Network Bumper Issue 2014

ISSUE 27

NETWORK THE BUMPER ISSUE

DEC 2014

DEAR ALBERT

GETTING ACTIVE

THE POLAND PREMIER

TACKLING THE PHOENIX BELLY

PHOENIX SHOWCASE

A BUMPER EDITION CELEBRATING GREAT WORK AROUND PHOENIX

CELEBRATE

PEER AWARDS HOLLOWAY BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

PEOPLE AND PERFORMANCE

A LETTER FROM OUR CEO Phoenix Futures Group has welcomed and embraced many new and exciting changes in 2014. At the beginning of the year Foundation66 joined us bringing with them valuable skills and expertise to our growing team. Our award-winning ECEtt programme saw staff travel to other organisations around Europe to share ideas and learn new practices. We also celebrated our biggest Recovery Month yet. To help showcase the great work and dedication displayed by you, our staff, we’ve put together this bumper issue of Network.

Through your words and pictures we’ve been able to illustrate just some of the highlights from the past year. I’d like to thank everyone who has contributed to Network, and encourage you to continue sharing your stories in the New Year.

Karen Biggs, Chief Executive

REBRANDING PHOENIX At the Phoenix Roadshows in March Karen launched our redefined Purpose and, Values and Beliefs.

Our values are important because they define what’s unique about Phoenix Futures, it’s our passion for recovery, our belief in being the best provider we can be, and our shared history.

In the busy environment we work in where it seems there is always more we should be doing, we should occasionally reflect that Phoenix staff, volunteers and partner organisations have been giving their passion and expertise for over 40 years, fuelled by the achievements of many thousands of our services users and through some tough times, to ensure that today we’re better at what we do than ever before. We don’t often talk about it, because we’re often too busy supporting the next person in need, but we know that many people are alive and enjoying life today because of the contribution you make today and the contribution many others have made in the past. That’s why we’re reminding people we are ‘Experts in Recovery for more than 40 years’ and in Scotland we’re proud to be celebrating more than 20 years of bringing our expertise to help transform lives. As the Phoenix Futures Group grows and shares the achievements of NORCAS and Foundation66 we’re proud to remind people that as one Phoenix Futures Group we’re better equipped than ever to fulfil our purpose.

The new logos are now available in the Phoenix Futures Brand Files in the N Drive. Don’t throw anything away with the old logo on, we know there are more important things to spend money on than replacing logos, but as you need to replace and reprint you’ll start seeing the new logos and straplines.

James Armstrong, Head of Marketing and Communications

DEAR ALBERT I’m writing this article from Poznan, Poland; at the ‘Off Cinema’ International Documentary Film Festival. Here the film featuring aspects of my work and life story, ‘Dear Albert’, has been selected to be part of this prestigious event. There are several hundred people here from all over the world; lots of cultures sharing a common medium.

While the end of the film looms, my imagination harps back to yesterday, when I attempted to obtain a nonimmigrant visa at the American Consular in London. It was becoming all too apparent a man with my history was being deemed too much of a potential risk. A screen with its back to me flashed: Drug violation.

Entry denied.

The actions of twenty years ago like a ghostly residue tapping on the shoulder of the American dream, colouring my complexion. My family’s hopes of a holiday of a lifetime in New York next year dashed.

Back past armed guards eying me down, void of visa.

I’d have to tell Sally, make alternative arrangements, wave them off at… …but then I can hear clapping and I’m back at the international film festival. An audience of 350 clapping their approval as the first ever showing of Dear Albert (with subtitles) concludes its European Premiere.

And there it all was: sitting in front of me amongst flickering images of mixed media and applauding viewers.

Addiction and all its legacies, extenuating the ugly and beautiful like a joint charge of positive and negative electric still rushing through me. I’ll tell my children, Joe and Harry, and my wife, Sally, that they are sure to have a great time without me in New York, (they surely will) and I’ll say to myself, again, that I am rich in all I have lost.

And I tell those that see the film that I’m grateful for them being there.

People come up afterwards; thank me for being in an emotional film. One person comments that it would have been ideal for her brother to have seen the film before he was struck by an overdose. I say that I hoped it was not too painful for her to see and that I shared her view on the importance of getting to more people sooner, so that others like her brother have a better chance of survival. Dear Albert the film can be used as a vehicle to promote what I call ‘early recovery’.

Working out how best to say goodbye to drink and drugs is probably the most significant thing anybody with a substance addiction will ever do. Being in the film has reaffirmed in me the importance of giving the time and space for each service user to share their story when the time is right, and to begin preparing for the road ahead. My route to living drug and alcohol free started with a letter: ‘Dear Albert’.

Jon Roberts Leicester Recovery Partnership

DANCE THERAPY AT PENTONVILLE When Bea Wheeler, from Phoenix’s Building Futures programme at HMP Pentonville, was approached by Goldsmith’s University’s Dance Movement Psychotherapy (DMP) programme she saw an opportunity to utilise a type of therapy that hadn’t been used in the prison before. I caught up with Bea to find out how the students from Goldsmith’s helped launch Dance Movement Psychotherapy at HMP Pentonville.

What is Dance Movement Psychotherapy and why did you decide to run the programme at Pentonville?

DMP is basically as a psycho-analytic use of movement and dance through which a person can engage creatively in a process to further their emotional, cognitive, physical and social integration and it’s based on the idea that movement reflects a person’s patterns of thinking and feelings. Immediately we thought that links in with our approach which is CBT based.

It encourages prisoners to use movement to give them a chance to work through emotional difficulties or develop strengths and express creativity.

What preparation did the DMP students do before starting the programme?

We asked the students to create a series of introductory sessions for them to gage interest in the population, they also did a lot of research around substance misuse and some of the emotional and physical effects of using substances and being in recovery, withdrawing, etc. They tailored these introductory sessions to certain groups.

Which groups were involved in the programme?

The students developed a programme for our detox users focused around withdrawal symptoms. All of the techniques used in the sessions were around managing stress and breathing and the other symptoms you can get when withdrawing from heroin or alcohol. Likewise they had a group running on our drug-free wing. These guys are abstinent; they’re completely drugs free but may be having to deal with the other things that come with living in recovery. So it might be cravings or different emotional situations or communication skills, those things that come later down the line in recovery.

What feedback did you get from the prisoners?

Prisoners said that they were dealing better with complex situations, that they were opening up to their support networks, that they were communicating better within the prison, and not having negative entries on the prison system.

Final words?

We’ve had a great experience with the DMP students, we’re going to continue with the placement here in the prison.

For any prison services, it worked at Pentonville, which is a complex and diverse prison and it definitely links in with our approach of holistic drug treatment. It’s definitely an avenue that’s working here and could work in other services and prisons If you’re a London service interested in starting a Dance Movement Psychotherapy programme contact Brenda Naso, Clinical Placement Co-ordinator at Goldsmiths University for more information: b.naso@gold.ac.uk

TACKLING THE PHOENIX BELLY It was last summer when I first heard a Service User tell me they’d grown the famous ‘Phoenix Belly’.

Upon further questioning it turned out that this was a phenomenon regularly discussed amongst the community and was commonly believed to be a result of a carbohydrate heavy diet and a lack of opportunities to exercise. It hadn’t really dawned on me until then that this was an area of recovery in which we weren’t supporting our clients as well as we could. Following further discussions with a few reluctant owners of the ‘Phoenix Belly’ we decided to take action.

The first thing we did was introduce ‘Running Club’. We implemented a regular slot in the programme where I would take residents running in the local area.

This not only provided a great opportunity to get some exercise but also gave them the chance to talk through any issues in a different context. This has increased in popularity to the point where we supported 8 clients to complete a locally organised 5km park run in June.

Earlier this year Aaron Pinkney joined us as a volunteer. With qualifications in Motivational Interviewing and Psychology and experience of delivering physical exercise classes (combined with bags of enthusiasm) he seemed like the ideal candidate to improve our programme in this respect. Since Aaron has started he has introduced another regular health and wellbeing slot into the programme structure. This includes delivery of a short weekly presentation on different aspects of health and wellbeing such as nutrition, physical activity vs physical exercise, and exercise as a relapse prevention tool. He then holds an open drop-in session for residents to meet with him and discuss personal training plans, nutrition/dietary plans and discuss ideas of physical activities that they would like to get involved in. Afterwards he facilitates a circuit training session which has proven to be very popular.

An exciting development is that through contacts at Sheffield University we have managed to secure two regular circuit training slots at the University, which will enable clients to be granted free gym membership if they attend the circuit training regularly. The memberships include a consultation with a strength and conditioning coach who is known internationally and a sports psychologist.

Needless to say we are extremely excited about the ever growing interest our clients are showing in this aspect of recovery! If you would like to know more please contact david.venables@phoenix-futures.org.uk or aaron.pinkney@ phoenix-futures.org.uk David Venables, Sheffield Adult Services

TAKING THE REINS IN BARNSLEY The Barnsley Recovery Navigation Service are another team taking an innovative approach to recovery.

Working with local stables they’ve set up the Reins To Recovery programme, which pairs service users up with horses for a 10 week period. Each week has a theme based around recovery that aims to enable participants to learn about themselves while developing new skills, which all together enables them to progress in their recovery.

Over the 10 week course the group carry out tasks with the horses that marry up with their own journey of recovery. In the first three weeks the focus was on team work, confidence building and self-reflection. The participants selected their horses, learnt how to look after them and how to instruct and command them both verbally and through using only body language. All the time the group were using the activities to reflect on their recovery.

Senior Practitioner from the Barnsley Recovery Navigation, Nicola Sidgwick, is very pleased by the outcomes of the programme..

“The feedback from the participants has been amazing and they are exceeding even my expectations of what they would get out of the course.

The group has bonded really well and we are all having so much fun at the same time!”

“I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for supporting this project, I am so confident that this type of intervention gives people a chance to consolidate learning done already into their treatment whilst learning about themselves in a unique environment. If anyone has any questions or wants to come and observe any of the sessions you are more than welcome.”

RELAPSE PREVENTION AT THE WIRRAL Our Wirral Residential Service have taken on a new approach to recovery by introducing a Relapse Prevention Programme (RPP). The 4 week programme focuses on exercise, health and nutrition as a way of encouraging recovery and preventing relapse. The programme is delivered by Cheshire based Relapse Prevention Programme. Here is an extract from their blog post on RPP at Phoenix.

Our first week of bringing Exercise and Nutrition interventions to the doorstep of the Phoenix Futures Wirral recovery setting has been fantastic.

“Supportive community” The residents adopted this philosophy at ease and already a positive supportive community environment was created, this is a testament to work already done at Phoenix, so thank you for welcoming us into your recovery community.

The first class was functional movement based, where there is a strong focus on technique, correction and understanding. This allows participants to learn and progress at their pace. Movements are chosen to complement everyday life, sitting and standing, pulling and pushing, jumping and throwing!

“Recognising your limiting factors” Two days later and the Nutrition seminar was in full flow, our seminars are purposely inclusive making sure everyone is “heard”. As usual some myths needed to be expelled with some logic coupled with the main focus being on Exercise and Nutrition “limiting factors”, in other words the stuff that gets in the way from achieving an optimal health, mind and body.

The guys again were very honest with their own limiting factors- smoking, sugar intake, lack of knowledge, stress, sleep to name a few.

After covering the mental, emotional, nutritional and physical implications of these, the guys put forward some strategies to overcome by making changes that are sustainable. Each was given their own limiting factor log and strategies were individually written down to self monitor and to be reviewed at our next seminar.

“Making a change” Understanding how “change” actually works is key, and those in recovery already can identify how difficult that can be, in overcoming alcohol and substance abuse.

Change has to be coherent and the emphasis was on taking ownership, and what strategies one could put in place to make positive change habits sustainable.

Many people who make changes to the Exercise and Nutritional patterns fail as they jump in “too deep” and therefore can’t sustain it. Therefore knowing your own personal limits is massively important.

To read the rest of this blog post and for more information on the Relapse Prevention Programme, please visit their website: http://www.relapsepreventionprogramme.com/blog

VOYAGE OF RECOVERY 2014 During this year’s Recovery Month we took to the seas for our third Voyage of Recovery. Six crews from across Phoenix took part on the six leg journey off the southern coast. Administrator for NORCAS’s Ipswich service, Andrew Hovell, gives us his account of his days at sea.

Sunday afternoon as we all met up on the quayside at Gosport, apprehension about what we’d committed to, a step into the unknown.

Luckily the weather was fair so no raging seas as we cast off. Just a short hop to Stokes Bay where we’d moor for the night, just long enough to get our sea legs before supper, after which we were allocated to either Watch A or B. Tomorrow we were to embark on a 24 hour pluys night sail, so it was 4 hours on, 4 hours off until we reached Dartmouth.

After breakfast it was time to weigh anchor, was it 30mtrs of chain or 300mtrs? As the anchor was hauled up it seemed the latter. Soon we were heading past Cowes as we rounded the Isle of Wight clockwise before heading west. It soon became apparent that the most important task on the journey was to keep the skipper and crew topped up on a regular basis with tea and coffee. The first day saw the watches battling with the sails, there were ropes everywhere, each connected to a vital piece of the “jigsaw”. Soon we had the full set of 6 sails billowing in the breeze and, occasionally with the engine helping, we were skipping along at 6 knots.

Day 4 and it was our first encounter with a bit of rough weather, force 6 and the Tectona was heaving over with the occasional water breaking over the deck. For most of us this was exciting sailing, for others the nightmare of seasickness just got worse.

Luckily it didn’t last long as we moored in Hope Cove. Here the natives were curious about our journey and wished us well, did they mean it? Or were they just being polite? We will never know.

It was a dream, one of those chances of a life time...

I was lucky to live that dream.

Well it’s all over now, what can I say about it? It was a dream, one of those chances of a life time, and yes I was lucky to live that dream. A big thanks to all who made it possible, lets hope future staff and clients have the opportunity which I had.

Day 5 was our final leg to Plymouth just time for a swim en route at Jennycliff Bay before tying up at the Marina.

DRAMA AT PENTONVILLE At the Building Futures service at HMP Pentonville we offer a person-centred psychosocial programme for male offenders with substance misuse issues. Since July 2013, we’ve expanded this programme to include Dramatherapy which is a therapeutic service for service users located in Jubilee wing, the drug free unit. Introduced by Jamie Wong, an HCPC-Registered Dramatherapist, Jamie facilitates dramatherapy on a weekly basis.

In a Dramatherapy session, clients may work with story, improvisation, movement, music, poetry and art to enable selfexpression. This form of therapy is an indirect and non-confrontational way of working with deep-rooted problems as it allows clients to work safely with emotions. We run two types of Dramatherapy services: an open group (open invite taster sessions) and a closed group (a 6-week dramatherapy programme). The open group allows for new clients to try it out before committing to a more intensive closed group where they engage in a longer term therapeutic process.

At the start of 2014, a 6-week closed group was piloted for the first time where it was extremely well-received. This client group has benefitted from Dramatherapy because it has given them the opportunity for social interaction and creative expression. Rebuilding what may have been damaged or lost through a history of substance misuse and offending behaviour, clients learn to connect with their true selves and others. In Dramatherapy, one can gain a greater sense of self-awareness through understanding their emotions and learn to form healthy attachments when working with others in a group.

A creative form of therapy encourages self-expression and a better understanding of emotions.

By encompassing an inclusive approach to recovery, not only do service users have access to a range of interventions that include drug and alcohol awareness courses that address thinking, behaviour and motivation – they also have the option to engage in a creative form of therapy that encourages self-expression and a better understanding of their own emotions.

Jamie Wong, Building Futures

RECOVERY IN THE COMMUNIT Y Our Recovery in the Community programme is a Big Lottery funded initiative to support people who are recovering from alcohol and drug problems to develop skills and build confidence.

Sandra Sweeney has been running the programme in London since 2012, and has provided training and volunteer opportunities for people in recovery around the London boroughs. Sandra is now keen to see how Recovery in the Community can benefit those in recovery throughout England and Scotland.

For more information and to find out what support Recovery in the Community can offer your services users contact Sandra on sandra.sweeney@phoenix-futures.org.uk.

BUILDING FAMILY LINKS IN TRAFFORD Our Young People’s Service in Trafford has recently appointed a new Family Outreach Worker.

Emma Hunt joins the team after previously working in a family support role within social care.

Here she tells Network about her new role and how she’ll be helping Phoenix to support families.

The Family Outreach Worker role is new to the service and brings with it lots of opportunities to support the families of our young people. The main aspect of my role will be to deliver intensive support to the families, carers and significant others of our young people initially over a seven week period covering the following topics: • Health • Caring role • Managing at home

• • • •

Time for yourself How you feel Finances Work

The aim is to reach out to those who need support and are having to cope with the effects which alcohol and substance misuse has on their loved one. As a service we believe that by offering this support to families and loved ones there will be a positive impact for our young people. I believe that working in a holistic approach involving families in the treatment process will further enhance the positive work being completed by the substance misuse workers.

I am going to be establishing a FLAMES group within the service which will offer peer support within a group setting to people affected by the substance use of some under the age of 25. Not only will this be available to the families and carers of our young people, but also families and carers not known to our service. The hope is that by supporting the parents and carers of young people not yet known to our service, they will be able to speak with their young person and support them into treatment.

I am very excited about my role and the future prospects this could bring for our young people and their families and carers. I am working closely with the Family Worker from the Trafford Adult Services to plan a Family and Carers Celebration Event in the coming months.

CREATIVE RECOVERY AT PENTONVILLE Family support workers at Phoenix Future’s HMP Pentonville service held a writing-focused Creative Recovery group on Jubilee Wing at HMP Pentonville. The men were given an introductory exercise to imagine something that they enjoyed or loved – a place, a drug, a feeling, anything that had positive connotations for them. They were then asked to write down what this thing would taste, smell, feel, sound and look like, if they had to describe it to someone else.

This exercise had an inspiring effect upon the men, and some of them shared the ‘riddles’ that they had created, seeing if the group could guess what they were describing by the different sensations they attached to it. Now truly ready to write, the men were given the task of writing on the impact that their drug and alcohol use – or their recovery from drugs and alcohol – had or was having on themselves and their families. Each man came up with a very personal interpretation of this theme, and the memories and experiences that were relayed onto paper were brave, honest and powerful. The focus of the writing also stimulated lots of lovely debate and conversation on the subject of addiction and recovery. At the end of the session anyone who wanted to share their writing with the group was invited to read it out, and this process encouraged lots of identification and positive feedback from the other group members. The finished pieces were displayed as part of the Building Futures 2nd Anniversary event at HMP Pentonville on Tuesday 30th September.

Josie Standbrook, HMP Pentonville

SUPPORTING FAMILIES AT FOUNDATION66 When working with their service users our Foundation66 teams are constantly aware of the impact addiction and recovery can have on families and loved ones. I caught up with some of the Foundation66 services to find out how they support families and affected others.

The Older Person’s Alcohol Service “In addition to the assistance provided to clients, we also work directly with family members and carers of the substance user.

This support can take many forms, including meeting them individually and offering advice and guidance or referrals to other services. With older people it is sometimes incredibly important to have the input of their family members, and for them to be present when visiting the client, for example with patients diagnosed with dementia. It can help alleviate worries the client might have about professionals visiting their home. Family members and carers are kept up to date with the progress their loved one is making, or if there are any barriers to be worked through. Family members and carers are therefore able to gain support for their own feelings and experiences around living with a substance user, and are also fully informed on the care and guidance given to their loved one.”

Rebecca Marsh, Older Person’s Team Leader The 5 Step Model at CASS “During the assessment or during the keywork, if we identify that the significant other of our client needs support we offer them the 5 step model. This is a short term intervention, however we can refer them to a family group that takes place every week. Also we give information of Al-Anon meetings and again, depending on the need, we might refer them to family recovery programme.”

Alexandra Gatzoflia, CASS Team Leader About the 5 Step Model ADFAM refers to the 5 Step Model as a way of structuring either a one-off session or series of sessions to support a family member of someone affected by problematic drug or alcohol use.

The 5 Steps are: Step One Looking at how the problem affects family members: Listen, reassure and explore concerns

Step Three Explore coping responses

Step Two Provide relevant information about alcohol and drugs but also other issues

Step Five Explore: • further options for help & support • involvement of others in the family • scope for joint working

Step Four Explore social support

RBKC North Hub Our team at the Foundation66 RBKC North Hub take a number of measures to ensure families of those affected by problematic drug and alcohol use are supported. These measures include advising carers and signposting them towards the support they need, referring them to a dedicated care practitioner from Blenheim who provides oneto-one support using the 5 Step model, or referring them to our dedicated family therapy or carer groups at the South Hub.

PUTTING ON A SHOW IN THE RESIDENTIALS Nobody puts Phoenix in the corner! During September and October the Scottish Residential put on special performances of their new production ‘Dirty Prancing’.

On 27th September The Together Project (Scottish Residential and Re-Entry’s Dance and Drama Group) performed an original and fantastic show to over 400 people from the local community. Volunteers Carol, Tracey and Carly supported service users to create and perform ‘Dirty Prancing’ an original drama and dance production. The cast spent hours upon hours developing storylines, creating dance routines and making costumes and props. They have had to continually push themselves in an attempt to break out of their comfort zones and increase their confidence. Their talents and progress have naturally shone through and have shown a great passion for drama, dance and most of all for promoting recovery within the local community!

The Together Project was established in April 2007. Their reason for setting up was to engage recovering addicts with the arts, encouraging personal development and promoting a positive vision for the future.

Following the fantastic show, The Together Project were invited to perform at Glasgow Drug Crisis Anniversary Celebration on Thursday 23rd October. This was televised on the local news and really showed the external community that people do recover and can do whatever they put their mind to.

promoting a positive vision for the future

The Together Project were also invited by Wirral Residential Service to perform the show to their residents and to perform some dance routines at their annual Family Day event. This was another fantastic achievement and hopefully will inspire another Together Project to be created South of the Border!

Well Done to All Involved!

Tracy McConnell, Scottish Residential Service

And then the show went on the road...

To celebrate ADFAM’s 30th birthday celebrations we held a family day on Saturday 25th October at the Wirral residential service.

We had recently visited Glasgow to watch their residents perform their fantastic musical/comedy spoof of Dirty Dancing. We were so impressed we invited them down to the Wirral to entertain our residents and their families.

We used this day as an opportunity to promote the support on offer to families at the Wirral.

We had the father of an ex-resident come and do a talk about his positive experience of accessing our monthly FLAMES family group. The morning involved hard work to get everything ready for the guests arriving at 12pm.

The residents and staff of both Wirral and Glasgow Residentials all mucked in and, in true Phoenix style, the last decoration was hung seconds before the first family arrived.

We held an arts and crafts workshop for the children in the library, which was brilliantly decorated in a Halloween style by the Glasgow residents. We had a penalty shoot out, a FLAMES workshop, everyone was well fed by our kitchen department who laid on a buffet lunch, a Wirral resident along with one from Glasgow entertained the crowd with some acoustic songs….. and then the finale, the fantastic Glasgow mob performed song and dance numbers from their show! The day was a fantastic success and everyone left fed, watered, entertained and with a greater insight into what is on offer for the families of Phoenix residents and those who access our community services.

James Middleton, Wirral Residential Service

ART AND POETRY AT HOLME HOUSE During September the Drug and Alcohol Recovery Team (DART) ran competitions on the Drug Recovery Wing in HMP Holme House to celebrate this year’s Recovery Month.

We held a drawing competition where the lads were asked to create a poster which reflected recovery. The winner created a very colourful poster with all the things that can go wrong when using substances on one side of the road, and all the positive things which you can achieve on the other. The idea behind the painting being that the road in the middle was the road to recovery and you need to turn the right way for success.

For our writing competition the service users could either write a poem or story based on recovery.

The entries were all excellent in their own way and judging was difficult, but the winning poem was punchy and to the point which the judges liked.

For those who were neither artistic or enjoyed writing we also held several quizzes Each of the event winners received a prize, generously funded by our partnership manager, and all the residents on the wing seemed to enjoy engaging in the event even if they had not submitted an entry themselves.

Road to Recovery

by Jamie Davies I could talk about weed, I could talk about smack, I could go on all day, But I’ll never go back.

What’s the point in wasting my life?

I have three kids and a wife, Now I’m clean I’m buzzing like a bee, Because I took the road to...

RECOVERY!

KOESTLER TRUST ARTS BY OFFENDERS In November two poems written by service users at HMP Holme House were entered into the Koestler Trust ‘Art by Offenders’ competition. Both poems were selected for an exhibition that would be shown in both London and Birmingham. River Jordan’s poem Just Can’t Stand To Fall received a ‘Highly Commended’ recognition.

The Koestler Trust Art by Offenders award was launched in 1962 to help offenders lead more positive lives through participating in arts and to raise the public profile of art by offenders.

Below is an extract from Just Can’t Stand To Fall by River Jordan and R.B’s Life In A Bottle. Both poems can be seen in full on the Phoenix Futures website.

Just Cant Stand To Fall (an extract)

Life In A Bottle

It took 16 years to ground myself And just 6 seconds to fly Tattered and torn in the heartbreak zone Searching for an alibi

Smash the cork out with a carving knife Can’t get into the wine to save my life.

My hands do shake really bad And I feel the shame of living so sad.

I tried so hard to look inside And see what makes a human being All I found was a hollow heart And a silent scream

God loves me dearly of this I know But my stomach and bad head don’t confirm this as so.

Will I feel better if I just self harm?

Not in the long run, but I just will feel calm.

I’d swim across any ocean Just to find a little emotion I’ve only a single teardrop left And it’ll never be enough To cry myself to death

The blood coming out of me is very dark red I’ve hit a vein, I feel insane, and wish I was dead.

People say they care because they’re in shock It could be the worst they’ve seen on any house block.

I hit the mainline I wasn’t strung out I was killing time It was my business To know where the action is I took the fast line Maximum damage to my brain I live in a garbage truck All washed up and out of luck

Sixty years old soon and still feel a young buck Wasted all my years and tell people I don’t give a fuck.

But my soul cries out in horrid pain Empty of compassion, no I won’t let Jesus in again.

Clout me instead of giving me love You really are from heaven above.

But I despise myself more than I can say As I can’t feel joy & peace like on Christmas Day.

Why am I here? and what is it for?

Can’t possibly remember, as I talk to a metal door.

But then an Angel saved my soul today The sergeant tells me drunk and disorderly as they take a If id never met her, I would have thrown my life away photo of me My heart was just a wasteland Must still be a bit drunk as I thought she was a he!

My head was like a rubbish tip I guess that I was sinking fast Later in the bar and drinking like hell But she never abandoned ship Why must I drink so much to come out of my shell?

I feel the past, present and future all in one - River Jordan So I can’t live without drink, it always goes wrong.

- R.B

FOCUS ON PHOENIX HOUSE In April this year, I went on holiday to America and whilst there I had the opportunity to visit a variety of Phoenix House services in California and New York.

Phoenix House, a large US based drug and alcohol treatment charity, was first linked to Phoenix Futures back in 1967 when Professor Griffiths Edwards visited the US charity before setting up Featherstone Lodge; the first UK Phoenix service, in 1970.

Phoenix House is a large organisation operating across 11 states and runs a variety of services across prison, community and residential settings. Whilst in California, I had the opportunity to visit both the Phoenix House Los Angeles Venice Programme; a male only adult community and residential service, and the Academy of Los Angeles in Lake View Terrace; a young people’s community and residential service. The Venice Programme, although very interesting to visit, was similar in structure and set up to our own Phoenix services. The Academy of Los Angeles in Lake View Terrace is however different from our Phoenix services; the main part of the service operates a 110 bed Young People’s Residential Service for 13-18 year olds incorporating a high school.

Five hours later after hopping on a plane from San Francisco I arrived in New York where Phoenix House operates across 19 sites! My first visit was their head office, where I met with various Phoenix House staff including the Marketing Team and founder of Phoenix House; Mitch Rosenthal. I also had the chance to see the Phoenix House Career Academy, a fully accredited adult business and trade school open to service users from Phoenix House as well as 16-22 year olds from the local community. One of the services in the Academy is the Beyoncé Cosmetology Center founded by pop superstar Beyoncé Knowles and her mother Tina Knowles, the service is very popular and has impressive facilities.

With only 2 weeks in America, New York took me to the end of my trip. Although I was very sad to be leaving the states I was very excited to get back, review everything that I had seen and learnt and then highlight and feedback areas where we can improve, specifically the work that the marketing team does. My visits and meetings with Phoenix House USA were a unique learning experience, providing me with a much greater understanding and development opportunity that could only have been gained through visiting their services and meeting staff - and one that I will never forget!

Vicky Holdsworth, Marketing and Communications

FOCUS ON PHOENIX SCOTLAND Earlier this year ahead of Phoenix Scotland’s 20th Anniversary I caught up with Lyndsey Hague, Head of Operations for Scotland and the North East, to find out her plans for the future of our Scottish services.

What are your main focuses for Phoenix Scotland?

The main focus for me since starting in post is creating a strong identity for Phoenix Scotland. We’re working with the staff teams, and bringing the staff together from across the services, so that Phoenix Scotland shows a united front.

It’s a priority that our staff are aware of the work going on throughout Scotland so that they can call on each other for support and have a greater understanding of what’s happening in across Scotland. We’ve seen the benefit of this over the last three to four months, not only internally within Phoenix, but also externally with our work in the community and with other organisations and partnerships.

How is this new way of working impacting on your work with the community?

We are striving to create more of a partnership approach across Scotland; being amenable and offering free training and the use of our services at evenings and weekends. We’re listening to Commissioner and service user needs and what’s needed in certain areas.

What steps have been taken to bring about this change?

We’re working closely together as a management group, hosting monthly management meetings so we can support each other with targets and the work plan for Scotland. From this we’ve been able to focus more on Customer Relations Management (CRM). We’ve developed a CRM sub-group made up of managers and staff that And how does the CRM sub-group work?

It’s about staff leadership and empowerment. We are encouraging the management team to take on more leadership and have created full staff meetings for the whole of Scotland on a quarterly basis. These meetings allow everyone to get together and see where we’re at and what we’re working on, and have a say in service delivery to improve the quality of our services. It’s about giving the staff a voice and staff being valued and rewarded for what they’re doing and the contributions they’re making.

How are the wider staff working towards creating a united Phoenix Scotland?

It’s about staff leadership and empowerment. We are encouraging the management team to take on more leadership and have created full staff meetings for the whole of Scotland on a quarterly basis. These meetings allow everyone to get together and see where we’re at and what we’re working on. It’s about giving the staff a voice and staff being valued and rewarded for what they’re doing and the contributions they’re making.

What are your plans for the future?

Moving forward we’re looking to increase business across Scotland; increase the occupancy at the residential and the quality of what we’re delivering on the ground. I’m pleased to say the residential currently has 33 residents which is the highest it’s been since March 2009, so our staff there have been working really hard. And in Quarter 1 we got a ‘successful discharge / positive trsansfer’ rate of 92%, which is excellent.

Final words?

I’d like to thank the staff and managers who have supported Scotland during this period of transition. We have received great help and support from support services from across England to help Phoenix Scotland feel a part of the wider organisation and their work on key projects have made a significant contribution to Scotland services moving forward.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS AT HOLLOWAY On the 1st October the Building Futures Service at HMP/YOI Holloway celebrated their second birthday with an event in the prison chapel. They were joined by a number of individuals from Phoenix Futures and HMP/YOI Holloway to celebrate another successful year.

The event was presented by one of our volunteers, Mandy Ogunmokun, with the help of two of our Peer Supporters. The event showcased some of the incredible talent we have here at HMP/YOI Holloway from some amazing singing, brave sharing of life stories, the fantastically honest and well written poems, and an excellent dance routine.

The event aimed to recognise and celebrate all that has been achieved by both our service users and our staff over the last year. It was inspiring and moving to hear some of the women’s experiences through the sharing of their life stories and their poems.

It was great, for me as the Service Manager, to talk to some of the women who praised our staff for the support and guidance they’ve offered. We’re incredibly lucky to have a team full of very passionate and committed staff that go above and beyond to achieve all that they can for our service users. The service would never have been as successful as it has been without their ideas, hard work and commitment. A big thank you goes to Miles Davis and Casey Clay who work tirelessly to develop the Peer Support Scheme as well as the individual peer supporters. This is no easy job and they do this on top of their day to day roles so a big ‘thank you’ to you both!

We have lots of exciting plans for this coming year. Ndy, one of our Interventions Workers, has recently implemented SMART groups, which now run on two units, so we look forward to the expansion Karen Biggs, CEO

of this intervention. Charlie, another of our Interventions Workers, is working on some very exciting projects to help us to ensure we are offering the right support to women with a history of domestic violence.

Dani and Zuzi, two of our Case Managers, have also been involved in ensuring we have the correct procedures in place to support women with a history of domestic violence or who are at risk when they come up for release.

We look forward to our third year at Holloway and doing what we do best, supporting women on their recovery journeys!

Leah Goodrham, HMP Holloway

Mandy Ogunmokun

PHOENIX ON THE RADIO Josie Standbrook became a member of Shoreditch Sisters, the Bethnal Green branch of the Women’s Institute, in February this year. When members were asked to put forward charities for Shoreditch Sisters to support, Josie pitched for the London arm of Phoenix Futures Prison Services, as HMP Holloway and HMP Pentonville both fall under the ‘local’ remit. We won the support of the Shoreditch Sisters and a month or so later, they invited Josie onto Britain’s only WI radio show, Longwave Ladies on Hoxton Radio.

Anissa (presenter): So what do you do for Phoenix Futures?

Josie: Since February 2014, I’ve been the family support worker for Building Futures, which is a subsidiary of Phoenix Futures, who provide the services at the London Prisons, HMP Holloway and HMP Pentonville, and I’m based at HMP Pentonville.

A: So for those that don’t live in London or don’t know about Pentonvile, tell us a little about it.

J: HMP Pentonville is a large men’s prison in north London we have about a 1,300 capacity for inmates and we are usually pretty full. It’s largely a remand prison, and a prisoner’s stay is usually about 59 days, which is only a few months. We we are a category B/C [prison], so we have lots of men there, all kinds of different offences and convictions, lots of people on remand awaiting sentences.

A: So what kind of services do you get involved with at the prison?

J: Well we take quite a holistic, psycho-social approach to addiction, recovery and substance misuse. What we do with the men, is when they come in they take an assessment and are assigned a key worker, who’s going to be looking after them and overseeing their stay In the prison. Alongside that we provide them with lots of different groups which the men can be referred into ranging from relapse prevention to relaxation. All of them are about trying to help the men end their dependency and give them the opportunity to overcome any drug and alcohol problems, so that they may have a new lease of life both in the prison and when they’re released as well.

A: You mentioned earlier about the family support service, what do you get involved with in that?

J: So when the men who have drug and alcohol issues are inside Pentonville - bearing in mind of the 1300 prisoners in Pentonville about 50% of the prisoners are experiencing or have experienced some issues with drug or alcohol dependency or addiction - When they are referred or they self-refer into Phoenix Futures, they can also refer their own family members in, or the family members can refer themselves into the family support service, which means that I can provide support to any family member, or even just a friend or loved one, of someone that is inside., --. I can provide sometimes just emotional support -- and also I can help provide a bit of practical support, help people access benefits, help people access services like counselling services in their local area.

A: So really the approach you take is to look at how criminal behaviour happens and try to fix as many of those aspects as you can.

J: We recognise that a lot of underlying issues are caused by drug and alcohol issue, and I suppose our philosophy and our mission, is if we help signpost and guide and enable offending drug and alcohol users towards recovery, that would mean ideally abstinence from drugs and alcohol, and with that a new life by stripping out the drug and alcohol use and bringing in positive aspects to live, in doing so the knock on effect of that is the offending behaviour is ideally cut off as well.

Listen to the full interview here: mixcloud.com/LongwaveLadiesRadio

SAFEGUARDING IN BIRMINGHAM Outreach Worker and qualified social worker, Lara Bailey from our Birmingham Community Engagement Outreach service, uses her specialist knowledge to help inform practice and develop safeguarding processes in her service.

What role do you play in supporting families?

Part of our work as outreach workers is to find ‘need to reach communities’ of people at risk of substance misuse and so some of the links we’ve been making around Birmingham have been with TAF. TAF stands for Teams Around the Family and are run by children’s centres in various hubs around the city. I’ve been making links with TAF to make sure they have a referral pathway to Phoenix Futures if they have a family where one or more of the family members have issues with substance misuse. We can then contribute towards that family’s support process.

A lot of professionals attend the TAF meetings; they’re an opportunity seek help from other professionals. For example I might be working with a person struggling with substance misuse but is also having trouble with housing for their family. I could go to a TAF meeting and say ‘this family is struggling with poor housing at the moment’ and then the housing professionals or support workers could take that and work with the family. So it’s a way of bringing professionals together, with the consent of the family, to offer support.

What are the key focus areas when it comes to supporting and protecting families?

In Birmingham there’s been a real push to improve child safeguarding which is where MASH comes in. The MASH is a Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub. I’ve been working to promote MASH amongst our team and colleagues.

Making sure everyone is aware of MASH, how to contact them, and really creating an open culture of discussing cases and not pushing them to one side but using the team that we’ve got to discuss safeguarding and making sure it’s on everyone’s agenda. It’s making sure nobody feels frightened to discuss a child or an adult they may be concerned about.

Children’s voices often get lost in adult services, especially in adult substance misuse services. So that’s something I’m interested in, bringing the child’s voice to the forum. Something I did recently was put on an experiential training exercise with the team where we looked at the lived experience of a child in a domestic violence situation.

It was an opportunity for everyone in the team to see the child where normally they would only see the adult.

How did you become involved in safeguarding?

Safeguarding is something I’ve developed over time. I was coming to the end of my social work degree when I came into the role at Phoenix and I wanted to continue to use and develop the safeguarding skills I’d gained. In a lot of serious case reviews substance misuse has been an issue so we saw an opportunity to develop the area of safeguarding in what we do.

What impact have these safeguarding measures had on the team?

I think we’ve reached a point where we have a really good safeguarding culture. Everybody’s happy to discuss their cases and be open and transparent about their cases.

BRINGING OUT THE BEST IN OUR PEERS In August this year HMP Pentonville’s psychosocial substance misuse service was awarded APS (Approved Provider Standard) by the Mentoring and Befriending Association for their Peer Mentoring and Peer Support Scheme.

The Peer Mentoring and Peer Support Scheme are for all prisoners who present with substance or alcohol use. The scheme aims to help prisoners maintain their recovery, reduce substance and alcohol consumption, reduce isolation and anxiety levels and to ensure that all prisoners know what information and support systems are available to them. The scheme offers one –to-one Peer Mentoring as well as groups delivered by Peer Supporters for prisoners in the detox wing of the prison. Peer Supporters are available throughout the day for prisoners to speak to at any time they need support. They are present from when a prisoner first enters custody in the First Night Centre to prior to release on the wings and throughout the prison.

The work the Peer Supporters have been doing in HMP Pentonville has been phenomenal including mentoring prisoners in recovery, achieving qualifications themselves and helping with the day to day running of the service. Below is an account written by the Interventions Team Manager and Peer Support Scheme Lead, Liam Daniels: “I am extremely pleased and inspired by the hard work and dedication of the Phoenix Futures Peer Supporters and the work that they achieve. They play a crucial role in the success and development of the service that Building Futures provides at HMP Pentonville and are a great example and testament to the fact that change is possible. We have had Peer Supporters chair SMART Recovery meetings, complete the Mentoring Skills Qualification (an equivalent to a NVQ Level 2 which is nationally recognised), co-facilitate various Phoenix group packages with our staff, be involved in the recruitment process of new Phoenix Futures staff, facilitate inductions for new receptions into the prison and provide feedback at the monthly Drug Strategy meetings just to name a few. For me personally it has been great to see and be a part of the solution in helping individuals to better themselves and build strong foundations for their personal road to recovery”.

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST To raise money and awareness of the great work we do in the Phoenix Futures Group, Hannah Griffin from the Foundation66 Community Alcohol Support Service took on the challenge of a 10k obstacle course at Wembley. As part of the Survival of the Fittest course Hannah faced 20 obstacles including the thousand yard stairs, a parkour zone, and an army assault course to name but a few.

Big congratulations goes out to Hannah who not only survived but also smashed her target by raising £222 for Phoenix Futures.

JULIE’S GREAT NORTH RUN HATTRICK When it comes to fundraising there are few people who can rival Barnsley’s Julie Sutton’s devotion to taking on a challenge in the name of a good cause. This year Julie took on her third Great North Run to help raise the profile of Phoenix Futures.

I have always done, to some degree, volunteering or fundraising. This started mainly when I worked at Barnsley Hospice as an auxiliary nurse and volunteer where I was involved in a lot of the fundraising activities. These included three fire walks (no burns), an abseil, It’s a knockout, and sponsored walks. I loved them all and raised lots of money for the Hospice.

When we were asked to raise funds for the Voyage of Recovery I welcomed the challenge as the fundraising champion for Barnsley. This has carried on since and I love taking part in any fundraising with service users. This year I have done various fundraising, cake baking, lots of car boots, red nose day, anything really that I can involve service users in. If I have the time I will do it.

I took part in this year’s Great North Run firstly to raise funds for two worthwhile charities, secondly to try and raise the profile of the fantastic organisation I work for, Phoenix Futures. The Funding and Innovation Team (FIT), which I am a member of, has been going just over 18 months now and have funded some really wonderful innovative ideas, which staff members throughout the organisation have put forward. By raising more funds more of these ideas will become reality.This is the third year I have done the Great North Run. The first year I lost two toe nails and tore my ligaments in my knee and was taken back to my car by the St John’s Ambulance. Painful? Yes. Funny? Yes! Last year I completed it with no injuries. This year I made it to the finish line, despite the uncharacteristic North East heat, in 3 hours and 57 minutes.

The Great North Run is the world’s biggest half marathon with 56,000 runners. I stand with them all on the starting line, some as old as 90 years old, and I know why they are doing it. Everyone one of the 56,000 runners are running for a charity, running in memory of a loved one, it just overwhelms me with emotion and brings tears to my eyes, so inspiring…amazing. Two miles into the run and crossing the Tyne bridge and the fabulous red arrows are above your head, all you can see is red white and blue smoke as they trail away, it makes me tingle and very proud that I am originally from the north east.

On this day the spirit of northern folk comes out, people plan all year to stand and watch till the last runner crosses the finishing line. People bake and have little stalls around the route, one lady at the corner of turning down into South Shields hands ice lollies to everyone. It really is a family day out, finishing at the beautiful sea front at South Shields.

I do believe if everyone gave even an hour of their time to help others the world will be a better place. People who do this well get so much out of it. I also think it is really important that service users are involved in fundraising, it gives them a sense of achievement taking part as well as raising their confidence around others.

GIVING BACK “I love giving back to those who helped me through my journey of recovery.”

To celebrate his own journey through recovery and help others in their recovery, Phoenix Futures Graduate Leon Gallagher donated his painting of the Tectona to auction to raise money for the Birmingham leg of this year’s Voyage of Recovery. This is Leon’s story.

“I have been one of the lucky few to go on the Voyage of Recovery twice now. I found the experience one of the best things that has happened to me in this lifetime. I met some wonderful people that really cared and showed us the way to work in teams, getting sails up and down, cleaning decks, cooking great food, and my most memorable thing, the boat.

I love painting and do volunteering workshops, and love giving back to those who helped me through my journey of recovery. I have just won a volunteer of the year award, which was a great achievement for someone that had no schooling apart from 26 years of prison system life and addiction.”

Since completing his second Voyage of Recovery Leon has written a business plan to continue helping others in recovery. His new venture ‘See Change’ looks to support service users in recovery through encouraging them to take part in activities to improve their self-confidence and develop team building skills. Activities will include painting trips on canal boats, conservation and land regeneration in the community, and learning how to grow food and eat healthily.

“This has all come from me sitting on that boat painting and I thank you all for giving me this chance in life to fulfill my dreams.”

Leon now wants to give others the opporuntity to set sail on the Tectona and gain from some of the valuable experiences he’s had. At Leon’s request, our Birmingham Community Rehabilitation Service auctioned his painting of the Tectona setting sail to the highest bidder.

On Tuesday 19th August the painting was sold for £50.

The money raised was donated to the Birmingham leg of this year’s Voyage.

RAISING AWARENESS AT HOLME HOUSE During October Carole Rutland and one of the service users from HMP Holme House held a charity event in aid of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Approximately 30 prisoners from the Drug Recovery Wing took part in the event which included a quiz, bingo and a raffle. All together the prisoners raised £66 for a breast cancer charity.

The prisoner who helped organise the event is also a TC resident and held various activities on the TC wing raising a further £138.

In November our service users at Holme House continued their fundraising, this time for the Royal British Legion. To mark Armistice Day one of the residents of the TC, who is ex-army, asked if any of the other residents would donate something to the British Legion Poppy Appeal. They raised £65 in total, which was a fantastic amount as the majority of TC members don’t have extra money sent into them so went without in order to make their donations.

Another great example of our Prison services making a positive impact.

WORLD QUALIT Y DAY

For this year’s World Quality Day the Quality team at Phoenix arranged the ‘Quali-TEA Party’. Service users and staff from around the organisation got involved holding ‘Great Quality Bake Off’ and entering the ‘Let Me Entertain You’ competitions.

The winners of the Great Quality Bake Off were Wirral Residential who created a wonderful display of their ‘Phoenix Together As One’ cakes. While the Sheffield Family Service won the Let Me Entertain You competition with the presentation and party ideas of their Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.

ECETT TRAVELS Since 2012 Phoenix has been a partner of the European Companionship in Education, training by travel (ECEtt) programme. Through this partnership we are able to send staff to international locations to share expertise and learn from other organisations around Europe. These are the some of the ECEtt updates over the last few months. The first comes from Scott Morrice, Janice Grounds and Rachael Porter who spent two weeks visiting drug and alcohol misuse services in Spain.

Communidad Theraputica Guadalajara Spain

“We have spent the first two days in a TC in Guadalajara, it has been an amazing experience.

The groups were fantastic we sat in self help group, parents groups and women’s group and the meeting which they have in an afternoon the same as we have in a morning.

The womens group were powerful and emotionally charged the topics were depression and anxiety, the female community members were fantastic after group they shared how they felt and their experiences why they were in treatment, there were definitely similarities in group provision the parents group was intense but interactive.

Although my Spanish is very limited I was able to understand what was being discussed and residents discussed this with us after group.

I will write a full journal at the end of the trip.

Hasta luego” Horse Therapy

“I think the treatment programme at Guadajara that incorporates horse therapy is fantastic.

To care for a horse develops discipline, self-esteem, confidence, promotes meaningful use of time, and builds employment skills as they learn everything in how to care for horses and how to ride them. It takes a lot of motivation and dedication to care for the horses, they have a stud also and have recently had two new foals born just over one week ago.”

Family unit in the TC

“The first thing I picked up on was, that family are very involved in all aspects of treatment.”

To find out more about Scott, Janice and Rachael’s time in Spain visit their blog: http:// ecettspain3.tumblr.com/

ECETT CZECH TRAVELS The second ECEtt update comes from Rachael Williams, Lauren Benham and Stuart Croft who spent two weeks visiting drug and alcohol misuse services in the Czech Republic.

Day One: Therapeutic Community at Vcelnik

“Our first day has been spent at the Magdalena therapeutic community which as you can see is in a beautiful setting in the countryside of Bohemia, just outside Prague. Set in 14 hectares of forest, which prior to 1989 belonged to the Soviet military the grounds hold a farm with pigs, cows, chickens, goats and sheep, all cared for by the community members. They even keep bees and produce their own honey.

There is a carpentry shop producing furniture and probably most spectactular of all, a theatre built into the hillside and created from a reclaimed military bunker. Here they host cultural events involving partner therapeutic communities from Slovakia and Poland .

Tomorrow, we will be up at 6.30 to milk the cows...... yes, milk the cows...by hand!”

The Ostrava Therapeutic Community

“One of the key themes of Therapeutic communities in The Czech Republic is how they engage with the environment. Whereas the community we saw earlier in the trip was set on a farm, the Ostrava community is set in the mountains of Moravia. Alongside the other therapeutic activities community members get to spend time hiking and camping in the astoundingly beautiful mountain environment. Another common theme, much to Rachel’s delight, is cats!!”

Read more about Rachel, Stuart and Lauren’s time in the Czech Republic on their blog: http://phoenixprague.weebly.com/blog

ECETT ITALIAN TRAVELS This update from Italy comes from Matt Heaver, Leah Goodrham and Laura Howard who spent two weeks at the Ceis Formazione, the training and development centre in Modena.

Giorno Uno (Day One) Following a day of lots of giggles, travelling and Pizza we began our ECEtt experience with Andrea kindly collecting us from our Hotel and taking us to Ceis Formazione which is the base for staff training and developing new treatment programmes within Modena and the surrounding areas. After Andrea introduced us to proper Italian Espressos we sat down to look at the plan for the next two weeks which is filled with lots of exciting opportunities to visit both treatment services and the learning and development departments of Ceis.

We were suprised to learn that the bulk of the students’ study time is on a Friday evening and a Saturday as they all work full time during the week (this is slightly different to our university experiences!)

We had a delicious lunch in the on-site Cafe which is run

by Volunteers from the local community and graduates from the treatment services. The Cafe doesn’t serve alcohol in order to help support the Volunteers and those in recovery. Andrea commented on the fact that the Cafe is unique as they are often unsustainable due to not selling alcohol.

During the afternoon we attended a lecture on Psychology at work and motivation. The lecture was delivered in Italian, we did manage to pick up a few words with Andrea kindly translating so we could keep up. Laura was brave and did answer a question in Italian which sparked a debate between the students. We all agreed that despite the language barrier we had enjoyed the lecture and it did spark discussions between ourselves.

Final thoughts of the day: • We were interested to learn that Cocaine is the cheapest drug in this region (Emilia-Romagna) which differs to the UK. • It was suprising to learn that families do not view loved ones as having an addiction if their drug of choice doesn’t include Heroin regardless of how many other drugs they use and the risks associated with them.

• The main factors for motivation at work as agreed by the students in the lecture were: Direction, Intensity and Consistency • Never ever ever ask for a Cappucino after breakfast. We were firmly warned by Andrea!

To find out more about Matt, Leah and Laura’s ECEtt travels visit their blog: http://ecettitaly.tumblr.com/ We are looking forward to a day of sight-seeing tomorrow and what the week ahead will bring.

ECETT PORTUGUESE TRAVELS This update from Portugal comes from Liam, Megan and Nuno who visited substance misuse service, Dianova, as part of their ECEtt travels.

Day 1 And so our journey begins… The first day of our ECEtt experience started with the lovely Susanna picking us up and driving us through the ‘fantastico’ countryside surrounding Torres Verdas.

We arrived at Dianova and were taken to the Palace (yes, palace!) which was as beautiful as it sounds.

We had three presentations which detailed the ethos of Dianova and also their best practice alongside quality management systems. It was obvious to us that the paramount concern was for the service users and this formed the basis of the day. The quality systems they strive to implement ensure the service users receive the utmost care and attention whilst engaging with Dianova.

The welcome we received and the hospitality extended to us has been amazing, we left on the first day stuffed with cake and natas, filled with enthusiasm for the work they are doing.

Day 2 We spent the day in the Therapeutic Community at Dianova. We had three presentations from the TC staff looking at the structure of the TC, how Dianova supports and includes family members and the Reinsertion programme.

The structure of the TC follows three stages; stage one lasts for approximately one month and involves an initial admission followed by a period of settling in. Stage two lasts for around three months and features an individual care plan and goal setting. What impressed us was the individual approach offered at Dianova. Stage three is the reinsertion phase. This stage appeared to us to be the most important phase for the TC and was focused around a successful return to the service user’s community. Dianova places great emphasis on empowering the service user Day 3 We spent the day at Dianova, working with the service users. We started the day with a presentation about the impact of Dianova on the local community. We were very impressed with their ‘Mocktails’ initiative which seeks to challenge people’s attitudes around drinking. These nights are held once a year and all the team at Dianova are actively involved. Local organisations sponsor the event and it has been very successful. Local people are given a free mocktail in one of the nightclubs and discos and are encouraged to consider having a night out which is alcohol free.

To find out more about Liam, Nuno and Megan’s ECEtt travels visit their blog: http://raizesroots.tumblr.com/

ECETT BELGIAN TRAVELS Head of Learning and Development, Frances Gray, brings us this ECEtt update from Nivelles in Belgium.

Well what a month it's been for ECEtt! Myself and Nicola Owens travelled to Nivelles in Belgium to attend an ECEtt event where Nicola received her certificate of traineeship for best practice for her Flames project. (please contact Nicola if you want more details.) I gave a presentation at the event about how we select our trainees to travel with ECEtt. Partners who attended this event were from Bordeaux - France, Prague - Czech Republic, Warsaw - Poland, Belgium, Bulgaria, Barcelona - Spain, and Italy. We did get a chance to enjoy some lovely Belgium chocolates and desserts, so it wasn't ALL work!

On 26th June we presented our ECEtt project at the Peer Awards finals day, and I was joined by Nicola, James Middleton, and Stuart Shaw who spoke about his son who attended our Wirral Residential Service. We were presenting in the People and Performance Category, under Staff Development. We will know the result in September at the awards ceremony which is an afternoon tea event. We will let you know how we get on!

Lastly, an update on staff who have travelled, or who are about to travel with the project. In groups of three staff have travelled to each of these cities, Dublin, Modena (Italy), and Nivelles in Belgium. Our next group of three staff to travel are heading for sunny Portugal in July to visit centres in Lisbon and Braga. Travelling are Liam Daniels, Megan Kenny and Nuno Leitao. They will visit Dianova services in Lisbon, and Projecto Homem services in Braga. This is very exciting for us as we haven't partnered with these organisations before so we can't wait to hear how they get on. Watch out for their blogs, tweets and Facebook notes when they are away, and we will update you next month. An ECEtt event will be held early next year to showcase everyone's travel experiences and ideas of best practice and details will be published here.

PHOENIX AT THE PEER AWARDS A massive congratulations goes out to all those involved in our ECEtt programme. Phoenix Futures came away with awards for Staff Development and People and Performance at this year’s Peer Awards. Karen Biggs, Frances Gray, Bob Campbell, Nicola Owens from Phoenix, and the founder of ECEtt Georges Van Der Straten attended the awards on 22nd September.

Phoenix were shortlisted in five categories for the ECEtt programme. These categories were Impact, Innovation, the Overall Award for Excellence, People and Performance, and Staff Development. We came away winning the Staff Development Award and the whole section award for People and Performance. The Overall 2014 Peer Award for Excellence went to the Royal College of General Practitioners for their programme, ‘Managing Dementia in Primary Care’.

About ECEtt

This opportunity provided fantastic learning opportunities to staff, some with no formal qualifications or experience of new ways of working. The opportunity offered staff a mixture of learning experiences from experiencing different cultures, different forms of treatment, attending graduation ceremonies with families, witnessing concerning practices of safe drug using houses and needle exchanges in Poland, to horse therapy in Spain. Some groups of staff had never met each other before, and were mostly from different sectors (prison, residential and community).Staff showed they were brave to take the opportunity, a passion to invest in learning.

This project has provided all partners involved with a broader understanding of alternative practices that have shown to be successful in improving the lives of our service users accessing addiction projects. This opportunity provided fantastic learning opportunities to staff, some with no formal qualifications or experience working in other organisations to go and experience new services, ways of working and cultures. The opportunity offered staff a mixture of learning experiences from experiencing different cultures, different forms of treatment, attending graduation ceremonies with families, witnessing concerning practices of safe using houses and needle exchanges in Poland, to horse therapy in Spain.

The innovation and impact is vast as this project contributes to increasing our skills and knowledge of drug treatment across Europe and enabling us to be a leading provider in the sector. Our involvement in this project displays a keen interest in broadening the learning horizons for our staff in innovative ways. It enabled dynamic learning from all areas of the organisation as participants were from administration, prison, community and residential roles. This involvement has also opened doors for involvement in other European projects and we are currently working with 4 European partners on an online drug prevention training course.

Frances Gray, Head of Learning and Development

KEEPING WELL AT WORK It’s not just in recovery where we need to focus on health and wellbeing but in the workplace too. It’s reported that the average working adult spends nearly 10 hours a day working, travelling to and from work, and doing work-related activities. Given that we spend so much time at work it’s important that we take care of our mental and physical health while we’re here.

These are AXA PPP Healthcare’s top four tips for keeping fit and healthy at work.

Keep Active - Stand Up: Standing up every 10 minutes or so can help. It’s not how long you stand up for, but how many times you stand up that makes a difference.

- Keep Moving: Try walking to talk to colleagues rather than emailing them. Take the stairs instead of the lift. Park further away from the office entrance.

- Take A Break: Use your lunch break to get out of the office for a walk to stretch your muscles and counteract some of the sitting.

- Make Your Commute Count: If you drive to work, park further away so you have to walk a little bit. If you get the train, stand up for some of the journey. If you take the bus, get off a stop early.

Sit Smart - Think It Through: Consider the things you do at your desk, then think about ways of doing them more comfortably.

- Give Yourself Some Space: Clearing away some of the clutter on your desk will give you more space, enabling you to sit and work better.

- Perfect Your Posture: Makes sure you sit as close to your desk as you can with your forearms resting on your desk.

Adjust your chairs so that your arms are horizontal when you touch the keyboard and your feet are flat on the floor.

- Support Your Back: Most office chairs now have a back support built in. If yours doesn’t, find out whether a replacement is possible.

- Rest Your Eyes: If you work on a computer a lot, it’s important to take regular breaks. That means for every hour at your keyboard you should rest your eyes for at least five to 10 minutes.

Eat Well - Swap Your Snacks: If we don’t choose the right type of snack we quickly pile on the pounds, feel tired and, ironically develop cravings for more of the same. Aim to swap at least one of your snacks for a healthier alternative such as fuit, plain popcorn, nuts and seeds.

- Don’t Dine At Your Desk: Eating lunch at your desk can mean you eat more without noticing or enjoying your food.

Take time to enjoy your lunch and eat slowly. It takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to tell your brain that you’re full. When you eat too fast, it’s easy to overeat.

- Try DIY Lunches: Bringing in your own lunch means you know exactly what’s in the food you’re eating.

- Stay Awake With Water: Coffee may perk you up but it won’t keep you there. Water is much better at keeping you hydrated. Regular top-ups are best, so have lots of small glasses during the day.

Take A Break - Take Your Lunch Break: Don’t stay at your desk all day. Go outside (if you can) and get some air and a walk.

Skipping your lunch break might seem like saving time but it’s actually detrimental to your health and productivity.

-Boost Your Brain With A Break: If you get the chance to take any other breaks in the day, make the most of them.

Just stepping outside to stretch your legs and get a breath of air for five minutes can make a massive difference to your mental and physical capacity.

For tips and advice on health and wellbeing take a look at the AXA PPP Healthcare website

USING TECHNOLOGY TO WORK SMARTER It’s something that effects each and every member of staff at Phoenix, but what is Agresso?

Central Office’s Tom Suich and Colm Farrell talk to Network about the changes that will help us all work smarter.

Tom Suich and Colm Farrell are the Systems Managers for Phoenix Futures. What do these roles involve?

Tom sits in the HR department and Colm in the Finance department. Our primary roles are to support our Agresso system, and to help to roll out any new Agresso modules that we can use in the future, which may help Phoenix.

What is agresso and what is it currently used for?

Agresso is a business management database. The function that affects most staff (in fact all) is that it’s the system that we use to process our payroll, and generate pay slips. It’s also used for processing and authorising purchase invoices, billing our funders, holding staff data for HR, and producing reports that give varied information e.g. was a supplier invoice paid, show each department’s monthly Colm Farrell management accounts.

What changes have been made to Agresso recently?

We have just finished combining the ‘Phoenix Futures’ and ‘Foundation66’ databases in Agresso. This will make it a lot easier to incorporate any other companies that join the Phoenix Futures Group in the future.

What part of that project impressed you the most?

The way that Finance, HR and IT worked together was the most impressive.

Everybody worked really well to bring the project to a successful conclusion.

Tom Suich

What changes are taking place?

The next change is to upgrade Agresso to the latest version, Milestone 4. After that, we will be introducing the ability to request absences (annual leave, jury service etc) through Agresso, and then to submit expenses. It will be possible to

submit both absences and expenses through Agresso web. We will also be running a project shortly, to make sure that the data held about staff is as up to date as possible.

Why are we making these changes?

Upgrading to the latest version of Agresso will give us access to improved features. For example, there will be an Agresso smart phone app for coding / approving invoices, and for requesting annual leave, expenses etc. There is also an improved interface for Agresso ‘self-service’ which is the ‘web’ part of Agresso.

How will the new process benefit staff?

Once we start processing absences and expenses through Agresso for example, we will reduce the need for paper records, and will make the process faster and more efficient. Staff will also be able to view useful information like ‘remaining annual leave’ balance or expense claim history, through Agresso. The smartphone apps will mean that staff don’t need to be at their desks, in order to process Agresso tasks. Also, the improved interface will lead to more intuitive screens which will make Agresso easier to navigate.

How will the new system be rolled out to staff?

Initially, we will roll out each module to a few departments. Once this has been operational for a period of time, we will roll it out to the rest of the company. Full training and training material will be provided to staff before they start to use any new modules. This training will be provided through the internet using TeamViewer. If there is a large group in any service(s) to be trained, it may be possible to travel to the service, and deliver it in person.

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR A GREAT YEAR