The Lived Experience Access Fund (LEAF) is a unique funding programme that supports people with lived/living experience of gambling harm, enabling active participation in research, training, conference travel, and other related capacity-building opportunities.
The Lived Experience Access Fund (LEAF) was founded by the Academic Forum for the Study of Gambling and Greo Evidence Insights alongside individuals with lived experience of gambling harm. Launched in 2023, LEAF’s objective is to enable, assist, and build capacity among people with lived/living experience of gambling harm by providing the resources and support needed to actively contribute to gambling harm research initiatives.
LEAF is administered by KCL and GamLEARN.
The Lived Experience Access Fund (LEAF) allocates funds to cover the cost of research upskilling and development opportunities, such as courses, seminars, and e-learning.
We also seek to eliminate access barriers, including expenses such as event registration, travel, accommodation, and other related costs.
The Lived Experience Access Fund (LEAF) prioritises opportunities that are unique in their ability to enhance research involvement.
To be eligible for the LEAF applicants must:
- Have lived/living experience of gambling harm themselves or as an affected other.
- Be ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom.
- Show that the project/opportunity enhances the applicant’s knowledge, skills, and capacity in gambling harm reduction.
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Applications are limited to a maximum of £2000 per individual, per annum. An individual may submit a maximum of two (successful) applications in any 12-month period, not totalling more than £2000.
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Applications under £500 will be reviewed by members of a lived experience expert panel. Applications over £500 will be additionally reviewed by an additional member of the LEAF administrative team.
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For guidance on the maximum allowable for hotels / per diems etc, please see this web page from GOV.UK.
- Applicants must not be a current employee or currently hold a consultant role (1) for the gambling industry (2) at the time of the application. Some applicants who are ineligible may be considered under special circumstances (3).
- For the purpose of this eligibility criteria, a consultant role is considered anyone who has provided expert opinion as a part of a regulatory, legislative, or judicial process on behalf of the gambling industry
- For the purposes of this eligibility criteria, the gambling industry is defined as for-profit, private companies or corporations that profit directly from gambling. It does not include government-owned monopolies, regulators, or governmental bodies that receive revenue from the proceeds of gambling.
- If you are ineligible due to criteria listed above and still wish to be considered for LEAF due to special circumstances, please email research@gamlearn.org.uk with an explanation of your case prior to submitting an application.
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Please include a link to the course of event that you wish to attend.
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Please include as much detail as you can regarding costings. If possible, please provide screenshots of prices estimates.
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Please provide as much detail as you can for any travel arrangements (e.g. specific trains / flights / accommodation / parking charges etc).
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If you have any questions, please contact research@gamlearn.org.uk. We aim to respond to questions within 3 working days.
- If you are applying to go to a conference and are including per diem expenses per day, please be advised claims are restricted to guidance found here, and will not be paid in cash. Successful applicants will be issued with an Equals card by GamLEARN, which can be loaded with the appropriate amount of credit. More details on equals card can be found here.
- Applications must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the event / course / other that you are applying for. If you are applying for international travel, then applications must be submitted a minimum of one month before the proposed travel dates.
Note: The link for where people can guidance on costs for hotels / food limits per city is here.
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Your application will be sent for peer review via other individuals with lived experience of gambling harm.
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We will aim to respond to your application within 3-5 working days.
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Please allow up to 7 working days for applications that involve international travel, and / or exceed £500.
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You will be contact on the email address provided at the time of application
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If you have any questions regarding a submitted application, please contact research@gamlearn.org.uk
Recipient stories
Click on a person below.
Annie
Annie has been bereaved by gambling-related suicide.
Thanks to LEAF, Annie was able to strengthen the voice of people who have experienced harm from gambling at a conference.
With funds from LEAF, I was able to pay for travel to the Current Advances in Gambling Research conference where I was able to speak about lived experience, build relationships, and be recognised as belonging in the same place as people with academic experience.
I learned about the LEAF programme on X (@AFSGUK), in a newsletter (@GamLearn), and through word of mouth in my networks. The form to apply was very short and straightforward. I sent a follow-up email after a couple of weeks to make sure they had received my form and got an immediate response that my application for funds had been approved.
Compensating people with lived experience for their contributions to research is important. We often feel like we are picked up and put down at will. This fund says what you’re doing is important. And it’s not just about the money, it’s what the money represents. It’s brilliant to have a fund that reduces barriers to participation by compensating you fairly for your contribution.
I am grateful that LEAF offered funds and help in a timely way. It is a brilliant programme, and I hope it continues and grows.
Annie
Annie has been bereaved by gambling-related suicide.
Fay
Fay has personally experienced harm from gambling and has been affected by someone else’s gambling.
“The fund is incredible; I was so excited to attend CAGR”
LEAF provided Fay with funding and logistical support to attend a conference.
I heard about LEAF on X (formerly Twitter) and at first, I didn’t think it applied to someone like me. Later I learned that LEAF is for anyone in the gambling harms community and could be used by people with lived experience to attend conferences like Current Advances in Gambling Research (CAGR).
Someone in my network encouraged me to apply for funding to attend CAGR and the team at LEAF helped me access and fill out the application form.
Thanks to LEAF funding, I had my first experience connecting with researchers in the field and networking face-to-face, which is more impactful than email or written communication. The fund is incredible, I was so excited to attend CAGR.
Fay
Fay has personally experienced harm from gambling and has been affected by someone else’s gambling.
Got any enquiries?
You can e-mail the LEAF team.