Addiction

Outside The Box – dealing with death

Those supporting and working with people who are rough sleeping are well aware that their life expectancy is dramatically reduced by their experience and the issues that they face (for figures see footnote). Consequently this brings the subject of death more to the fore and highlights the lack of openness to talk about death in […]

Inside Copenhagen’s drug consumption rooms

(A Twitter thread. With thanks to @karynmccluskey for sharing) “So spent the evening in 2 drug consumption rooms in Copenhagen and trying to process what I have seen. I won’t do this justice and probably have to reflect on it, but I met one of the most expert, practical managers in the DCR and I […]

Tackling homelessness: Every little bit of business expertise helps

Blog written by Sue Keogh, Director, Sookio Being based on Mill Road in Cambridge means every day we see up close the complex problems faced by so many people in the local community – mental health issues, addiction, rough sleeping – and we wanted to do something practical which would reach the people we saw every […]

Do we need to rethink addiction?

We wanted to share two videos on addiction. The first we found so simple and clear. The second, simple again, yet moving. Addiction specialist and author Gabor Maté says dealing with past trauma may be the key to breaking addiction. He says: “Addiction is not a choice anybody makes, it’s a response to emotional pain.” […]

Lifetime Achievement Award for Southampton Nurse

A nurse from Southampton , who has dedicated her career to helping homeless people, has today been announced as the national winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award category at the NHS Parliamentary Awards, prestigious awards that celebrate people who have innovated, impressed and make a real difference to how the NHS provides care for patients. […]

Breakfast of Champions in Bury

BURY BREAKFAST CLUB (Time For A Change) Mick Priestly and his partner Jane run the Bury Breakfast Club, a much under appreciated, under-funded but very essential service in Bury. Mark decided to start the Breakfast Club around 5 years ago. At first providing people with simple beans on toast, a cuppa, and a safe place […]

Trying to understand homelessness

A Personal View (and a few stats) This is more than just a complicated issue. It is actually ruining people´s lives and in many cases, it is ending them. This crisis has been given a name, ´homelessness´ and the people affected have been given a label ´the homeless´. As well as dehumanising and stigmatising people […]

Adam’s Journey

Everyone’s journey into and beyond homelessness is different. Multiple societal factors, multiple life situations and backgrounds, with multiple outcomes, underlining the fact that sometimes the system works and sometimes it doesn’t. And sometimes it’s a mix of the two, as is the case with Adam. Here’s to Adam and a brighter, more stable and happier […]

Lisa’s Story.

Lisa was interviewed by Johna Johnson of Recovery Radio about her recovery from a serious drug addiction.   “I just thought, I can’t carry on like this. I’ve had enough.”   Can you tell me what made you start your recovery? Five years ago I began the treatment for hepatitis C, which I got through […]

Interview with Staff at Hidden Voices

An interview with Nina Farquharson and Cathy Holmes from ‘Hidden Voices’, conducted by Johna Johnson and Dominic Maddocks for Recovery Radio. Nina Farquharson is a Life Coach and Cathy Holmes runs the organisation’s Smart Recovery programme.   “It’s got a really positive vibe.”   So what service do you provide? Cathy Holmes: I offer the […]