GamCare CEO Anna Hemmings Resigns
Author:
Jacob McKenzie
GamCare CEO Anna Hemmings has announced her departure from the organization after five years at the helm. Under her tenure, the gambling harms charity expanded its network of services and secured significant funding deals. GamCare is now searching for a new permanent CEO. In the interim, Chair of Trustees Margot Daly will lead the organization.
GamCare is the leading provider of support, information and advice for people impacted by gambling harms.
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Daly Named Interim CEO
CEO of GamCare, Anna Hemmings, has revealed that she is stepping down from the role. Hemmings has led the charity for the last five years, but is now looking forward to taking on new challenges. The charity will shortly commence its search for a new CEO to permanently replace Anna.
In the meantime, Margot Daly will step into the executive role. Daly, GamCare’s Chair of Trustees, will work alongside the management team to recruit Hemmings’ successor. Daly took the opportunity to thank Hemmings for all she has achieved for the charity and to wish her well in future endeavors. Daly added:
“Her innovative approach to providing support in the way that people want and need has seen the utilisation of traditional channels and also development of new ?digital services that have? – essentially and firmly ?put GamCare on the map. On behalf of the charity’s board, I would like to thank Anna most sincerely for everything she has achieved to bring GamCare to this point.”
Describing the departing CEO as a champion for those with gambling issues, Daly spoke about the impact that Hemmings has had on the lives of those seeking treatment. Hemmings is leaving GamCare in a stronger position than she found it in five years ago. Thanks to her sincere efforts, more people than ever before are receiving the help they need.
Daly has been with GamCare for nearly eight years. For the first five years, she acted as a Non-Executive Board Director and Trustee, before going on to become Chair of the Board in June 2021. Daly also serves as an inquiry chair at the Competition and Markets Authority and is a Non-Executive Director at the NAAFI, where she chairs its audit and risk committee.
Alongside these roles, Daly act as an ad hoc independent business consultant. Prior to joining GamCare she held top management roles at FTSE listed and private companies. She earned a master’s degree at King’s College London, where she studied competition economics with a focus on blockchain and distributed ledger technologies.
Achievements for GamCare
After graduating from the University of Brighton with a BA in Social Policy, the departing CEO went on to earn an MA in Addictive Behavior at the University of London. Throughout her career, Hemmings has remained committed to ensuring the best outcome for those using health and social care services. Hemmings first joined GamCare in January 2018.
The board has thanked Anna for her hard work and wished her all the best for the future. Announcing her departure, Hemmings described her time at GamCare as “an enormous privilege”. The charity has achieved much under her tenure, helping tens of thousands more people than it did just five years ago. Hemmings stated:
“I feel the time is now right for me to move on and explore pastures new and I can be confident that I’m leaving the organisation well-equipped for a successful future. I’m very proud of both the services and the staff and culture at GamCare, and I would like to thank all my amazing colleagues and the phenomenal network of stakeholders for their dedication and support during my time as CEO.”
In a press release detailing the news of its CEO’s resignation, GamCare outlined the numerous contributions Hemmings has made to the organization during her time as CEO. New and enhanced digital channels have been instated and the charity’s education and support offerings have been significantly diversified.
The role of lived experience within GamCare has also been greatly enhanced. The CEO’s hard work enabled the charity to extend its reach and deliver a greater impact than ever before. Hemmings has secured new funding agreements, including a three-year arrangement to support the charity’s operations as part of GambleAware’s National Gambling Support Network.
Under her tenure, GamCare has successfully expanded its problem gambling treatment support services across a range of community networks, professional services and the HM Prison Service. Hemmings encouraged stakeholders to treat gambling addiction as a psychological disorder in need of specialist treatment, intervention and recognition.
BGC Wishes Hemmings Well
Now that she has navigated GamCare through the pandemic and the release of the Gambling Act Review white paper, Hemmings feels that it is the right time to move on. She leaves the charity in a strong position to move forwards and continue in its mission to offer treatment for those struggling with problem gambling.
Amongst those in the wider industry to praise Hemmings for her excellent leadership at GamCare was BGC Chair, Brigid Simonds OBE. On behalf of the Betting and Gaming Council, which represents the interests of the UK’s casinos, bookmakers and online operators, Simonds offered her thanks to Hemmings. Simonds continued:
“I want to thank Anna Hemmings for her excellent work and stewardship as CEO of GamCare. Her extensive experience of change management was central to GamCare’s expansion of its excellent services beyond the helpline to setting up treatment services across the U.K.”
Before her departure, Hemmings gave evidence on behalf of GamCare to the House of Commons Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport. In May, the charity was invited to appear as part of a small group that convened following the publication of the Gambling Act Review white paper.
GamCare was one of nearly a hundred organizations that submitted written evidence to the committee’s continuing inquiry into gambling regulation. Appearing alongside GambleAware and Gordon Moody, Hemmings made a robust case in favor of the third sector delivering support for 90% of people who seek help for gambling harms.
The inquiry, which is chaired by the Rt Hon Damian Green MP, plays a key role in scrutinizing government policy. Once the inquiry has concluded it will make recommendations that will inform the proposals outlined in the white paper.
