With You celebrates one year of delivering ADDER accelerator programme with Liverpool City Council and partners
10 August 2022
Wednesday 10 August 2022: In July 2021 Liverpool was announced as one of the Government’s ADDER (Addiction, Diversion, Disruption, Enforcement and Recovery) Accelerator programme locations. The city received additional funding to reduce the everyday harm of drug use to people and communities across Liverpool.
As the lead provider in delivering ADDER for Liverpool City Council, With You has been working with key partners across Liverpool's health and social care infrastructure to ensure that people are offered a health based approach to tackling their drug use, diverting them away from the criminal justice system.
Sarah Humphreys, Contract Manager at With You says: “We’re proud to announce that after just one year of running the ADDER Accelerator programme in Liverpool, we have already seen a 10.5% increase in the number of people actively receiving treatment in our services.
“This major investment into our front line services has allowed us to realise many of our ambitions to improve the way we support people with their substance use. We’ve been able to use a whole system approach to develop an intensive treatment and rehabilitation system that strengthens partnership working with Merseyside Police, Merseycare NHSFT Trust and YMCA Together so that we can support more individuals, in communities and places that have previously been hard to reach.
“With the support and collaboration of key partners, for example Merseyside Police, we have been able to set up a sex workers healthcare hub to provide clinical interventions to individuals who have previously struggled to access specialist drug and alcohol services. We have now taken our service into the community, providing a needle exchange, naloxone training programme, one to one trauma informed psychosocial support and peer led support group sessions. As a result we have been able to support 48 women to make more informed choices to keep themselves safe and reduce risk.”
Jackie*, a service user from With You in Liverpool’s sex workers healthcare hub, said: “I had a quite good upbringing but dad was a big drinker. As I got older I fell in with the wrong crowd. It escalated when I came to Liverpool. I ran away from a violent relationship. Then crack came into play and my life went downhill. I was sleeping at the front of the Albert Dock. I stole off anyone. My life was just downtrodden. Then I met Julie from With You, and Julie said I’m going to get you to a safe place.
“Since I’ve been with With You in Liverpool I’ve not taken any drugs in nine months. I’ve become a recovery community champion and that let me work with girls in the red light district where I was once a part of. I wake in the morning, I smile, I pay my bills. I’ve never paid a bill in my life. It makes me feel so amazing."
ENDS
Notes to the Editor
For more information or interview requests, please contact the With You media team:
pressoffice@wearewithyou.org.uk / 07811 045876
About With You
With You is a leading UK drug, alcohol and mental health charity. Each year we work with more than 100,000 people in over 120 locations across Scotland and England, providing a free and confidential service without judgement to people experiencing issues with drugs, alcohol or mental health.
About the data
Between 1 July 2021 - July 2022 2,512 people have actively received treatment for issues with drugs and alcohol at With You in Liverpool services. 238 of those people have actively received treatment directly through the ADDER accelerator programme.
About the case study
*Names have been changed to protect identities.