Join the Women’s Treatment Working Group webinar tomorrow (11 March) exploring how lived experience and role modelling in residential services is giving voice to marginalised women and strengthening care for all.
Find out more and sign up here: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/84067e...
#IWD
We encourage people to attend across the full range of roles that might influence the design and delivery of treatment services, whether in commissioning or management roles, or prescribers and direct support workers.
Find out more and register here: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/96b550...
Attendees will not only have the chance to hear the latest on two key research projects, but will also be able to ask questions and discuss how we can take these recommendations forward to improve services and support.
The session will feature academics from the University of Bristol and Stirling University explaining recommendations on how services can help reduce overdoses and help people make positive changes in their lives.
We're delighted to announce that we're hosting another webinar, this time hearing about the latest academic research on how we can best support people using #benzodiazepines.
#Addiction #MentalHealth #Drugs #Alcohol
Join the Women’s Treatment Working Group webinar on 11 March exploring how lived experience and role modelling in residential services is giving voice to marginalised women and strengthening care for all.
Find out more and sign up here: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/84067e...
#GiveToGain #IWD
Register your place here: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/a46f82...
#London #Recovery #Alcohol #Drugs #Addiction
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Spring has almost sprung and the first London Recovery Network webinar date of 2026 has landed!
Topics include the importance of instilling purpose as part of recovery, neurodiversity & relationships support & an update on our digital mapping, event training workshops & upcoming events in 2026! 1/2
As Dame Carol Black said in 2021, “Government faces an unavoidable choice: invest in tackling the problem or keep paying for the consequences.” This is an urgent call for the current Government to make the right choice & tackle problems related to alcohol & other drugs head on.
Charities are uniquely placed to help the Government deliver on its missions, and we are already delivering positive change for individuals and communities across the country – but we will achieve even more if the Government provides leadership.
And we have written about how the Government needs to step up its plans on harm reduction to respond to the emergence of synthetic opioids: collectivevoice.org.uk/blog/the-gov...
For example, we had a list of low and no cost policies ready to be implemented in our submission to the Autumn Budget consultation: collectivevoice.org.uk/cv-response/...
These are not the *only* steps that Government should take, but they are the essential foundation for the change needed. We will continue to work on the full range of issues & opportunities in our field & have already been clear in calling for specific interventions or policies.
Implementing the sentencing review will require a modest investment that will provide rapid and sustained returns in reducing reoffending, and lessen future pressure on prison capacity.
This plan must be developed in collaboration with the third sector and others to ensure more people who need support with their substance use can be treated in the community rather than being sent to prison.
5. The Government should develop a detailed and fully-resourced plan to deliver the recommendations of the Independent Sentencing Review.
This has been clearly recommended by both Dame Carol Black in a recent review and the Justice Select Committee’s 2025 report into drugs in prisons, as well as a recent National Audit Office report.
4. The Government should commission substance use treatment & recovery services in prison directly with the provider, separately from other health services, in partnership local councils & prison governors as well as health, with pathways to both community & residential services
We have a clear blueprint laid out by Dame Carol Black: regional or subregional commissioning. The Government should urgently convene an expert working group of commissioners, residential & community providers & people with lived / living experience to develop an agreed plan.
3. Residential treatment must be an accessible option in every part of the country, in line with published evidence and Government guidance. The current system of funding and procurement isn’t working – it’s an inefficient postcode lottery.
The evidence clearly shows that funding treatment and recovery services in this way will provide a strong return on investment, saving lives and reducing crime, thereby reducing pressure on the NHS, the criminal justice system and wider public services, including social care.
2. To achieve a world class treatment system the Government must restore the 5-year programme of investment recommended by Dame Carol Black. This funding must be ringfenced and protected against inflation and other cost pressures.
The statement should outline clear, shared objectives for relevant departments & organisations to demonstrate a collective ambition for the nation’s treatment & recovery services. There should be a dedicated Minister to lead on the strategy & clear inter-departmental governance
1. The Government should publish a position statement on drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services to reaffirm their commitment to reduce deaths and crime linked to alcohol and other drugs, and maximise recovery.
You can read about these steps in full on our website: collectivevoice.org.uk/news/from-ho...
But here we'll outline them briefly...
Today, Collective Voice is outlining the five essential steps we think the Government needs to take on #alcohol and other #drugs to ensure substance use treatment is accessible and effective for everyone who could benefit from it. 🧵
#Addiction #PublicHealth #MentalHealth
We have also joined forces with @local.gov.uk to highlight the exploitation of vulnerable people through ‘patient brokering’ in this sector. localgovassoc-newsroom.prgloo.com/news/joint-c...
We are therefore calling on the Government to urgently re-start the programme of investment recommended by the Independent Review of Drugs, and work with us to develop a plan to reduce deaths and harm. Read our full statement here: www.collectivevoice.org.uk/news/collect...
Funding has been frozen & Government hasn't yet developed a plan or strategy to reduce drug-related harm. This couldn't be more urgent: more people are dying from drug-related causes than ever before & with the emergence of synthetic opioids there has never been a more dangerous time to take drugs.
