My name is Nick Phillips and I had over 20 years where I was addicted to gambling. Football played a prominent part in that addiction. I do not want my kids or anyone else's kids to fall fowl to this illness. For that to happen football clubs need to take more responsibility in what they advertise to their fans and as a family based club Swansea City need to be proactive in not advertising harmful addictive products. There are an estimated 409 deaths related to gambling a year and a YouGov study from this year shows that 2.9 million people are either addicted or at risk of becoming addicted, with a further 3.3 million classified as "affected others". These stark figures show that harm is not an issue affecting a small minority, but is severely harming- sometimes killing many. To prevent any young fan from experiencing what I have gone through and what many others have, I'm urging Swansea City FC to cancel all gambling partnerships, say no to any new offers, and back The Big Step campaign.

I Ian R suffered severe losses that spanned over a period of time gambling on football matches while watching my club play on a week to week basis. The harm it did to my mental health above all else and also my family who suffered throughout this time I can never be replaced. The constant reminders when seeing football matches with gambling ads around stadiums and also clubs who take money from gambling companies keeps me away from watching football live now. There are 409 deaths related to gambling every year in England alone and a Yougov study from this year shows that 2.9million are either already addicted or at risk of being so with a further 3.3million classified as affected others. These stark figures show that we already know gambling harm is not an issue affecting just a small minority. It is severely harming, sometimes killing-many. To prevent any young fan from experiencing what myself and so many others did, I'm urging Birmingham City F.C to cancel all gambling partnerships, say NO to any new offers and back The Big Step campaign.

Cuts to the 155 bus timetable mean that the earliest service arrives in Chatham too late to be of use to morning commuters and school pupils while the last service leaves for Borstal too early in the afternoon to take them home. In its current form the timetable is likely to further discourage bus use at a time when the environmental need has never been greater and the cost of living for working people is rocketing. Our local economy depends on people being able to get to and from work on public transport. These simple changes to the timetable would not restore bus frequency to previous levels but would at least allow commuters to once again rely on the 155 route to use public transport to get to and from work and school.

My cousin killed himself over gambling debts at the age of 27. He was a big football fan so was bombarded with adverts for gambling while he was trying to stop. I don't want this to happen to anyone else so I volunteer with The Big Step and Gambling with Lives, a charity set up by the bereaved families of those who have killed themselves due to a gambling addiction. The charities are working to highlight to the Government, the harm that the rise of front of shirt sponsorship is causing and the damage that seeing such advertisements will do, especially to young kids as there are already 55,000 children identified as having a gambling addiction in the UK. Front of shirt sponsorship will only make this worse. There are 409 deaths related to gambling every year in England alone and a YouGov study from this year shows that 2.9 million people are either already addicted or at risk of being so, with a further 3.3 million classified as “affected others”. These stark figures show what we already know: gambling harm is not an issue affecting just a small minority, it is severely harming – sometimes killing – many. To prevent any young fan from experiencing what my cousin and so many others did, I'm urging Manchester City FC to cancel all gambling partnerships, say no to any new offers, and back The Big Step campaign.

My son Ryan was 27 when he took his own life after becoming addicted to gambling. He loved Liverpool FC, but his club and the game he worshipped let him down by constantly telling him to do the thing that would lead to his death. Weeks before Ryan died, he told a fellow gambler that he found stopping so difficult because of the advertising. With 409 deaths related to gambling every year in England alone, football must stop promoting dangerous and addictive products to millions each week – a recent study found that up to 700 gambling adverts can appear during a single televised Premier League match. A YouGov study from this year showing that 2.9 million people are either already addicted or at risk of being so, with a further 3.3 million classified as “affected others”. These stark figures show what we already know: gambling harm is not an issue affecting just a small minority, it is severely harming – sometimes killing – many. I want the club my son loved, Liverpool FC, to cancel all existing partnerships with gambling companies, to reject future partnerships, and to back The Big Step campaign to end all gambling advertising in football so no family has to go through what mine has.

I'm Calvin a compulsive gambler in recovery. I started gambling a few pounds a week on football pools when I was 19. At first it wasn't an issue, and was just a bit of fun. However, in my early 20's I started gambling online to the point of being completely out of control. Every Friday was payday, and I would wake up in the early hours knowing my wages had hit the bank and gambled the majority of my wages away. Even if I won a substantial amount of money I would just keep going until I lost everything. I racked up £1000s of debt due to my gambling, and my mental health really suffered. I would often just look in the mirror and scream at myself, but still I just continued in the cycle of self destruction. My gambling addiction had a massive impact on my family, relationships and also my love for football as I started to become more interested in gambling rather than enjoying the beautiful game that millions of people love. Gambling advertising and sponsorship is rife in football, the rise in gambling advertisement around football stadiums is shocking. There are 409 deaths related to gambling every year in England alone and a YouGov study from this year shows that 2.9 million people are either already addicted or at risk of being so, with a further 3.3 million classified as “affected others”. These stark figures show what we already know: gambling harm is not an issue affecting just a small minority, it is severely harming – sometimes killing – many. To prevent any young fan from experiencing what I and so many others did, I'm urging Arsenal FC to cancel all gambling partnerships, say no to any new offers, and back The Big Step campaign. The Big Step is a campaign to end all gambling advertising and sponsorship in football, led by people harmed by gambling. We are part of Gambling with Lives, a charity set up by the families and friends of young people who have taken their own lives as a direct result of gambling.

My name is Joe, I am in recovery from a Gambling Addiction, and ever since my first game at Roker Park in 1995 I have been obsessed with football and in particular Sunderland Association Football Club. I ended up being correctly imprisoned for nearly 5 years after committing fraud to the value of around three quarters of a million pounds which I used to fund my gambling addiction. I am now approaching 6 years into my recovery from Gambling, attending Gambling Anonymous meetings weekly. I am passionate about my recovery and take it seriously for both myself and my loved ones. As part of the many stringent barriers to prevent any risk of relapse, I have not been back to the Stadium of Light since June 2017. On 26th April 2022 I was rather proud to write to what I still considered, my club, as I was led to believe that at the moment, due to my family still attending games, there is next to no promotion of Gambling apart from the obvious Sky Bet mentions due to the league sponsorship which is out of the club’s hands. My letter was to introduce to the club a campaign, close to my heart called, The Big Step. Their campaign is to end all gambling advertising and sponsorship in football, led by people harmed by gambling. They are part of Gambling with Lives, a charity set up by the families and friends of young people who have taken their own lives as a direct result of gambling. Sunderland A.F.C also have a recent past with the Gambling Industry, the club was made been aware of the potential harm gambling can cause to their supporters, both young and old. Following the club’s sponsorship with Dafabet (2015-2019), they were set to be replaced with BetDaq in 2019. However, GVC, who owned BetDaq pulled out of all their existing shirt sponsorship deals as part of their ‘Changing for the Bettor’ initiative as they stated they were dedicated to tackling harm caused by gambling. GVC committed to unilaterally ending all football shirt sponsorship deals with UK teams and banning perimeter board advertising at football grounds, to allow sporting fans to watch their favourite teams without seeing any incentives to bet. Next door to the Beacon of Light is now the home for the NHS Northern Gambling Service which has opened a new clinic in the Northeast which will see and treat more of the thousands of people across the north of England suffering with gambling addiction. On 29th June 2022, still having heard nothing from my club, it was announced that their new shirt sponsor was to be Spread-Ex. At this current time, I can never see myself ever returning to the Stadium of Light and have never felt as distant from the club I truly loved.

In April 2021, my husband Luke Ashton took his life because of gambling. The gambling operators didn’t stop him, instead they gave Luke so-called “free bet” bonuses so that he would gamble more, even when he was trying to stop. Apart from his family, Leicester City FC was Luke’s biggest passion. So it is beyond saddening that LCFC has the most gambling partners of any English club. What example does this set to young Foxes fans and the tens of thousands of people harmed by gambling in our community – including people whose lives have been shattered after losing loved ones to gambling? How do LCFC’s gambling partnerships, coupled with the broad range of undisputable evidence that shows gambling is addictive and harmful – leading to 409 suicides a year in England alone – fit with the club’s safeguarding policy to protect its staff and young supporters? After Luke died, I made a vow to take our son to every Leicester City home game. We had kept to that, but soon he no longer wanted to go. He asked me why they had the word “bet” and other gambling adverts flashing incessantly around the pitch? His eyes are drawn to them, they are inescapable, and he sinks into his seat when he sees them. What do you say to a child that loves football but has lost his dad to the very thing that’s being advertised as fun around his club’s stadium? To prevent any other families from going through what we’ve gone through, I’m asking Leicester City FC to commit to ending its relationships with all its gambling partners, to say no to any new partners, and to back The Big Step campaign.

My son Philip was 29 when he took his own life in 2017 after becoming addicted to gambling. Philip was a huge football fan – Manchester United is our family team and he loved them. Like many of his friends, Philip started out by gambling on football but then using started fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) and online casino games as his addiction worsened. Football started Philip’s addiction – it was his ‘in and sold him the idea that gambling was a safe activity. One study recently found that 700 gambling adverts can appear during a single televised Premier League game. The game my son loved told him that gambling was safe and fun, but it didn’t tell him about any of the risks – about the high suicide risk or how dangerous certain gambling products are. Public Health England estimates there are 409 suicides linked to gambling each year in England alone, with a study finding that people suffering from gambling disorder are 15 times more likely to take their lives. There are up to 1.4 million people addicted to gambling in the UK and football must stop selling the idea gambling is safe.

My beautiful daughter Kimberly Rebecca Wadsworth took her life on 5th June 2018 at 32 years of age, after struggling with gambling addiction. Kimberly’s addiction came rapidly, she was given “VIP” status by a gambling firm and was groomed and given “free bet” bonuses and similar promotional offers to keep her gambling, even when she was clearly losing large, unsustainable amounts of money. Kimberly was born and grew up in Leeds and was a United supporter, and went to games at Elland Road. Every time she watched Leeds play she would have been encouraged to do the thing that was destroying her life. I was recently grateful to meet with the club to share Kimberly's story. I know they do great work in the community, but they must also make a stand against harmful gambling advertising. There are 409 gambling-related suicides every year, and each death is one too many. Gambling needs to stop being advertised on TV, on football shirts and around the grounds. These highly addictive products must also be regulated properly to stop people from dying like my daughter did. Support this campaign for your children's sake, for your grandchildren, and our future generations, because with highly addictive products and predatory marketing, addiction can happen to anyone. The only messaging we see is that gambling is “FUN” and other subliminal messaging that normalises it where the reality is that gambling kills every day.

My son lost his best friend, Jack, to suicide caused by gambling addiction. There are 409 deaths related to gambling every year in England alone and a YouGov study from this year shows that 2.9 million people are either already addicted or at risk of being so, with a further 3.3 million classified as “affected others”. These stark figures show what we already know: gambling harm is not an issue affecting just a small minority, it is severely harming – sometimes killing – many. To prevent any young fan from experiencing what Jack and so many others did, I'm urging Derby Country FC to cancel all gambling partnerships, say no to any new offers, and back The Big Step campaign.

My husband had a lifelong addiction to gambling, which was spurred on by his love for football - especially Southampton FC. He passed away nearly 10 years ago now and I miss him every day, but memories of the harm caused by gambling have stayed with me. Every time I see a gambling advert in football it is a painful reminder of what this addiction stole from us. He supported Southampton all of his life and in his memory, I am urging his club to get rid of all gambling partnerships - especially on their shirt. I know the devastation caused by gambling and advertising played a huge role. There were many times he was trying to stop and would be lured back in by them. They need to be banned. There are 409 deaths related to gambling every year in England alone. A YouGov study from this year shows that 2.9 million people are either already addicted or at risk of being so, with a further 3.3 million classified as “affected others”. These stark figures show what we already know: gambling harm is not an issue affecting just a small minority, it is severely harming – sometimes killing – many. To prevent any young fan from experiencing what my husband and so many others did, I'm urging Southampton to cancel all gambling partnerships, say no to any new offers, and back The Big Step campaign.