Stacey Goodwin, from Derbyshire, was just 18 when she placed her first bet. She’d taken a job at a bookmaker so she had what seemed like unlimited access, and the small wagers felt like a bit of harmless fun. “But my quick visits soon turned into hours and hours of gambling,” the now 32-year-old shares. “I would travel to different bookies where people didn’t know me, and when it became too difficult to hide, I moved my secret habit online.

By 26, Goodwin had come to terms with the fact that she was one of the 1.3 million UK adults experiencing gambling harms, a figure that is increasing at a worrying rate. “Before I knew it, my gambling spiralled out of control,” she recalls. “On payday, I’d sit on the toilet, alone and in the dark, waiting for midnight. The money would come into my account, and within a matter of hours, every penny would be gone. Deep down, I knew I had a problem, but as a young woman, I’d never seen or heard anyone like me go through something like this. I silenced myself from speaking about my gambling as I knew it would bring me and those around me so much shame.”

Government figures suggest that more women are gambling now than ever before, with a new campaign from GambleAware highlighting that “anyone could be at risk of harm” from gambling, including children.

More women are gambling now than ever before, as new report warns “anyone could be at risk of harm”