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Actor and comic Russell Brand today launched a £500,000 fund to develop abstinence based community support for people leaving drug and alcohol treatment.
The Give it Up Fund, set up by Russell, and managed by Comic Relief, will make the money available to help people remain free of drugs and alcohol. The aim is to help develop ‘recovery communities’ in three pilot areas.
The idea of recovery communities is to ensure that all the local services that someone needs to sustain abstinence are easily accessible. These include housing, finding a job, support with their health needs and a range of social activities and peer support.
Speaking at The Recovery Group UK and Give it Up’s conference in London, Russell said:
“I'm not here as a famous person or a celebrity, I'm here as an addict - a bog standard addict.
“When I was using, I didn't see hope or options - I didn't understand it all. But due to the nature of these support groups, people like me have got a chance. So the reason I'm involved with Give It Up and Comic Relief is because I want this message of abstinence based recovery to get to everyone out there: there is a way out.
“We shouldn't be talking about addicts like they're statistics because they're us. They're valuable parts of society and they just need a chance - and with the help of Comic Relief that's exactly what they've got.”
The ‘Creating Recovery’ conference which is targeted at relevant professionals, heard how people leaving abstinence based rehabilitation and treatment programmes are more likely to stay off alcohol and drugs if they are part of a recovery community.
Gilly Green, Head of UK Grants at Comic Relief said:
“Comic Relief has supported those facing addiction for many years. We’re looking forward to finding out more about the potential of recovery communities through these pilots and hearing more inspiring stories about how they can help people to recover from addiction.”
