1.

5 million adults are

affected by a relatives
drug use

DHI helped me in every

step of the way by
having faith in me

Vivienne Evans speaks

out at Reach Out p2

Jeremy Palmer, ex-client

and current apprentice p7

DHI Friends
DHI Friends newsletter #8 Summer 2015

www.dhi-online.org.uk

Reach Out 15: caring for carers

Our annual event for families and carers boasted a
fantastic agenda, a full turnout and great feedback
1.5 million adults are affected by a relatives drug use
and nearly 1 in 3 adults are affected by a relatives
alcohol use. Adfams Vivienne Evans focused the
audiences minds perfectly as she kicked off her
keynote speech at this years Reach Out Festival. Reach
Out is our special event for families and carers of
people experiencing problematic drug or alcohol use.
Stigma busters
DHIs CEO Rosie Phillips said at the outset: The
stigma around caring for people with an addiction
is powerful. The reason we hold Reach Out is to lift
that stigma and reach out to families and carers.
A few speakers on the day commented
on how the praise heaped on addicts in
recovery is in stark contrast with the stigma
surrounding carers and families. Irene
Macdonald, Board member of DHI and
a mother who lost her son to heroin
addiction, wants to see the same
recognition for families. We told noone, not even family, about our sons
heroin addiction, she said. We felt
so alone. I felt that because of how my
son died I was not allowed to grieve.
Continued overleaf

Inside this issue: Reach Out 2015 in depth / Q&A: New MP for Bath in the hot
seat / Home Turf Lettings houses 100th tenants / New SPACED site launches

DHI Friends

Issue 8

Issue 8

Youre not alone

The conference room was bustling
and filled with an air of positivity
and respect as the agenda moved
through details of support services
and groups to personal accounts,
Q&A panel sessions and hands-on
workshops.

It was a great mix of

personal experiences,
informative workshops
and sharing of good
practice from other areas

One of the highlights of the day was

a sofa session which saw two ladies
bravely describe their respective
family members addictions and how
their lives had been torn apart.

wrecked their lives for many years,

both ladies told the audience how
DHIs services had turned their lives
around.

I couldnt cope with socialising so

I stopped going out, said one. I
kept everything from my family
and friends because of the guilt and
shame of what was essentially a
failed marriage.
Changing lives
After brave and emotional accounts
of how substance misuse had

In group you can talk about anything

in confidence, you make very close
friends and can share with them. You
know youre not alone. You start
talking and people identify with
what youre saying.
Another champion of DHIs family
services told us: Eventually I went
to the doctor for depression and he

gave me DHIs number. I met Esther

and she changed my life.
Through the day the delegates talked
about how hard it is to admit you
need help as a carer. On average it
takes about seven years for a carer
to be ready to access help but the
message from service providers,
peers and carers was loud and clear:
get help for yourself first if you
know how to help yourself you
might be able to help someone else
who needs you.

FAM services help you to:

Get perspective
L ook after yourself mentally
and physically
Be supportive not enabling
N ot be consumed by another
persons guilt

Information about DHI came in the

post and I made an appointment for
the very next day. It was difficult to
take in that the support was for me,
not my partner. I was persuaded to

DHIs Chief Executive Rosie

Phillips shares her thoughts
on the success of Reach Out

go to the FAM group. That was 18

months ago and I now never miss
a session.

One, whose partner had a drug

addiction spanning many years, said:
Six or seven services intervened
before anyone mentioned support for
me, the carer.

A word
from Rosie

DHI Friends

While the long days of summer

still stretch out ahead, the last few
months seem to have flown by. Our
annual Reach Out Festival on 11th
June was a huge success, bringing
together the families and carers of
those with drug or alcohol problems
to offer support, give a voice, and
raise awareness of their needs.

We hold Reach Out as part of

National Carers Week to raise the
profile of this oft unheard group
of carers, so it was worrying to
hear so many carers services at
an Adfam discussion in July voice
concern that they wont exist next
year due to cuts.

It is impossible to underestimate the

effect of addiction on families, yet
their support is a huge help to those
struggling to overcome addiction.

Another awareness raising week

of significance to us was national
volunteers week. DHI took part in
a number of events to promote
volunteering as we increasingly

rely on volunteers to help us

deliver our services. Our new
social prescribing service in Bath
& North East Somerset is just one
such service currently seeking
volunteers to help.
Whether for love, a sense of duty,
overcoming personal isolation
or to give something back ...
one thing is for sure, and that is
that volunteers and carers are
essential to DHI and clearly part
of the glue of society.

It is impossible to
underestimate the
effect of addiction on
families, yet their support
is a huge help
Rosie Phillips, CEO, DHI

DHI Friends

Issue 8

Issue 8

DHI Friends

Q&A: Ben Howlett

We were so fortunate to have newly-elected Conservative MP Ben Howlett join us at
Reach Out 2015. Here are just a few of the questions he answered that night

What inspired you to go into

politics and how was your
maiden speech?

e are so proud of our

very own Home Turf
Lettings as it has
won this years Big
Venture Challenge, a prestigious
national programme for ambitious
and scalable social ventures.
Renting affordable homes to
people from homeless backgrounds
since 2012, HTL has been a roaring
success, securing national funding
that has seen empty properties
brought back into use as affordable
housing in Bristol, BANES and
South Gloucestershire.

Ben Howlett, MP

BH: I have always been passionate

about politics and have been a member
of the Conservative Party for many
years. I want to make a difference
to those who are perhaps unable to
make a difference for themselves;
the underdogs and the vulnerable
within society. In my maiden speech
I talked about this, and I strive to be
a champion for the vulnerable and
disadvantaged within society.

Alcohol abuse causes a

massive burden on society
with 75% of all liver disease
complications within the NHS bring
directly attributable to alcohol.
What can your government do to
improve matters?

BH: The Government is

determined to tackle alcohol abuse.
A raft of measures has already
been brought in to tackle binge
drinking, including rebalancing the
Licensing Act in favour of local
communities, introducing a late
night levy, and enabling local areas
to restrict the sale of alcohol late
at night if there are problems. The
worst examples of cheap alcohol
will be tackled by banning sales of
alcohol below the level of alcohol
duty plus value-added tax.

BH: It is deeply sad that Charles

Kennedy lost his life due to
his illness. Parliament is a very
social environment - and rightly
so - but this can often lead to the
consumption of alcohol as guests,
charity organisations and lobby
groups invite politicians to drinks
receptions and events. We are aware
of this culture and increasingly aim
to stop its pervasion influence and
practise sobriety.

Following the death of Charles

Kennedy, Alex Salmond said
that The Commons was the
worst place in the world for someone
with an alcohol problem. What is
your experience of this?

Not-for-profit lettings agency wins crucial backing from BVC

Does this Government intend

to take steps to ensure that
funding for families and
concerned others drug and alcohol
services is not cut further?

BH: The Governments priorities

are clear; it wants to reduce drug
use, maintain the deterrence effect
of criminalisation on young people
who start experimenting, crack down
on drug-related crime, and help
addicts come off drugs for good.
These priorities are based around
three themes: reducing the demand
for drugs through early intervention;
restricting the supply of drugs
through joined up local enforcement;
and revolutionising recovery.

The big 100

Home Turf Lettings has also
just housed its 100th previously
homeless person.

Tenants Sean and Magda from

Bristol were so grateful for HTLs
support at a time when their life
had fallen apart: Our son was
diagnosed with cancer, Magda
says. I had to leave my job with
the NHS and Sean was the only
one working. A few months later
his job ended and on top of that our
landlord told us to move out as he
wanted his house back. We had no
savings, no job and our son was
still going through chemotherapy.
Sean and Magda found private
letting agencies wouldnt help as
they didnt meet the criteria of
earning 25,000 a year. Magda told
us: Andy and Nikki from HTL
were the only ones who listened to
us and helped. They are amazing

people, they gave us a lovely new

home and thanks to them our life is
starting to go back to normal.
The futures bright
HTL Director, Mark Coates said:
Were very proud of what Home
Turf has achieved to date but the
scale of homelessness in the West
of England is genuinely shocking
- and set to get worse - so we have
a lot of work to do to meet all the
unmet social need.
Home Turf Lettings is now
inviting contact from private
landlords and investors interested
in using their investments to help
local homeless people as well as
generating a financial return. Please
contact Mark on 01225 478730.

They are amazing

people, they gave us
a lovely new home
and thanks to them
our life is starting to
go back to normal
Magda, Bristol

DHI Friends

Issue 8

New SPACED website goes live

Issue 8

DHI Friends

Case study: Jeremy Palmer

Information and advice on new drugs for South Gloucestershire

SPACED offers people free and confidential
information, advice and support on stimulant,
psychoactive, alternative, club and experimental drugs
for people living in South Gloucestershire.
As part of our Novel Psychoactive Substances pilot
in South Gloucestershire we are researching NPS use
and developing services to better meet local needs.
We know that NPS users in the area are thought to be
younger and digitally active so communicating via the
website and social media will be crucial in engaging
and interacting with this group.

http://www.spaced-sg.co.uk
To find out more, contact Natasha Furber
(NatashaFurber@dhisouthglos.org.uk)

My Script, just what the Doctor ordered

My Script offers B&NES the social prescription
Just three months after launch, My
Script, DHIs innovative new social
prescribing service, is already being
met with enthusiastic uptake from
GP surgeries across Bath & North
East Somerset.
Commissioned by B&NES CCG, My
Script works with GP patients whose
health is impacted by wide-ranging
practical or personal issues, such as
debt, housing, bereavement, old age,
or social isolation and anxiety.
Over the course of four
sessions My Scripts Facilitators
have been getting to the heart
of each individuals situation and
developing an action plan to put
patients in touch with non-medical

sources of support in their local

area; and back in control of their
lives. This social prescription could
include specialist advice services,
supportive community groups, or
just a fun activity class that boosts
their sense of wellbeing.

With over 100 GP referrals

already received, it is clear that
there is a pressing need for the
blend of expert signposting and
practical, compassionate support
on offer from My Scripts team of
staff and volunteers.

eremy Palmer is an
Apprentice Housing Support
Worker in the Reach team at
DHI in Bath. He is learning
all aspects of housing support in a
service that works with a variety of
clients including drug and alcohol
users, people with an offending
history and people with mental
health difficulties.
Before becoming an apprentice
Jeremy was a peer mentor in
the drug and alcohol sector for
nearly two years. He previously
co-facilitated an abstinence group,
and he started his own Narcotics
Anonymous Group.
Jeremy has recently been
nominated for an Inspiration Award
for his reliability, determination and
enthusiasm; and for being a shining
example of someone who has

completely turned their life around.

We caught up with him just after
his third sky dive, in aid of the
Forever Friends appeal at the RUH.
DHI: How did you first get involved
with DHI?

was my children. They were in

foster care and I was ready to do
anything to win them back. After
a lot of hard work, they are back
with me and we are living in our
own home.

JP: I came out of prison and as part

DHI: How did DHI help you?
of my release I had to engage with
JP: DHI has helped me in every step
group work and regular drug testing. of the way by having faith in me firstly letting me volunteer for them
DHI: Prior to entering recovery youd and then supporting my progress to
become a peer mentor.
been in prison many times totalling
10 years. What was your lowest
point?

JP: My lowest point was being

homeless and I would do anything
to get my next fix.
DHI: And what proved to be the
turning point for you?

JP: The main turning point for me

DHI: What plans do you have for

the future, work wise and in your
personal life?

JP: When I complete my NVQ in

housing I would still like to be
employed by Reach or DHI. Oh,
and I have plans to do another
skydive next year!
7

DHI Friends

Issue 8

News in brief
Golden Key and DHI
unlock doors

Police and Crime Commissioner

applauds Project 28
Sue Mountstevens the Avon and Somerset Police and Crime
Commissioner paid a visit to Project 28 and was very impressed
with the Diversionary Workshops that have been set up with Bath
Youth Offending Service. The workshops talk about physical and
emotional damage from substance abuse as well as telling clients
how a criminal record can inhibit future employment and travel
opportunities. She also complemented the work done by Project
28 in Keynsham with a group of young people who had been
selling drugs outside school and terrorising residents. Project 28s
involvement had completely eradicated ASB calls as Mountstevens
commented: This work is amazing. I am very impressed with all
that you have done with this group.

Dont be a stranger

Join us!

We have strengthened our social

media activity and were now
regularly updating our Facebook
page and our Twitter account.
Please do follow us for DHI news,
and share and like our posts to
raise awareness about DHIs work
in the region.

We are always keen to recruit more

volunteers at DHI! At the moment
we have a number of volunteering
opportunities available from
physical work in the open air on
our allotment to offering admin
support in our head office in
Milsom Street.

pages/Developing-HealthIndependence
@dhi_online

Please contact MikeStrathdee@

dhi-online.org.uk for more
information.

Golden Key is a 10 million

Big Lottery funded partnership
programme led by Second Step. It
is a multi-agency group including
DHI that is joining forces to unlock
doors for people with multiple and
complex needs who have felt shut
out of services in Bristol.
People with lived experience
of homelessness, prison, long-term
mental health issues, and drug and
alcohol dependency are at the heart
of this innovative project, with
DHI providing the Peer Mentoring
Service. Peer mentors - inspiring
and positive role models who have
lived experience of the complex
issues clients of the programme are
experiencing - will be offered to
every Golden Key client over the
course of the programme.
If youre interested in becoming a
Peer Mentor, call 07920 265953.
www.goldenkeybristol.org.uk.

Much-needed help
Thanks to the High Sheriff of
Wiltshire, Peter Addington, who
hosted a reception in aid of DHI.
The event, sponsored by Clark Holt
solicitors and hosted by the National
Self-Build and Renovation Centre,
raised over 1,500. DHIs Swindon
team will use the money to set up
peer support groups for adults with
care needs.

Developing Health & Independence

15/16 Milsom Street, Bath BA1 1DE tel: 01225 478730 web: www.dhi-online.org.uk
Company No. 3830311 Registered Charity No. 1078154