Drug recovery work, Plymouth

How Hamoaze House works

Roma French, chief executive of Hamoaze House: 'We had a major meeting and I asked if there was anyone in the hall who wanted the project. Just one lady put her hand up and said "My son died of an overdose two months ago. Maybe you could have stopped that happening". I saw that as the turning point.'

'The Devonport area has disproportionate problems, often with alcohol,' explains Roma French, the chief executive. 'It was seen as the place where sailors got smashed. Union Street, which connects Devonport to the city, once had 100 boozers. Even now it is a red light area. None of this has been a good environment for local people.

'We see ourselves as being at the forefront of helping to improve the local community's sense of safety and self worth. Users who come here from the NDC area and elsewhere are signing up to a new way of life. The more we can help this way the more we can reduce the impact of drug misuse and alcohol on everyone else around them in their area.'

Project manager Mark Bignell helps to run the 'affected others' group: 'There is a huge job to be done helping those around drug and alcohol abusers to cope with the impact this has on them and the wider community. For example, we have grannies coming in here worried about their grandchildren because their daughters are on heroin.'

The affected others group, previously only available on Monday afternoons, is being funded by the Drug Action Team to run two evenings a week as well as the afternoon session, so that working people and more fathers can come. Bignell: 'This group is all about sharing concerns, sharing knowledge, and destigmatising the problem. Parents feel they have to solve this problem themselves - we help them understand that they can't do this on their own. Sometimes they lie on behalf of their children. Sometimes they pay their children's bills. We help them understand that by doing these things they are removing the consequences of drug users' actions.' So far this group has helped 46 people, with 11 actively attending session regularly in June 2004.

NDC support

The NDC has funded capital works at the House, including the gym and a small astro pitch. It also pays for two of the five drug workers and two sports development workers. They offer users a chance to improve their fitness and get used to exercise, as well as running the gym for any local resident and community group to use.

Offering services and facilities to residents with no connection to its core services has helped to demystify what Hamoaze House does. It has also helped to provide support services that were previously unavailable to local residents.

Lynne Bell: 'the only real social activities in Devonport have tended to be going out on the beer. There is so much going on at Hamoaze House that gives people real alternatives, people can be free of the pressure to go to the pub here.'

Some of the funding for Hamoaze recently has come from seized assets from a local drug dealer - £6,000 was donated by the police to help pay for facilities that local children can use, such as trampolines and a 'junk' band.