Conference will help families of drink and drugs addicts
A major conference to help families of people addicted to drink or drugs get help from professionals will be staged in Bristol on Friday March 25 and Saturday March 26.
The Reach Out conference is expected to attract around 200 people, some of them from the thousands of families in the south west affected by a member’s addiction to alcohol or illegal drugs.
The conference is a free event organised by the charity Developing Health and Independence (DHI), which works in the West Country, and the national charity Adfam. It is supported by South Gloucestershire Council Safer and Stronger Communities and the Bristol Drugs Strategy Team.
The conference runs from 9am - 5pm at the Council House, College Green, on both days. Friday’s presentations will look at ways of encouraging professionals working with families to see how they can improve the services available. Saturday will give family members the chance to form closer links with each other and with the professionals who provide their services.
The conference will also hear from families of addicts talking about how they cope with looking after loved ones (see later for quotes from families).
Among the speakers are: Carole Sharma, Chief Executive of the Federation of Drug and Alcohol Professionals; Rosie Phillips, Chief Executive of Developing Health and Independence; Clive Lewis, Acting Regional Manager, National Treatment Agency South West; and Irene MacDonald, co-founder of the Carers and Parents Support Group, Gloucestershire.
Mr Lewis will talk about the government’s new drug strategy and, with Ian Keasey, Deputy Regional Manager, National Treatment Agency South West, will run two workshops. They are keen to hear from family members about the local services they need to support them.
In England there are around 320,000 heroin or crack cocaine users, and around 1.5 million people have mild, moderate or severe alcohol dependence. It is estimated that for every addict there are four family members affected, whether parents, grandparents, children or siblings.
There are now 140,000 children in the UK being raised by grandparents or other family members or friends as a result of parental substance misuse, according to a recent survey by the group Grandparents Plus.
Among family members attending will be one grandmother whose daughter is an alcoholic. She said: ‘My daughter has a severe alcohol dependency which has had a huge impact on my family life. The unpredictability and increasing chaos of my daughter's drinking meant that I could never be certain when I would be called out to intervene at very short notice, and my health began to suffer.’ She took on the responsibility for raising her granddaughter and attended DHI’s Grandparents’ support group, which has helped her cope.
Another grandmother raised her granddaughter because her daughter was a drink and drug addict. ‘The thought of my granddaughter being fostered was always unacceptable and I prepared myself and my family for the inevitable changes that would result from her living with us.
‘I did not expect to be raising a young child again in my late 50's, as well as holding down a full-time job to make ends meet, and I must admit that sometimes I get very tired. I depend on my partner and other family members to help out. I have limited time with my partner, who was not expecting to take on a 'father' role again at a time when his own grandchildren were appearing, and we have obviously had to revise our retirement plans.’
Both attend DHI’s Grandparents’ Group, one of two groups that the charity runs to help families of addicts. The other is the Families Also Matter group. A mother of a 36-year-old man who is a long-term heavy drinker said that Families Also Matter had been very helpful.
‘The big thing is trying to cope with all of this without support ‘ the support group makes you feel that you aren’t all alone. You can go and tell your story to people in the same situation and they will understand because they’re going through the same things.’ She has given up her job to look after her son and is selling her house to move to a flat to free up money to do this.
Esther Harris, who runs the Families Also Matter and Grandparents’ groups for DHI, said: ‘This conference is an important step to getting the help that is essential for the families of addicts.
‘It is impossible to underestimate the effect of addiction on people who are living lives of quiet desperation as they try to cope with the emotional consequences of a loved one who is misusing alcohol or drugs. Many suffer anxiety, depression and poor health because of the stresses and strains in their lives. This conference brings them and the professionals together to enable them to get the best possible support.’
Vivienne Evans OBE, Chief Executive of Adfam, said: ‘We are delighted to be co-hosting this conference with DHI. In the current political climate it is crucial that services are able to share and develop their skills in working to address local problems with local answers, and we are really excited to support such excellent service delivery for families affected by drug and alcohol use.
‘Over the past few years it has been encouraging to see the debate start to move on from why families matter to an acceptance of their unique needs and how we need to work with them. This day will provide an excellent insight into what’s really going on to help families in their communities.’
Olwen Kelly, Community Safety and Substance Misuse Manager for South Gloucestershire Council, said ‘I am delighted that South Gloucestershire Council is able to support this important event, which provides a real opportunity for professionals and family members to come together to discuss and build on the local provision of treatment services.
‘Drug and alcohol misuse doesn’t just affect the individual but impacts on the whole family, friends and the wider community. This event highlights the invaluable contribution that families and carers make towards treatment recovery in providing the main bedrock of support to individuals with substance misuse problems. We hope the event will encourage more families and carers to access support in their own right.’
For more information contact:
Tony Trueman, DHI PR/Fundraiser
07792 062 154
tonytrueman@dhibath.org.uk
