Desperate Calls

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BBC Radio 4 - Desperate Calls

In Desperate Calls, Matthew tracks how his gambling addiction really took hold.

In Desperate Calls, Matthew tracks how his gambling addiction really took hold, and we uncover the failures of William Hill and the gambling industry to protect people like him.

Desperate Calls charts for the first time how someone with a gambling addiction behaves, and how the industry is failing them.

Matthew is a teacher from South Wales with a young family and a network of close friends. He seemingly lived a normal, happy life to the people around him, but secretly he was hiding another life, where he gambled - growing angry, lying to his loved ones and ultimately leaving him with tens of thousands of pounds of debt.

We've changed Matthew's name to protect his identity.

Matthew's descent into addiction is heard in the phone calls he made to William Hill customer services. Matthew was able to get hold of these phone calls when he asked William Hill to send him all his personal data. In this data was a folder, with all the phone calls he ever made. 

Matthew shared these calls with BBC Journalist Lydia Thomas.

You hear how Matthew is desperate for cash, constantly asking to withdraw it to his local William Hill shop using a facility called Quick Cash (which is now renamed CashDirect), he frantically places bets driving home from work at the school, he grows angry when he can't get his winnings fast enough, and he shouts and insults the customer service agents when he can't get what he wants.

Listening back to the phone calls Matthew tells Lydia how this happened why his behaviour changed so dramatically, and reflects on the person he is in the calls. We also uncover the failures of William Hill and the gambling industry to protect people like him. 

PRESENTER: Matthew
PRODUCER: Lydia Thomas
ASSISTANT PRODUCER: Josie Le Vay

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