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After Losing Wedding Gifts to Gambling, Elissa Hubbard Now Supports Women Across Wales

She is campaigning to remove gambling machines from public venues to protect children and vulnerable people.

Overview

  • Her gambling began in childhood on pub fruit machines and later escalated into compulsive online casino use.
  • At its worst she lost about £40,000 a year, relied on payday loans and hid the problem from loved ones.
  • On her wedding night in Cyprus she gambled away all the cash gifts, leading to the loss of her marriage, home, job and relationships.
  • After a family referral she entered Adferiad’s Parkland Place rehab, later relapsed into alcohol and prescription drugs, then re-engaged with Parkland Place and North Wales Recovery Communities.
  • Now based in Rhyl, she has supported Parkland Place residents for about three years and serves as Adferiad’s Welsh women’s gambling coordinator.