Peer suPPort
A solid foundation
ESH Works was built from a dream of peer-based recovery . Paul Urmston shares their story
Iused drink to cope . I didn ’ t really fit in the corporate world but I did it for fame , glory and money – all to make me look good in the eyes of other people . After coming out of detox and rehab for the second time I decided that enough was enough and that life was actually about being the person you really are and not what you thought everyone else wanted . So the acting stopped and I started a new life . That was more than 17 years ago . While I was volunteering in recovery a decade ago , I was involved in a project looking at the quality of service provision for addicts and alcoholics in Coventry and Warwickshire . The conclusion of my mini-report back to the drug and alcohol action teams was that there was a lot of support available for people in addiction – but if it ’ d been a relay race , there were a lot of dropped batons ( clients ) when they were passed between organisations . There was also a major shortfall in the support for family members , with nowhere to turn to for help and advice .
This motivated three of us in recovery to form ESH Works – which stands for
‘ As part of the funding drive , we sent dozens of letters out to CEOs of major manufacturers and suppliers , with mixed responses – but if you don ’ t ask you don ’ t get .’
Experience , Strength and Hope – a peer-led mutual support and user involvement organisation to support family members and help guide people through the complexities of recovery and the different services provided . There was also a bit of a dream there that one day we could run a totally peer-led residential rehab facility – not for profit , but just because it was the right thing to do .
We started our not-for-profit social enterprise in the depression years and our mantra was ‘ If we can make it work now then we ’ re going to be ok ’ – and we did make it work . We ’ ve moved on to the point of opening Warwickshire ’ s first residential rehab fully staffed by people in recovery .
Back in 2009 drug and alcohol commissioners in Warwickshire were ahead of their time when they funded a couple of thousand pounds to instigate a family support network . Things progressed from there and we delivered our family support all around Warwickshire , hiring local community centres and halls most nights of the week .
We started in a small office in a local council ‘ start-up ’ enterprise hub , where we co-ordinated everything . When we first advertised the groups in some locations there would be no one there for the first month or more , until people started noticing the posters and leaflets that we ’ d dropped off at pharmacies and doctors surgeries .
I remember sitting in an empty room in at a community centre in Nuneaton one wet night , when two people came in . We ’ d been going to this room on the same night each week for nearly two months without anyone attending . We gave the couple a cuppa , talked through our experiences and the problems they were having with their son , and they went away saying we ’ d helped . As they continued to come back to our group we found out later that the husband was about to commit suicide the night they first came in , but had seen our leaflet that night in the doctor ’ s surgery and diverted to our group . That changed his life and ours ! They ’ ve continued to attend and have volunteered with us for many years .
As this family support developed we had a moment of clarity and decided we should include a volunteer in long term recovery in each of our family groups . This was a revelation for our family members – they had a ‘ tame addict ’ to fire questions at , who didn ’ t pull the steel shutters down when asked about addiction . This approach is now recognised around the country as good practice , providing the volunteer is supported well in their own recovery so they ’ re not put at risk of discussions opening old wounds .
20 | drinkanddrugsnews | October 2017 www . drinkanddrugsnews . com