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M-PACT

Supporting your family to recover from the harms caused by gambling.

Who is it for?

M-PACT stands for ‘Moving Parents and Children Together and is a whole family programme for children aged 8 years and over and their adult family members to talk about gambling related harms in a friendly, open and safe environment.

Who can attend M-PACT?

  • Children aged between 8 and 17 years old.
  • Any adult family member affected by someone else’s harmful gambling: e.g. partner/parent, stepparents, kinship carers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, other close members of the family.
  • An adult family member in recovery from harmful gambling.
  • Following assessment and whole family agreement, we can also support the family member who is gambling to attend.

How does M-PACT work?

Up to 8 families at a time can participate in an M-PACT Gambling programme delivered once-a-week for 8 weeks. Following that, families have an individual review session and a group reunion with fun activities. Each session lasts for approximately two-and-a-half to three hours. They are held after school and work hours.

Why use M-PACT?

The main benefits are:

  • Getting support for your whole family
  • Open and honest discussions about gambling and the impact it has had on your family, supported by trained staff in a safe environment.
  • Improved understanding of gambling and the harms caused
  • Improved family communication
  • Development of healthy coping strategies
  • Meeting others with shared experiences, building a community of support around you

M-PACT is designed to bring back family unity and togetherness. We understand gambling addiction can be consuming for anyone suffering and the family members around that person can be caught in the ripple effect of addiction and may need support themselves.

Results show that families gain a better understanding of gambling related harms, talk positively and more openly with each other and feel a better sense of connection within the family unit.

Contact Us

If you’re interested in referring yourself to the M-PACT programme please contact:

FAQ

“I am worried about travel and getting to the venue.”

We can support the cost of your travel arrangements and help you to find the venue. You can also visit the venue before it starts so you are familiar with the
environment.

“3 hrs per week sounds like a lot, I’m not sure we can commit to this…”

We believe that the commitment is worth it. Getting support as a whole family increases the chances of recovery for everyone. We will provide a family meal at every session, so you don’t have to worry about juggling the normal routine that evening.

“My children don’t know that it is harmful gambling affecting our family and I’m worried about telling them.”

We can provide six 1:1 support sessions for your family before attending the programme. As part of this we can support you to have open discussions with your children about harmful gambling and why attending the programme could help.

“I am nervous about meeting other families and sharing our experiences.”

We understand that meeting new people can be difficult sometimes for lots of reasons. However, we also know that hearing from others with similar experiences, meeting other families who understand what you are going through and getting support for yourself and your children can really help. We will support you to only share what you feel safe and comfortable sharing.

Read our news story

A new pilot programme is being launched to support families across Merseyside affected by gambling addiction. The programme, called M-PACT Gambling, is being run by charity The Forward Trust with funding from GambleAware.

Read full story
Break the cycle of gambling addiction

Support for families affected by a loved one’s addiction

We know that gambling-related harms affect all members of the family unit; the individual whose gambling addiction feels out of control but also their wider family including their partner, children and parents. This programme takes an empathetic approach and works with the whole family to gain a better understanding of gambling triggers and the associated issues caused by gambling (debt, financial pressures and threat of homelessness). Above all, we work to ensure that support is part of a package of support that can deliver real, last change.

In the past, his addiction had consumed the whole family. It wasn’t just his disease; it was a family disease. I used to think ‘if only he wasn’t using drugs, we’d be happy.’ But we’ve learned that we’re separate. We stepped into our own recovery, and always must make sure our recovery comes first. We’ve found our happiness, our safe place. We’ve healed, which has brought about a healing in him as well.

MPACT case study