The remarkable work of Faces and Voices of Recovery UK never ceases to amaze us and we are very proud to have them as a partner in the Taking Action on Addiction campaign. Now, FAVOR UK's CEO Annemarie Ward updates us on their incredible work so far in 2022.
Publications
This year we produced several publications that aim to change community perception of addiction in the UK. If we are to help people with this medical illness, we need to stop blaming them for making “bad lifestyle choices” and dismissing them as inherently bad or morally weak. The partnership with and work of the Forward Trust’s monumentally successful Taking Action on Addiction campaign was one we welcomed with open arms and were honoured to be part of.
It’s always been our mission to make Recovery more visible and to help educate the public that we must recognize the complex web of social, genetic, and environmental factors that can lead to alcohol and other drug dependency and understand that addiction is rooted in changes to the brain that impact judgement, decision making, and self-control.
We hope that using our personal stories, bringing them to life, sharing our experience of recovery from this medical illness begins to challenge the prevailing view that people suffering from addiction are degenerates and misfits, and to steer a more compassionate discourse on the impact of poverty, trauma and other uncontrollable circumstances that can lead to anyone regardless of race, colour, creed, religion, or status becoming overwhelmed with substance dependency.
Our publication ‘Hope Love & Loss’ is designed to influence policy and follows our ‘Working Together to Challenge Stigma to Save Lives’ with 23 recommendations to the Scottish Government on reducing the highest drug death rate in Europe. These recommendations came from a mixture of grieving loved ones, professional peers, academics and recovering people all who were saying difficult but honest truths and all of whom felt they were being resolutely ignored.
Tackling stigma and debunking myths has never been for the fainthearted, especially when you are the one who is experiencing that very stigma and discrimination, and so a big shout out and special thanks to the all the courageous folks for their willingness to let their faces and voices be visible and heard.
One fallacy we see cropping up all the time is the idea that the UK, and Scotland in particular, has since 2010 had a treatment system focused on abstinence-based recovery or helping people get “clean.”
It is not hard to find politicians, or commentators claiming that is what we have, but the reality is in what is funded and delivered on the ground. The story of the last 12 years is of all services being stretched, and funding cut, at a time when addiction problems were diversifying and deepening.
Within that overall picture, it is unequivocal that abstinence-based recovery services have been the most depleted. While we are grateful that the vast majority of the £600 million spent by taxpayers on the treatment system funds Opioid Substitution Treatment, excellent harm reduction interventions and one-to-one case management, FAVOR UK will continue to highlight the imbalance between this OST funding and residential rehab provision - and will continue to call for a national specification to ringfence more funds for the latter.
It’s never been more important to distinguish political rhetoric from the reality, which is that the current system literally rations care for the most vulnerable who are unable to pay for it themselves, and that each area of care needs massive investment in if we are to see any real change.
Our ‘Residential Rehab’ publication clearly showed may of the problems with regulatory bodies and money supposed to be ringfenced being spent on resources as obscure as food and travel vouchers.
The Right To Recovery Bill
We really envision a day when anyone anywhere regardless of wealth or postcode will have access to the type of care high quality care they need and deserve. We know that this bill going through the process of adoption in the Scottish parliament has many implications across the UK and believe that the opportunities for it to be replicated and built upon are available to us right now.
Our proposed Bill aims to bring to addiction treatment what the 1987 Act brought to homelessness law, offering a solid foundation of choices and chances to people who need to get and stay well. It creates a platform we can build progressive policies on, knowing they are backed by judicial powers if needs be. No one in the homeless sector says we don't need the 1987 Act, nor do they question the enforceable rights it brings, nor what political party developed it. It’s worth more than that. The Right to Recovery Bill can be our 1987 act.
The Bill covers ALL treatment options creating pathways from Drug Consumption Rooms to Rehab, Opioid Substitution Treatment to Abstinence Based Recovery, from daily Methadone to less frequent Buvidal. No matter where they live it allows the individual to build and engage with a personalised care plan that becomes a legal document challengeable by law if not adhered to. No longer will this plan force one option over the other, what is right for individual is at its heart - and any changes or other decisions must be given in writing and so they can be scrutinised and challenged if necessary.
Addiction, in its purest form, is exempt as an impairment under the Equality Act 2010 and a Human Rights Act challenge is a lengthy process. We need instant judicial accountability; our proposed Bill brings that.
The Bill has already been through the consultation process and the response has been published with overwhelming support at 77%
See here for more info: https://www.douglasross.org.uk/right-recovery-bill
Addiction Advocacy Service
In 2021 we made the case despite substantial opposition and were awarded via the Corra Foundation funding to deliver what we believe was a desperately needed advocacy service. Our belief in the existence of this need has already proved far greater than we anticipated.
Without any real launch or advertising of the service we have seen a steady stream of referrals come in via word of mouth, many from the central belt of Scotland where we are based.
As you can see from the report, word is starting to spread, and we are cautious and apprehensive about the actual scale of the need that is currently out there. We get calls all the time for help from across the UK but are unable to serve this need outside of Scotland
Please see the link below to our 6-month report on the only dedicated Addiction Advocacy service in the UK
https://www.facesandvoicesofrecoveryuk.org/advocacy-project-6-month-report/
Please get in touch at annemarie@facesandvoicesofrecoveryuk.org if you have any queries, thoughts, or suggestions and pass this on to anyone you think may be interested or able to help.
Annemarie Ward, CEO, Faces and Voices of Recovery UK