Humans of Scotland is the ALLIANCE’s story sharing project that puts a spotlight on lived experience. The aim is to provide a snapshot into the lives of our members through sharing stories from disabled people, people living with long term conditions, unpaid carers and staff working in health and social care support and services. Our ambition is to give a platform to people who are marginalised, whose voices are seldom heard, and to try and raise awareness of their experiences whilst informing our policy work at the ALLIANCE.

We have published three story collection books. The first in the series shares powerful and thought provoking short stories, giving an insight into the challenges faced, and battles won, by people living with long term conditions. It also shines a light on unpaid carers and the people working in health and social care services.

The second book is a collection of stories from disabled people, people living with long term conditions and unpaid carers across Scotland, highlighting the realities they faced in the first few months of the Covid-19 pandemic. We also captured stories from staff working in the NHS in Scotland and in the country’s health and social care third sector This book creates a permanent record of life during COVID-19.

The latest book, H is for Human, has been published in partnership with the Peer Support Scotland project at Terrence Higgins Trust. It is a special edition, sharing a diverse range of perspectives on HIV, from people across Scotland living with the virus and health professionals who have worked with those effected.

You can access all the Humans of Scotland books below.

The Scotland Reducing Gambling Harm programme’s activities are best documented in our reports. By browsing the resources below you can find out about our roundtable events, each focused on a gambling-related topic that our lived experience forum found high priority, for example the interconnectedness of mental health and gambling harm.

Other reports highlight our partnership work in Scotland, applying a specific lens on gambling harm, be it place-based (Glasgow), or demographic (young people’s views on gambling).

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The Scotland Reducing Gambling Harm programme puts the voice of people affected by gambling at the heart of action to reduce those harms. This work involves making our voices heard when government bodies ask for evidence and opinions on questions related to gambling. The programme is active in the Gambling Related Harms Working Group, established by Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland.

Following the publication of the Gambling Act Review White Paper in April 2023, the way gambling is regulated in the UK will change. Our team has been committed to take an active part in this process and highlight crucial priorities for Scotland through consultations that further investigate certain elements of the White Paper’s proposal.

Our consultation responses make the position of the ALLIANCE clear on certain issues such as minimum stake limits or the statutory gambling operator levy and are always grounded in the opinions of the Scottish Gambling Harm Lived Experience Forum. Have a look at our recent responses below.

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The forum sits within the ALLIANCE’s Scotland Reducing Gambling Harm programme,  which aims to put the voice of people affected by gambling harms at the heart of action to reduce those harms.  

‘Gambling harms’ describe a wide range of diverse negative impacts from gambling on the health and wellbeing of individuals, families, communities and society. We believe that people’s voices, expertise, and rights should drive policy and the design, delivery and improvement of support and services. We work together for gambling harm to be recognised in Scotland’s public health framework.  

If you’re interested in joining the Forum or know someone who might be, follow the sign-up instructions or share our flyer (downloadable at the bottom of this page) within your circles.

What are gambling harms?

Gambling-related harms are harms caused by gambling. This includes financial, employment, and relationship issues, physical and mental health problems, criminal activity, and in the most severe cases suicide as a direct result of gambling harm.    

People can experience gambling harm to different degrees, and we are interested in speaking to anyone who feels they have experienced harm as result of their own, or a loved one’s gambling.  

Our work  

The Forum helps to identify key areas of importance in reducing gambling harms in Scotland and provide their expertise to contribute to meaningful change. Forum members commit to attending regular, evening meetings every six weeks for one hour and a half. They have opportunities to shape action to reduce gambling harm in Scotland, as well as network and build relationships with others.  

Previous activities include: 

• planning and attending events like roundtable discussions with invited experts 
• responding to consultations on gambling regulation by the Government 
• Members sharing their stories: see the ‘Humans of Scotland – Gambling Harm’ edition 
• Publishing reports on specific priorities such as the ‘Mental Health and Gambling Harm’ report  

Our X page @ScotRGH is regularly updated with work the forum is involved in.  

“People don’t understand it. Mental health and addiction go hand in hand.  It should be a public health issue. It should be about protecting our children and grandchildren. It should stop seeing the broken as people with ‘illness’ but recognise the cause of this misery as resting with the unregulated supply of addictive products.” 

Person with experience of gambling harm

Lived experience work at the ALLIANCE

The Forum aligns with an organisation-wide commitment to champion lived experience. Discover the range of programmes that involve and promote people with lived experience, or explore ALLIANCE’s Knowledge Hub, a library of resources and guides that can help organisations to work with people with lived experience meaningfully.

Getting involved  

The Forum is open to new members wishing to join. If you have questions or would like to get involved with this programme, please email gamblingharm@alliance-scotland.org.uk or call 0141 404 0231. 

Additionally, you can fill out our sign-up survey: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/gamblingharmforum/

We also welcome individual participation in the Lived Experience Forum (not full membership). Interested individuals should get in touch to discuss how they could contribute and what level of engagement they would be comfortable with. 

Past work 

Some of the Forum’s work has been highlighted at the bottom of this page. This includes our publication ‘People with lived experience share their stories of gambling harm’ as part of the Humans of Scotland series. See also the programme’s policy work and consultation responses and the ScotRGH reports.

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