Local health and voluntary agency schemes across England aimed at supporting addicts to continue their recovery in their community are amongst those who will benefit from a share of £8m of new money.

The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) announced the allocation of this new capital funding on the eve of the UK Recovery Walk 2010 when people in recovery, their family and friends, service providers and supporters from across the UK will gather in Glasgow to walk in solidarity.

The news also comes at a time when the government is consulting on the shape of the new drug strategy, to be announced later this year and which is expected to promote drug treatment focussed on recovery.
The extra funding, shared between 124 projects, will provide a significant boost to services working towards supporting the recovery of individual drug addicts in community, residential and prison settings. It also provides additional funding to ten young peoples' substance misuse services across the country.

NTA director of delivery Rosanna O'Connor said the additional funding demonstrated the government's commitment to a rapid transformation of the treatment system to promote sustained recovery and get more people off illegal drugs for good.

"Treatment enables addicts to turn round their lives, overcome their dependency and achieve abstinence, while also cutting drug-fuelled crime and reducing the health risks to communities.

"The NTA remains determined to provide a balanced treatment system in which clients move as quickly and safely as possible through treatment to recovery and reintegration into their local community.

"Recovery from addiction can and should be happening in a range of environments, in local communities as well as in prisons. The community, voluntary and health sectors all have a role to play in focussing treatment provision on recovery.

"Local NTA support teams will be working with the successful projects to ensure the funding is spent as efficiently as possible to enable more drug users to overcome addiction."

The two projects supported with the largest investment of £350,000 each are Trust the Process recovery housing project in the Wirral and Burton Addiction Centre social enterprise café.  Both are aimed at substance-misusers who are committed to continuing on the path of recovery.

Other examples of bids supported include:

• The remodelling of Lewisham's treatment services in both the north and south of the borough
• Recovery housing projects in areas including Hartlepool and Derbyshire
• Equipment to support 20 self help groups promoting peer mentoring and recovery networks across the East Midlands
• The refurbishment of residential rehabs in the South West, including Clouds House, Trevi House, Broadway Lodge and Broadreach House
• Crime Reduction Initiative's St Thomas Fund in Brighton and Hove which provides accommodation, detoxification and rehabilitation to homeless drug users with complex needs including mental health problems
• The Bridge Project in Bradford which provides abstinent based recovery services, day programme and a social enterprise recovery cafe
• Improved facilities for drug using prisoners receiving treatment in HMP Full Sutton, East Riding
• A supported housing project in Suffolk specifically aimed at offenders in recovery 

More details on regional projects

Full details of all the projects supported

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NOTES TO EDITORS
The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) is a National Health Service (NHS) special health authority which aims to improve the availability, capacity and effectiveness of drug treatment in England.  We help people to overcome addiction and regain their lives.

Bidding process: NTA local delivery support teams asked for bid applications which were considered by a national panel based on local prioritisation, working to the following criteria:

• a good geographical spread across England
• covering the full range of service types, including adult community services, prison based treatment services, young people's treatment services and residential rehabilitation
• supporting the recovery agenda
• capable of being delivered by 31 March 2011

For further information about the NTA please contact Lynne Nasti, Senior Communications Officer (Media), on 020 7972 1920 (business hours) or 07747 535961 (out of hours) or visit our website at www.nta.nhs.uk.