12 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| August 2012
Recovery |
Enterprise
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
‘T
rudge the road to happy destiny’ and ‘keep coming back’ say the
slogans in stained glass on the windows of the Meeting Place café
just off the high street in Lowestoft, where Leah and Vicky bring
sandwiches to satisfy the lunchtime customers. At a table outside,
East Coast Recovery manager Daniel Farnham discusses activities with a
colleague. Inside, against a colourful frieze – backdrop for the regular monthly ‘Live
Lounge’ sessions – referrals coordinator Paul Wheeler explains how a thriving
model is being replicated in different parts of the business.
Originally based in Watford, the rehabilitation centre – formerly known as Clean
and Sober Living – moved to the area five years ago as part of managing director
Lester Morse’s vision of combining recovery with a therapeutic environment.
‘There was a lot of grief when we first moved the centre, a lot of “keep the
junkies out”,’ says Wheeler. ‘We had to work closely with partners to establish it.’
From a primary unit with 23 beds and a secondary unit with eight beds, the café,
together with a framing shop business and a working garage, have transformed the
centre into a thriving recovery enterprise.
‘If you create something attractive that works, people get drawn into it,’ says
Wheeler, explaining the aim to link people to the goal of long-term employment via
recovery pathways. ‘You’re not going to go from hero to zero in 12 weeks, so you
need the eco-system for them to find their own way.’ Through giving them new
practical skills as a foundation for employment, they move on beyond treatment –
‘it happens organically’, he says.
The Meeting Place café is not all about profit – although those lessons are
included for its workers. The purpose of the venture is to teach life skills alongside
business and create aspiration.
‘Our society is full of short-term strategies – the political system is full of them,’
says Wheeler. ‘The worst thing you can do is give people hope and then remove it
from them.’
By encouraging rehab clients to become involved in one of the businesses, they
are reintroduced to life beyond addiction while still in a supportive environment.
Managers are aware that the client may fail and are always ready with help and
support. All they ask is total commitment to recovery – by which they mean
abstinence – and they will work with them to try and achieve it.
‘It takes four years for the brain to recover, but one in six people will relapse
during the next 15 years. We don’t make that one relapse the end,’ says Wheeler.
As Daniel Farnham takes us to the framing shop, he talks of the team’s
commitment to the recovery community, motivated by their personal experiences
of addiction. The social enterprise is supported by ‘friends of recovery’, such as
Lisa, who sings at the café’s Live Lounge sessions as well as managing the
framing shop, and contributes to the local network of support. Clients can spend
‘Our society is full of short-term
strategies – the political system is
full of them... The worst thing you
can do is give people hope and
then remove it.’
Real-life repairs
East Coast Recovery are creating a thriving hub of community
enterprise in the seaside town of Lowestoft. DDN paid a visit