Safer Gambling Week: Recovering RAF serviceman reveals compulsive gambling story
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An RAF serviceman has revealed his battle with compulsive gambling and journey towards recovery, as Safer Gambling Week is marked.
Warrant Officer Peter Buckley, who is based at RAF Shawbury, spoke out to urge those who are struggling to seek help.
Peter is a compulsive gambler, who has been in recovery for nearly six years.
He spoke about his experiences with gambling, how it started, how it took hold and how he reached out to get help.
He said: "I started gambling when I was about 11 or 12 on the Grand National with the family for a bit of fun – or playing jingles in school for coins – all quite innocent stuff I thought, and then as I progressed through school to 12 or 13 going to football and betting on the matches and playing cards, poker.
"When I was about 14/15 I started playing fruit machines in the snooker hall. It was all innocent, I thought, as a lot of my friends were doing it and I was seeing other young people doing it but, even then, I sort of knew that I enjoyed it and I couldn’t really leave it. I used to play a lot more snooker in the snooker hall and maybe go on the machine a little bit. Then, as time went on, I’d spend a lot more time on the fruit machines and then I'd find myself in the snooker halls on my own, betting on the machines."
Speaking about how gambling became a cause for concern, Peter said: "Gambling was probably a problem for me from when I was 18 to 19, just before I joined the Royal Air Force, but I've only just found that out recently myself, in working on recovery from gambling.
"Initially I thought disappearing from work, when I was in a civilian job, to go and gamble on my break, I thought that was normal even though even then I never used to tell people, because I was a little bit ashamed of it, but didn’t think it was actually a problem. But then when I was about 19 and I joined the RAF and was posted to RAF Lossiemouth, after a bit of time up there when I was on my own in the room I went through a phase where I was gambling a lot more than I should have been, again in secret."
He added: "At RAF Lossiemouth I had a lot of time; I was single, living in the block and the winters were quite long, quite dark, from early on. It certainly was a choice, it's not an excuse for why I did it more, but I had a lot more availability to do it. I was getting paid quite well for a 19/20-year-old and it became more of a problem because it was more accessible. I had the internet by then in the room, I didn't have to go to a shop to do it and I had a lot more time to gamble."
Peter said his recovery had not been straightforward and has involved more than simply stopping gambling. He said he had had to confront issues about his personality in order to break free of betting, while taking part in group Gamblers Anonymous sessions.
He said: "You learn quite a few things about yourself, quite a few defects that are non-gambling-related, but there are a lot of positives too. My marriage is better than it's ever been, my relationship with the kids is better than it's ever been, my relationship with my parents, my friends. I've got nothing to hide, no skeletons in the closet."
To those in the RAF and beyond who are struggling he had the message: "Seek help, seek guidance. You can't cope with this alone. It can be managed, it can be controlled and whether it's with further guidance, or signposting, grip it early. There's a brighter future ahead than if you carry on gambling."
In 2022, the RAF Benevolent Fund contributed to research that explored gambling and wellbeing issues in the RAF.
The Fund provided key recommendations in the report, including: increasing awareness among serving personnel, increasing screening particularly among those with risk factors, training for health professionals and line managers; and providing education and low-intensity behaviour change strategies for those who are at risk of developing gambling problems.
The report highlighted particular risk factors for problem gambling in the RAF including being male, aged 18-24 and of non-commissioned rank.
Air Vice-Marshal Chris Elliot, Controller of the RAF Benevolent Fund, said at the time: "We are committed to providing the serving RAF community with appropriate support and this research will help inform our emotional wellbeing services moving forwards."
The Fund has a relationship with AnonyMind, the leading online digital recovery platform, to provide extra support to members of the RAF Family to overcome gambling problems, manage behaviours, and move on with their lives.
Members of the RAF Family can self-refer through the RAF Benevolent Fund's dedicated page. All AnonyMind therapy is done through online video calls, is kept anonymous and your details are not shared with the Fund.