In the late ‘ 70s he was a pioneer along with others to persuade the government to invest serious money to support both existing and fledgling drug services across the UK . Along with the late Dave Turner from SCODA ( the Standing Conference on Drug Abuse , latterly DrugScope ) and the South London Consortium , a collective of voluntary agencies who persuaded the then government to invest in drug treatment when addiction became a political concern after the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 , David participated in the ACMD report on drug treatment and rehabilitation .

At the time nobody really

believed that there was a cure for heroin addiction . David went to Phoenix House in the early 1970s as a resident to tackle his own addiction to heroin , having been a face in the ‘ 60s art world . He completed the tough programme and went on to become a senior staff member – when the director resigned in 1976 , he was appointed director of Featherstone Lodge , the first of the Phoenix Houses .

Phoenix House was an experimental rehabilitation centre based in Forest Hill . Originally it had a very harsh but caring regime . Dave T , as he was known , set about changing the extreme methods into the foundation of how Phoenix operates today . He was influenced by Maxwell Jones of the Henderson hospital , a famous therapeutic community .

His creativity started the

development of several Phoenix Houses around the country funded by the Department of Health . The first of these was in Sheffield , and subsequently South Shields , the Wirral and Bexhill were opened all with their local management committees . In time a Phoenix House therapeutic community was opened in Scotland , and family units were introduced at several centres including Brighton .

David had a holistic view of rehabilitation , which advanced all areas of living in the community without recourse to addictive behaviour – including training and employment , independent living skills and social skills . He formed the first re-entry and independent living houses with group support at each of the projects . It made sense for Phoenix House to become a housing association , which he pioneered .

David was good with people . He was an excellent networker , and following the national development of Phoenix House he joined the World Federation of Therapeutic Communities ( WFTC ) – a worldwide association for advancing drug treatment and rehabilitation around the world . He quickly became a board member .

In the 1970s David was a pioneer ... at a time when nobody really believed that there was a cure for heroin addiction .

Projects in Australia , India , Indonesia , Greece and a host of other countries opened and were supported with training and development .

David was dedicated to starting , along with others , the European Federation of Therapeutic Communities ( EFTC ). When he was president in the late ‘ 80s and ‘ 90s , many new rehabilitation centres started all over Europe . Staff exchanges , research and an annual conference all brought fresh thinking into our fledgling drug field . He was also actively involved in the Labour Party in Lewisham .

His legacy includes many lives being saved ( including my own ) from chronic drug addiction but also many of the great workers in all areas of treatment have come through the Phoenix House model or been influenced by its therapeutic approaches .

David was great fun to be with and an inspiration for residents . He leaves behind the love of his life , his wife , Caroline ; daughters Candida and Jemima ; and his grandchildren .