"I remember my first bet. It was Leona Lewis on the XFactor. I seen her singing on the TV at my wee mum’s house and I left, went straight to the bookies and put her on to win. Not even bootcamp stages. The bookie was asking me, are you sure? I knew she’d win though. And she did. Do you remember her? She was so good. I knew she was a winner.

After that my gambling started to get bad. In three months I lost my relationship with my mum, my partner, my accommodation and all my savings. I was staying in sheltered accommodation at the time and they kicked me out cause I couldn’t pay the gas and leckie. Noone asked me if I was gambling and I never told anyone. You’re always asked about drugs and alcohol but not about gambling. They should ask you as soon as you enter accommodation - do you gamble? It’s so stigmatised. More than drugs and alcohol I think. Why do you think that is? I think it’s because people don’t know it's happening out there right now, all the time. You can spot someone drinking or taking something. Cannae see someone gambling though - how long have they been in the bookies for? You don’t know if you're just walking past. How much money have they spent on their phone? Could be the person next to you on the bus. Boom. All their life savings just gone.

I used to gamble a lot. I’m better now. I liked the Pharoah machine cause you win something on it all the time. You just push the button and all the lights and noises start. I like that. I don’t know why. I used to be big into the scratchies too. At one point 90% of my money was going on gambling. Nothing good comes of it. I lost everything. And no one knew cause no one asked."