COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AWARD – JENN BARNES
Designed to celebrate excellence and innovation in the gaming industry, the European Casino Awards 2023 took place at the Grand Connaught Rooms, Covent Garden, London.
Metropolitan Gaming was shortlisted for four awards and, while we narrowly missed out on the company awards, we are deligted to announce that Jenn Barnes from Alea Glasgow was awarded the Community Engagement Award.
Jenn was recognised for her tireless work helping families affected by suicide, after losing her own brother in 2017.
A Media Ambassador for the Scottish Association for Mental Health and part of the Government-funded National Suicide Prevention leadership group, Jenn shared her family story in an award-winning documentary picked up by the BBC. The film has been shown in universities, schools and businesses, including Barclays and Amazon, where Jenn also hosted sessions around dealing with mental health and suicide in the workplace.
We are very lucky that Jenn is a Metropolitan Gaming Mental Health First Aider too.
Congratulations Jenn! You are a truly deserving winner of this award.
After losing my 21-year-old brother to suicide in September 2017, I have worked tirelessly to help other families in this situation. I became a Media Ambassador for the Scottish Association for Mental Health and joined the Government-funded National Suicide Prevention leadership group. I have:
· Featured in a national public awareness campaign in national press and radio.
· Shared my lived experience in a new national NHS 24 website called Surviving Suicidal Thoughts.
· Helped scope up a new innovation approach - Time, Space and Compassion - which is currently being implemented.
· Been keynote speaker at a national learning event in September 2022, attended by the Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing and the President of the International Association of Suicide Prevention.
A documentary sharing our family story was picked up by the BBC and won a number of awards. We have shown the film in universities, schools and businesses including Barclays and Amazon, where I also hosted sessions around dealing with mental health and suicide in the workplace.
I am a Mental Health First Aider for Metropolitan Gaming and, for World Suicide Prevention Day 2022, I took part in a Q&A with the HR Director which was sent to all employees to give an insight on dealing with suicide and other mental health issues and how to spot signs in customers.
As an industry voice I have been invited along by local council in Glasgow to Gambling Harms focus groups and I’m enrolled onto the YGAM training at the start of 2023.
We are committed to creating a culture of Safer Gambling within our casinos. We have appointed Safer Gambling Ambassadors across all our sites, in order to protect young and vulnerable people from being exploited by gambling, prevent underage gambling and increase support for the treatment of gambling harm.
