Rebrand for drug addiction service supporting Grantham residents

Free hepatitis B vaccinations are available at the centre, with hepatitis C testing also offered for free.

Support is also offered to the families of service-users and regular workshops are delivered to schools and agencies to raise awareness of the dangers surrounding drugs and alcohol.

Team leader Gemma Hollingworth said: “Our organisation started in 1967 with a simple plea from our founder, Mollie Craven, to help each other. Mollie’s son was using heroin. She called on families of people with drug issues to come together and support each other.

“Our new name, We Are With You, better reflects our service and staff here in Lincolnshire, which are consistently described as warm, non-judgemental and approachable by the people we help.”

We Are With You’s services are made possible by a dedicated team of welcoming social and recovery workers.

They even have a partnership with bakery chain Greggs, which provides the centre with leftover pastries to further encourage people to come in and seek help.

Dan Hunt, community engagement co-ordinator, said: “Our research shows that language around addiction can in itself be a huge barrier to people seeking help. As We Are With You, we will use everyday language and focus on the help we offer, not the problem.”

Research conducted by the charity shows that one in six people across England and Scotland have personal experience of issues with drugs, alcohol, mental health or self-harm, but millions are struggling alone. Stigma and shame are major barriers preventing people from accessing help.

When tested, three times as many people surveyed said they would choose We Are With You compared to Addaction, with many describing the new name as “inclusive”, “approachable” and “reassuring”.

Dan added: “Our new name not only better reflects the ethos and history of our services, but also how we work with people as equal partners. Through changing our name to We Are With You and creating a new visual identity and website, we hope to be more accessible to people who use or might use our services.

“As We Are With You, we will also continue to offer the same, non judgmental, person centred support services to help adults and young people affected by drug or alcohol use across Lincolnshire.”

Part of the service’s rebrand involved a launch day event for members of the community, service users, partner agencies and commissioners.

A key focus of the event was to raise awareness of the importance of Naloxone, a medication used to block the effects of opioids.

The centre is offering free pre-filled syringes to their service-users and families, as they help to stabilise someone who has overdosed until an ambulance arrives.

Gemma said: “[Naloxone] is proven and very effective. It is given for free to all service-users that come in. It could be a life-saver.”

Each Naloxone syringe comes with an instruction pack, allowing anyone to help a drug-user who has overdosed.

The main way to recognise someone who has overdosed on opioids is that they will be unconscious or unresponsive. Other common signs of an overdose are slow, shallow or infrequent breaths, or a blue tinge to the lips, eyes, tip of the nose or fingers.

In the UK, opioid related deaths have increased significantly, with a 16 per cent increase in deaths related to drug poisoning registered in England and Wales in 2018.

We Are With You also goes out to schools to provide drug, alcohol and sexual awareness workshops to educate youngsters about the dangers of addiction and substance abuse.

Rebecca Wood, who manages We Are With You’s under 18 service, said: “I help to run an outreach service for anyone up to the age of 18. We can go anywhere to see the children, such as their home, school or a children’s centre, anywhere that they feel safe.

“We can provide a long-term or short-term service, it all depends on the young person’s needs.

“The other element of our service to young people is education in schools. We are also partnered with Lincolnshire County Council as part of their ‘stay safe’ initiative.

“We run a county-wide session with Year 6s before their move to secondary school, to educate them about the risks of drugs and alcohol.”

We Are With You also delivers sessions to groups such as cadets and scouts, although this is less frequent than its school service.

Every school in the area is entitled to two days of various sessions for their pupils to help them understand the risks of drugs and
alcohol.

Double Impact, a charity that operates from the We Are With You centre, offers additional recovery support for clients.

Group worker Leila Kaddouri said: “Double Impact is for people being referred to We Are With You, who are undergoing a period of transition.

“We help them take the next step through peer-support and accredited courses in English and maths to help them build confidence, get back into the community and back into work.”

A service-user from Grantham has been helped by We Are With You to combat his heroin addiction for the last nine years.

He said: “When you first come in, you want advice and help with prescribed methadone. Without that, [drug using] is so addictive, you can’t live day-to-day.

“The service is all anonymous. You get assigned a social worker. They chat to you about your drug use, mental and physical health and any other issues. They book in all of your appointments with a nurse and set up a treatment plan with a weekly prescription.

“Because it’s anonymous, many people in town don’t know just how much it does. It’s a backbone for almost every drug user in the town.

“Not many users could live without this service.”

The 39-year-old man, who asked to remain anonymous, has been clean of drugs for the past year.

He continued: “It was daunting at first but they made everything relaxed. They make sure you know the level of confidentiality, so you can build up trust. That’s the most important thing. After working with these guys, you know they’re not going to blurt your name out to anyone.

“Because they’ve got so much experience, you don’t feel like an alien. You know they’ll give you the help that you need.”

On the change of name to We Are With You, he said: “I do think they needed a name change. The last name sounded a bit taboo. It sounded too much like a drug-related service. Now it’s changed, I think people will be able to walk in off the street without needing to hide their face.

“The hardest thing you find when you use drugs is that the first thing people assume about you is that you are a bad person. That’s not always the case.”