Former addicts, their friends, families and supporters in Bedfordshire, Cambridge-shire, Essex, Herts, Norfolk and Suffolk have announced the launch of the second annual Regional Recovery Month in June.
Prisons, community halls and treatment centres in the region will throw open their doors for a colourful series of events designed to give those in drink or drugs treatment or anyone in the community affected by substance misuse a chance to see at first hand the benefits that freedom from addiction brings.
A key aim of the event is to encourage new 'recovery champions' to get involved to help others to turn away from a drug dependent lifestyle. They would need to be able to spare a few hours a week to share their experience with those in treatment and encourage them towards a more purposeful and fulfilling life in recovery.
Organisers will issue purple bows as a symbol of support for the recovery movement. Highlights this year also include, for the first time, a regional recovery awards evening to recognise key people, projects or services making an outstanding contribution to enabling former addicts to live drink or drug-free lives.
Recovery Month is sponsored for the second year running by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA), a special health authority which aims to improve the availability, capacity and effectiveness of drug treatment in England.
NTA regional manager Emma Pawson said:
"We are working with partners in the local community to build a recovery system that focuses not only on helping people to get into treatment, but also on supporting them into full recovery, leaving dependency behind and successfully contributing to society.
"People are far more likely to pursue recovery in their own lives when they see others like them living free from dependency which is why we are delighted to once again be sponsoring this important regional event.
The numbers of people leaving treatment in the East of England having successfully overcome dependency has increased by nearly 400%, from 433 in 2005 – 06 to 2,116 in 2009-10, the latest period for which data is available.
Notes to Editors
Contact
For further information about the Eastern Region Recovery Week, please contact Emma Pawson, Acting Regional Manager on 07768 173758 or the NTA regional office on 01223 372553.
Latest statistics for drug treatment in East of England
Regional analysis and emerging trends can be found here
Latest drug treatment stats for the region (published October 2010) can be found here
About the future of the NTA
When it published the NHS white paper last year, the government announced that as part of the reforms proposed, the NTA would cease to exist as a separate organisation and its key functions would be transferred to a new national service, Public Health England (PHE).
The companion public health white paper subsequently made clear that reducing drug use, and enabling people to overcome dependency, recover fully and contribute to society, would be a key priority for this new public health service.
The Department of Health is now taking forward the transition to PHE, under which services will in future be commissioned by local authorities through Directors of Public Health, supported by Health & Wellbeing Boards.
During the interim period the NTA will drive the transformation from a 'treatment system' to a 'recovery system' to provide a solid foundation on which PHE can build.