NEXT STEPS TURNING LIVES AROUND

Transcription

1 About Turning Point We turn lives around every day, by putting the individual at the heart of what we do. Inspired by those we work with, together we help people build a better life. Turning Point is the UK s leading social care organisation. We provide services for people with complex needs, including those affected by drug and alcohol misuse, mental health problems and those with a learning disability. Turning Point is a registered charity, number , a registered social landlord and a company limited by guarantee number (England & Wales) Registered office: New Loom House, 101 Backchurch Lane, London, E1 1LU T: F: NEXT STEPS TURNING LIVES AROUND

2 NEXT STEPS TURNING LIVES AROUND This booklet is an introduction to Turning Point ACAPS and the Next Steps programme. It aims to inform the local community about the services we offer to people with a history of substance misuse. It gives examples of some of the ways we have helped to turn local lives around. It also provides suggestions for ways in which members of the local community can help us to help others. Next Steps is making a real impact. This is how we do it and how you can do it too. WHAT IS TURNING POINT ACAPS? Turning Point ACAPS was set up in It has an Adult and Youth Service based in Brixton, South London. The Adult Services run a range of community based programmes for people with a history of alcohol and drug problems. It also runs the Progress2Work service in cooperation with JobcentrePlus to help ex-drug users to find employment. The Youth Service offers services to young people aged to prevent their use of drugs and alcohol. Services include housing, education, training and careers, basic skills, sexual health, benefits, legal issues and more. ACAPS has been part of Turning Point since Turning Point is the UK s leading social care organisation. We provide services for people with complex needs, including those affected by drug and alcohol misuse, mental health problems and those with a learning disability. For more information contact Turning Point ACAPS 2-6 Atlantic Road London SW9 8HY Tel Fax

3 STEFANO, AGED 40 COMES FROM SARDINIA AND LIVES IN LAMBETH In the past I had problems holding down a job. Every time I left a job it was due to my addiction. It was heroin the worst one. It started in Italy 20 years ago. Why I got into drugs is a very difficult question. Maybe I started because I liked to hang out with two guys who were four to five years older than me. I remember at the time I was afraid to do drugs, but if I wanted to be with them I had to do it. I got clean in Italy and knew I had to get out of that place to stay clean. I came to London and was working in an Italian restaurant. After a few years I decided to change jobs because I wasn t learning English, but after I left I went back into drugs. If you are using drugs you can t work. After rehab here I went to Next Steps. The environment was good. I found that the staff are very able to work with people like us, I mean people coming off drugs. Most people avoid addicts. If you are taking drugs everybody else around you finds you disgusting. I met some new people, and I learnt new skills. We covered communication skills, how to fill out application forms and interview techniques, and stuff like that. With Next Steps if something happens that isn t right for you, you can just come and discuss it. I didn t have a problem as such, but when I started my volunteer work it was not what I was expecting. So I had a chat with Lucy. She helped me to see things in a different way and I couldn t have done that on my own. It s very important because otherwise I may have given that up. Next Steps helped me to start finding my way and to get work. It was a good experience for me. Stefano s friend Lodka When I first knew Stefano he didn t go out of the house much, and didn t have much interest in life. I have seen a big change since he went on the Next Steps project. He has a different attitude, he is helping others in his volunteer work and I think he will really be able to change his life for the better. 2 3

4 WHAT IS NEXT STEPS? Next Steps is an innovative substance misuse aftercare project based in Brixton, Lambeth. It is run by Turning Point ACAPS and provides a work preparation programme combined with therapeutic support, careers advice and progression routes for people with a history of substance misuse problems. Next Steps has been running successfully since 1997 helping people in London who have had a drug or alcohol problem to focus on building their skills and confidence and to create a brighter future for themselves. The programme offers a range of support services to clients based around a six week course. The Next Steps course runs at regular intervals throughout the year. Applications can be made at any time by contacting the Next Steps team. As part of the programme Next Steps offers clients the opportunity to be matched with a mentor who provides additional personal support over the course of a year. ACAPS welcomes applications from people with spare time to volunteer as mentors, or in other support capacities. The ultimate aim of the Next Steps programme is to help people get back into training and work. People with a history of alcohol and drug misuse often have gaps in their CV and may wish to re-train for a new career. Work experience and volunteering can be a very useful step back into the world of work. We welcome contact with employers willing to offer relevant work experience and volunteering opportunities for Next Steps participants. ANNA, AGED 47 COMES FROM POLAND AND LIVES IN LAMBETH It s a long story how I got into alcohol misuse. I started to drink quite heavily in my thirties. It was down to quite a lot of things. Maybe because I came to live in England and I felt quite outside. As an immigrant it s really difficult. So alcohol gave me courage. I got into rehab thanks to my friends. They saw that I was in a bad state and took me to a centre. To be honest when I started Next Steps I didn t think that much about what it offered. When I moved from first to second stage rehabilitation the only thing I knew was that I needed some sort of structure to my days. It turned out to be a very good experience. English isn t my first language I m Polish so it was good for me to have to do presentations and to speak English in front of people that I didn t know. They also helped with my CV because I have gaps in my career and employment. That was useful. I still do acupuncture. When you stop drinking or taking drugs you are all over the place. Up and down with mood swings. It s to do with cravings for alcohol which is so rich in sugar. Acupuncture helped me to relax and come down a little bit. Probably the best thing that happened on the course was when I heard about the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) at one of the workshops. I joined Streatham CAB as a volunteer last year and I completed their in-house training. I loved the place from the beginning. It s just great. I like the people. They are really committed. It s just very good for me to help others. It makes me feel much better. In July I started to work with clients of my own as an advisor. With this experience and training I hope to get a paid job. Next Steps helped me to get back into control of my own life. I feel much happier than before. It helped me to realise what I want in life. 4 5

5 THE NEXT STEPS PROGRAMME ROSARIO, AGED 38 IS FROM ITALY AND LIVES IN SOUTHWARK The Next Steps programme offers a variety of support services to people with a history of alcohol or drug misuse. The services are delivered in a sympathetic environment by a team of experienced, specialist workers. Next Steps clients also benefit from the peer support of being in a group who have a shared problem and therefore understand each others situations and needs. The support services include: Holistic assessment Accredited work preparation course Numeracy and literacy refresher courses Careers advice, guidance and workshops Benefits advice Personal development and jobsearch workshops Mentoring Relaxation and stress management courses, such as acupuncture Counselling Volunteering and work experience opportunities Progression routes into education, training and work Ongoing support from project workers The Next Steps course lasts six weeks and is based at Lambeth College in Brixton. It provides: Communication, IT and numeracy skills training CV preparation and interview coaching Travels costs and lunch allowance Help with childcare costs Self development workshops Access to all College resources library, canteen, computers Disability access Attendance on the course does not affect benefits and on completion leads to a nationally recognized qualification. I had an addiction to drugs big time. Class A drugs: crack cocaine and heroin. I started when I was 18 years old and a student in Italy. Since then it s been on and off, on and off. You are never completely 100% free from addiction. I lost my house, my wife, my job, my income. One day I realised that s it. When I reached the bottom people say it s true you have to reach the bottom that was the bottom for me. I was destroying my life. I met a Next Steps worker through Narcotics Anonymous. Turning Point ACAPS was a good environment with friendly people. I can t imagine you can find another agency doing a better job and getting better results than Next Steps. With other agencies either I lost interest or they lost interest. I went to College in Brixton to do IT skills and maintenance which was good. I learnt a lot and want to get back into work in computing. At the moment I m waiting to get a volunteering job to get work experience. I ve always been quite a confident person, but what Next Steps has given me is motivation, to get more focussed on what I m trying to achieve. To start again at my age is more difficult. It s not impossible. It s up to me. My main target now is to get an income, to get back into society. 6 7

6 NICOLE, AGED 38 LIVES IN SOUTH LONDON My partner introduced me to weed, then it progressed to ecstasy then to cocaine. He used to deal it. I used to know where it was in the house so I used to nick a bit. I was doing drugs and alcohol at the same time. That went on for about two years. After that it was just alcohol and that went on for another year. I had to go into Maudsley Hospital for detox and they introduced me to rehabilitation and Turning Point ACAPS. When I started on Next Steps it was still pretty hard at home. But I used to just love going to the College, meeting up with friends and having a laugh. Next Steps gave me confidence. I started off a bag of nerves. The ending when you have to do your project you get filmed. God, I was terrible and they ran out of film and I thought OK, then they came back with another one. It went quite well. I hadn t realised how confident I d become. I ve been working in a shop for two years. Now I m Deputy Manager. When I was addicted I had to give up my jobs. I used to do cleaning and that was bloody depressing as well. Working in this sector wasn t my top priority but I just went for it and I like it. I think in the next couple of years I m going to take over a shop, but I m in no rush. I m enjoying life. 8 9

7 MENTORING Mentoring is a supportive relationship between a mentor (volunteer member of the public) and a mentee (in this case a Next Steps participant). Mentoring is offered by Next Steps as a way for people to gain support in their personal and professional life from a mentor over a one year period. It is a process by which one person assists another to grow and learn in a safe and sympathetic relationship. The mentoring relationship lasts for one year, and the frequency and nature of mentoring meetings is decided between the mentor and mentee. Contact could be, for instance, sometimes on the phone, sometimes face to face, and around other activities, such as visits to an event or focussed on a job application. Mentors are matched to clients carefully and are given training and support by the Next Steps team. I got involved in mentoring because I believe that the problems created by drugs and alcohol are such a loss to society of wasted potential. The progress that you see is very rewarding. You can help and make a difference I had a mentor. It was helpful. You come and she listens. People want to talk to someone who is neutral. If you would like to know more about being a Next Steps mentor please contact us at: Turning Point ACAPS 2-6 Atlantic Road, London SW9 8HY T F W BUSHY, AGED 53, HAS LIVED ON CLAPHAM PARK ESTATE FOR NEARLY 20 YEARS All my life I have experienced health problems, and these combined with a number of traumatic life events, including bereavements, meant that I ended up having problems with alcohol. I ve spent a lot of my life caring for others and I ve been left on my own. That s been one of the reasons why alcohol and me became good companions. Socially I was very much bound up with a drinking culture. And I d always been a bit of a binger with everything I enjoy in life. In 2000 a crack house opened up next door to me on the estate where I live. It was absolutely horrendous. I started drinking in order to blank out and sleep, which then caused further health problems. I saw the advert for Next Steps, applied and came on the course. It was a revelation for me. I found the social side really useful and enjoyed being back in a learning environment. One of the exercises was for giving and receiving feedback. I was really tearful when I got feedback because of all the positive things people said about me. Next Steps helped me to see what my priorities were even though I wasn t in the position to take them forward at that time. I recognised the need to get back to my own creative life. I identified through Next Steps my need to pursue multimedia skills and voluntary activity, eventually leading to part time work that takes me out of the benefits system. Next Steps took me out of isolation. Projects like this effectively save peoples lives. The impact in terms of knock-on effect on policing, family interventions, reduction of health costs, calls on the NHS, mental health services, and Social Services is impossible to assess. If it means 10 less people in the criminal justice system, 10 people off medication, 10 people using life skills to enhance the lives of others in a paid or unpaid capacity, that is incalculable

8 BEN, AGED 42 COMES FROM GHANA AND LIVES IN CLAPHAM I m from Ghana. Born, bred and were this way. My eyes that way. educated in Ghana. I ve lived here I ve kept those pictures. for longer than I ve lived in Africa. So I went into detox, rehab, then came to Next Steps. Alcohol misuse: it s a long story. I came from a very good home. When you talk about alcoholism a lot of people will talk about how their background was bad. I don t have any of that. I went to the best private secondary school in West Africa. But I was even drinking then. It s from home. My parents didn t drink but my elder brother was the head of the distilleries. And my dad being a chief, the house was always packed. Alcohol was there in the house. I came here when I was 18 then I had total freedom. I drunk spirits heavily. I could put away a bottle no problem. Yeah. And it just went on. My favourite sister who kept me straight went back to Ghana and I lost my way. It was no more a recreational thing. Now I needed alcohol. I d wake up in the night shaking. You go to work smelling like a brewery. Now I couldn t respect myself. I couldn t work. That s what I was seeing in the mirror. When I descended into serious alcoholism it wasn t me anymore. My cheeks Here they help people that want to be helped. I wanted it and I got the best out of it. I hadn t been working for a while and they paid my travel. The little bit of money helps. Meeting people that have come from the same either hard drugs or whatever it s nice to be adults together. We have our own jokes and our serious moments. You come here and there is always someone here to help. You feel relaxed when you re here, as if you ve know them all your life. The Next Steps staff ask what do you want? It makes you kind of think what do I want? I take what they offer with both hands. I had a mentor. It was helpful. People want to talk to someone that is neutral. So that bit was brilliant too. I was able to talk about deep inside my family, my personal life. She is not there to criticise you. She s just there to listen