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drinkanddrugsnews
| 7 March 2011
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
STRENGTH
IN NUMBERS
The service user group
exhibition was a lively
information exchange and
a hub of mutual support
HOPE NORTH EAST
‘We go to the conference to network and find out
what other groups are doing,’ said Lawrie Duffy of
Hope North East. ‘You get some very real links. It’s
all about being able to relate and identify through
shared experience, and the passion and motivation
and commitment that you pick up on – the energy and
vibe of the whole thing.’
The group enjoys being able to connect to others
and hear some of the good things that are going on.
‘There’s absolutely no qualms about stealing a bit of
that!’ he said. ‘Why reinvent the wheel if things are
working? I bring it back and feed it into our team and
service user groups – “this is what’s going on in the
rest of the country”. It’s a fantastic way of
networking. We have our regional event, then the
conference to pick up on everything nationally.’
Hope North East is a service user led, abstinence
based recovery service in Middlesbrough. ‘That
means myself and my fellow director Dave, our admin
officer Stacey, our volunteer coordinator Sharon, and
Matthew our business manager, have all been people
who have been through addiction and come out the
other side,’ said Lawrie. ‘We have a team of 23
committed, passionate, motivated volunteers and we
could not deliver this service without them.
‘When people walk through the door we share a
little bit about our journeys and they see that we’re
actually delivering an award-winning service. It’s
fantastic for the recovery community – it provides that
belief that people can change, move forward in their
lives and go on to live productive, positive lives.’
They run a breakfast club, where people with
addiction issues and those who are homeless can
come in and get something to eat, a laundry where
people can come in and wash their clothes, ‘even if
it’s the clothes on their back’, and a clothing bank, to
which people in the community regularly donate.
‘It’s about building a life in recovery and that
means moving away from the negative influences in
our life without becoming isolated,’ said Lawrie. ‘One
of the most difficult things is to break into new social
networks and have new positive things to do, places
to go and people to associate with.’ The group offers
a Saturday cinema club, nature walks, and art
classes, and is linking with other services to get an
allotment going.
‘Services might shut at 5 o’clock but we know that
addiction doesn’t end there,’ he said. ‘Here we are,
people who have been in addiction, people who have
been in prison, running an award-winning service for
two and a half years. We’re saying our past is not who
we are, it doesn’t define us. We’re here as productive
members of society… it’s not about walking away from
everything, it’s about walking towards something else.’
HELPING HANDS
The Helping Hands group get involved in the design
and delivery of services within the planning and
commissioning (housing related) team and Leicester
City DAAT. They attend regular meetings, have
recently been involved in the DAAT's tender process,
and have been organising a two-week arts event that
takes place this month.
At their stand, members of the group promoted
Helping Hands’ activities – they brought leaflets,
merchandise such as safety alarms, pens, pencils
and key ring torches, and information on safer
injecting and BBVs.
‘The group found the event very interesting and
informative, especially the benefits section,’ said
Aunee Bhogaita, assistant customer involvement
officer at the DAAT. ‘Members of the group were
encouraged to network with other groups. As Helping
Hands is currently in the process of becoming an
independent constituted group, it was good for them
to make contacts with other service user groups to
see how they went about doing this, and to find any
information on what went wrong and what worked.’
SURF
North Somerset’s service user forum, SURF, holds
monthly meetings which provide a safe place for
service users to discuss local drug treatment
issues. Important topics are then raised directly with
treatment providers and commissioners. They act as
an advisory group to the community safety and drug
action team (CSDAT) and are a part of local needs
assessment and retendering processes. They have
recently been involved in a North Somerset Recovery
Guide.
‘We have just secured an office, which will mean
we can form an official group of SURF reps and
volunteers, said Wendy Ruddick, treatment
effectiveness worker. ‘We’ll be able to be more active
as a group and provide signposting and a peer
support service, and are looking at advocacy training
to further support the aims of the group.
‘We all enjoyed the conference and got a variety of
things out of coming, as for some of us it was the
first time we had attended anything like this. It was
an opportunity to network with service user groups
and see what they do and it gave us an
understanding of the scale of service user
involvement around the country.’
The group brought a display board showing
service user involvement in North Somerset, together
with SURF leaflets, details of meetings, newsletters
and consultation questionnaires.
Afterwards the group said the event had given
them a clearer understanding of the importance of
the service user voice, and ‘an opportunity to
experience the positive energy produced there – a
natural high’.
‘The networking was of great value – we were
interested to find out what groups do what and how
they do it,’ added Wendy.