campaign as an ‘excellent opportunity’ to
communicate risks and harms. ‘A number of
students have been using laughing gas so it is
important to make them aware of the new
legal risks associated with psychoactive
substances as well as the health risks,’ he said.
A dedicated website,
will offer information, advice and safety tips,
alongside the Facebook page ‘Not for human
consumption’.
DEVON OFFERS A
CUPPA AND A
LISTENING EAR
DEVON’S FIRST PERMANENT RECOVERY CAFÉ
has opened its doors to people needing
support with alcohol and drug problems.
The café, based at Rise Recovery, is
manned by volunteers, recovery champions
and peer supporters who are ready to offer
advice to anyone interested in recovery,
whether for themselves or a loved one.
Rise staff won the café’s kitchen in a
competition from Six System Kitchens. ‘A
relatively small gesture for us will offer so much
more for others’ said System Six CEO Ian Foster,
who officially opened the café. ‘Everyone is so
passionate about recovery and people in
recovery. It isn’t just a job for these guys.’
‘This is about making recovery visible to
everyone, to show that it is not just possible
but positive’, added Exeter RISE manager,
Dave Leeman. ‘Getting the right support
changes lives and at RISE that means not just
talking to our staff, but building a network of
people and becoming part of the thriving,
vibrant recovery community that exists here.’
News
VETERANS’ CHAMPION
WINS ‘TRAILBLAZER’
AWARD
JACQUIE JOHNSTON-LYNCH
, co-founder of Tom
Harrison House – the UK’s first addiction
treatment centre for military veterans – has
been presented with an award as an
‘innovative iconic trailblazer of the decade’.
The ceremony took place at the Women
Economic Forum in New Delhi – a global event
with speakers from 109 countries – where Ms
Johnston-Lynch was ‘hugely proud’ to collect
her award.
‘I think being from Liverpool makes me a
trailblazer,’ she said. ‘Tom Harrison House
continues to be of service to so many, it has
been great to showcase our service in India
amongst so many top politicians and
international dignitaries.’
PROJECT SUNFLOWER
READY TO BLOOM
AN INNOVATIVE NEW ENTERPRISE
is being set
up by two women-only residential
rehabilitation centres, with a £600,000 grant
from the Big Lottery Fund.
Trevi House (for mothers and children) and
Longreach (women only) will open Project
Sunflower in Plymouth to provide much-
needed support and interventions, including
help with childcare.
The other part of the project, designed in
collaboration with service users from both
units, is to help the women set up a craft-
based social enterprise.
‘We have been running a therapeutic craft
group for two years and the women have made
some amazing things,’ said Hannah Shead, CEO
of Trevi House. ‘We now want to move it to the
next stage and take some of our products to
market. With the money that we make, we can
go on to help women as they leave treatment
and are setting up home for themselves.
‘Life is extremely tough for women and their
children when they complete their residential
rehab and return to the community,’ she added.
‘Project Sunflower will really make a difference.’
Money from the project will be used to
train peer mentors, help women to access
work placements and provide enhanced
support when they leave treatment.
LEEDS TAKES LEGAL
HIGHS CAMPAIGN TO
YOUNG PEOPLE
A CAMPAIGN HAS BEEN LAUNCHED
by health
experts in Leeds to raise awareness of the
potentially deadly risks posed by legal highs, as
the Psychoactive Substances Act became law
last month. Teaming up with enforcement
agencies, the city’s drug and alcohol service,
Forward Leeds, launched the Illegal Highs – Not
For Human Consumption to raise awareness
across the city, particularly throughout hot
spots for young adults, such as near colleges
and universities, leisure centres and in cinemas.
‘There is a real need to communicate both
the change in legislation and the health risks
to people in Leeds, especially young adults,’
said councillor Lisa Mulherin, chair of Leeds
Health and Wellbeing Board. ‘I am delighted
organisations are working closely across the
city to help this campaign make people think
twice about taking these drugs.’
Adam Shepherd, welfare adviser at Leeds
Trinity students’ union welcomed the
Read the full stories, and more, online
RECOVERY
ACADEMY TO OFFER
ONGOING SUPPORT
A NEW PEER-LED COMMUNITY CENTRE
is opening in
Leeds, to offer ongoing support to those recovering from
alcohol and drug use as well as families, friends and
carers. The Recovery Academy is housed in a converted
chapel, purchased by the charity Developing Initiatives
Supporting Communities (DISC), the lead delivery
partner of Forward Leeds.
Hosting a variety of activities, groups and classes,
ranging from IT and employment training to yoga,
cooking and gardening, the centre will focus on
developing skills, education, volunteering and finding
employment, alongside encouraging people to develop
social enterprise initiatives.
‘It is really important to have role models when you
are in recovery, to be able to see other people who have
been through it and have been successful in integrating
into their communities again,’ said Carla Carr, recovery
champion for Forward Leeds, and in recovery herself.
‘It is really important to have
role models when you are in
recovery...’
CARLA CARR
6 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| June 2016
GIVE A MOUSE
A HOUSE
PRISONERS FROM HMP DONCASTER AND
HMP HUMBER
have joined conservation
efforts to save the rare hazel dormouse,
while gaining practical and team-
working skills.
Through a partnership with conserva-
tion charity People’s Trust for Endangered
Species (PTES), men from both prison sites have built
10,963 dormouse nesting boxes as part of PTES and Natural
England’s National Dormouse Monitoring Programme (NDMP).
Hazel dormice numbers have fallen dramatically over the last
century, but through installing the nest boxes changes in population
can be observed, as well as providing the mice with a much needed
alternative habitat.
‘We approached PTES about this partnership as we wanted to
allow our men the opportunity to give something back, as well as
helping to save the hazel dormouse from extinction,’ said Ian Telfer,
governor at HMP Humber, adding that the prison was very proud to
receive the Judges Gold Commendation Award at the National
Offender Management Service (NOMS) Wildlife Awards last month.
‘This is
about
making
recovery
visible to
everyone.’
DAVE LEEMAN
