2024 marks a special year for Adfam as we celebrate our 40th year. Over the course of 2024 we are releasing a series of monthly articles, reflecting on Adfam’s forty years, where things have improved for families, and where we still have progress to make. Along the way we’ll be speaking to a range of key people that have been active in supporting families affected by substance misuse ...
Behind familiar reporting of the latest rise in alcohol-related deaths, lies the less well known story of the bereavements these deaths entail for those who have lost a loved-one this way. Recent research is revealing that, whilst alcohol- and drug-related bereavements vary a lot, they are often severe, complex and long-lasting
“We’ve got to go for connectedness. We’ve really got to understand that no one set of professionals is going to work this. And working alongside and with the families, hearing the lived experience, hearing the voice. Now that is incredibly challenging, but I think it also has to be said that we’re not going to get anywhere if we don’t do that.”
We are really excited to announce that ultra-marathon runner and endurance athlete Frank Bingham is taking on the Speed Project later this month to raise money for Adfam! The Speed Project if you didn’t know, is a gruelling 500km race through the desert from Los Angeles to Las Vegas! The race commences from Santa Monica…
2024 marks a special year for Adfam as we celebrate our 40th year. Over the course of 2024 we are releasing a series of monthly articles, reflecting on Adfam’s forty years, where things have improved for families, and where we still have progress to make. Along the way we’ll be speaking to a range of key people that have been active in supporting families affected by substance misuse ...
2024 marks a special year for Adfam as we celebrate our 40th year. Established in 1984 by Simon Ann Dorin who could not find the support she needed to deal with her son’s heroin use. In its early years Adfam was run by volunteers using the vestry at the back of St George’s Church in…
Stigma is an issue that has impacted families affected by substance use for many years. In 2012 Adfam published Challenging stigma, a report which looked in detail at the stigma and prejudice faced by families. Among all else it found that, regardless of their own behaviour, families felt defined by the stigmatising labels attributed to their relatives struggling with substance use. One ...
In January the Government released its annual adult substance misuse treatment statistics for 2021 – 2022. The figures mostly showed little change from the previous year and responses from Local Government, NHS providers and charities struggled to find anything new to say. They broadly welcomed an increase in the number of people seeking treatment for alcohol, and generally highlighted the ...
This is an unsent letter from a mother to her son called ‘I am not having it’, which has been kindly shared with us in the hope that it will help other mothers going through what she is going through.
I am not having it
‘Whatever you say AND forever and a day, “I am not having it”. “Are you listening, “I AM NOT HAVING IT; I am powerful and I am me”.
I am shouting it from the ...
This article was originally published in the April edition of DDN magazine on Monday 3rd April. The edition can be downloaded here (p13): https://www.drinkanddrugsnews.com/ddn-april-2023/
Unhealthy Relationship
Drinking does not necessarily need to be frequent or considered dependent for it to have a damaging impact on intimate partner* relationships. This is one of the key discoveries ...
Read the runner-up from Adfam’s Family Voices Competition 2022. Family Voices is an annual poetry and creative writing competition open to families affected by substance use to share their experiences.
Needed. They needed it, but I always thought it was a choice. Every night, until that creeped into the day. Functioning at first, and then not. Keeping it hidden, and then not. The drink. ...