UPFRONT
Drink and Drugs News is
published by CJ Wellings Ltd,
Romney House, School Road,
Ashford, Kent TN27 0LT
t: 0845 299 3429
Editor: Claire Brown
e: [email protected]
Advertising manager: Ian Ralph
e: [email protected]
Reporter: David Gilliver
e: [email protected]
Designer: Jez Tucker
e: [email protected]
Subscriptions:
e: [email protected]
website:
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
Website support by
wiredupwales.com
Printed on environmentally
friendly paper by the Manson
Group Ltd
Cover by: Brain light / Alamy
CJ Wellings Ltd does not accept
responsibility for the accuracy
of statements made by
contributors or advertisers.
The contents of this magazine
are the copyright of CJ Wellings
Ltd, but do not necessarily
represent its views, or those of
its partner organisations.
IN THIS ISSUE
ON THE COVER: The service user experience
12
Refuge
from
domestic
abuse
6
Recovery is
always possible
INSIDE
4 NEWS Gambling regulation weak;
a new phase of the Carol Black review
9 OUTDOOR EVENTS Advice by Kevin Flemen
10 REACHING OUT Just talk, says Forward
11 WORLD HEPATITIS DAY with the Hep C Trust
14 BILL NELLES Doctor wars, part two
18 SUPERVISED INJECTING FACILITIES – reality?
20 LETTERS Benzo trap, films, and being included
22 ZOOMING IN Wellbeing with Humankind
23 REFLECTIONS Thoughts from David Finney
24 THEY SAID WHAT..? Spotlight on the
national media
The right questions
16 8
STAYING STRONG IN PARTNERSHIP
Find the resources to stay ahead of
coronavirus from the DDN partners
and community at
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
We are especially grateful to our network of
partners at this difficult time and thank each
and every one of them for their loyal support.
DDN is a self-funded independent publication. Our bespoke partnership packages provide
an opportunity to work closely with the magazine. Please get in touch to find out more.
‘Service users are
central to everything’
CONVERSATIONS AT THE MOMENT often come back to feelings of
anxiety and isolation, so we’re pleased to be able to keep sharing
the ways you’re responding positively to the COVID situation.
Forward Trust are among those looking for creative ways to
engage their service user community (p10), while Open Road and
Humankind are also redoubling their efforts to connect with service
users and make sure no one is isolated (p16 and p22).
With lockdown likely to have a disproportionate effect on women
(June issue, p9), we have an insight into domestic abuse support
(p12), while Kevin Flemen looks out for young people in the summer
party season with some targeted harm reduction advice (p9).
As Bill Nelles (p14) would be the first to remind us, harm
reduction must stay top of the agenda so we’re pleased to see
the cross-sector mobilisation to make injecting facilities a reality
(p18) and to support the call for redoubled efforts on eliminating
hepatitis C (p11) as World Hepatitis Day approaches on 28 July.
As one of our letter-writers points out (p20) service user
involvement should be central to everything
we do, so we hope you get involved with
the two initiatives from the research team
(p6) and PHE (p8) to bring lived experience
to the heart of informing treatment.
Claire Brown, editor
Keep in touch at
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
and @DDNmagazine
WWW.DRINKANDDRUGSNEWS.COM JULY/AUGUST 2020 • DRINK AND DRUGS NEWS • 3