provided leadership services for two mental health trusts, and has been part of a senior leadership board for a leading University Hospital in India. He is currently serving as a Trustee at mental health charity Careif and will be instrumental in GambleAware’s efforts to increase access and support for gambling harms amongst minority communities and networks.
Mel has been a Director-General of the Government Legal Department since October 2021 where she is member of the executive team and currently leads the Litigation with Justice and Security Directorate.
She began her legal career as a barrister in Chancery Chambers specialising in property, charity and trusts work. In 1998 she spent a year at the Charity Commission before moving to the Government Legal Department. She has advised a variety of different departments including the Cabinet Office and No 10, the Department for Education, the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Transport.
She became the Legal Director of the Department of Health and Social Care in 2016, leading on the legal work for EU Exit and the Covid-19 response. From November 2020 Mel was Director of Litigation and responsible for leading over 600 people defending litigation brought against the government, with the UK’s largest caseload in the Supreme Court. She has led on some of the leading issues of the day, notably human rights, freedom of information, devolution and equality law.
Mel is a mum of four and is interested in improving the life chances of young people from less advantaged and under-represented backgrounds. She is a Governor of one of the largest Further Education colleges in the UK, Harrow, Richmond and Uxbridge Colleges. She chairs the Advisory Board of the University of Bradford’s School of Law and mentors under-represented students at her alma mater, Durham University. She is also a trustee of the Leadership Centre for Local Government. She was highly commended in the Asian Women of Achievement Awards 2020 and appointed Companion of the Bath in the 2021 New Year’s Honours List.
Sir Alan is a former Lord Justice of Appeal, a Court of Appeal Judge and the former Chairman of Independent Press Standards Organisation.
Unfortunately, this service is for Great Britain residents only. You can find out more about international support here.