Life-changing recovery service marks 20 years

A member of a substance misuse service celebrating its 20th anniversary this week said he "would have been dead" without it.

The Bridge Substance Misuse Programme, which operates in Northampton, Wellingborough and Corby, hosted an event to showcase recovery stories from people it had helped in the past two decades.

It has been supported by £800,000 of council funding, however, it is in its last year of tendering, meaning its future is unknown.

Kieran, who joined Bridge when the Wellingborough site first opened 12 years ago, said the service was an "asset to Northamptonshire".

"Without it, I would have been dead 10 years ago," he said.

He quit drinking at the age of 44 because he knew he needed to change his life.

"If I hadn't stopped... I would have been dead by the age of 50."

The service works with housing support PHaSE, which helped Kieran secure a flat to make sure he was safe and financially supported in his recovery.

"I was penniless, sleeping on the streets 13 years ago," he said.

After going to prison, losing his mother and custody of his children, Kieran said he needed to turn his life around.

He said his recovery was only possible because of the staff and members at Bridge believing in him.

Bridget is one of the original service directors and has been at the organisation since it began as two small sheds on an allotment.

Since then, she has watched it grow into three sites across Northamptonshire, looking after 1,000 people at a time.

She said Bridge was created to fill the "void" within the addiction recovery sector.

Bridget said it was not just about being on the right medication - the mental and social aspect was just as important.

The service promotes social prescribing, which is a method described by the NHS, external as non-medical, community-based support.

Its main purpose is to connect people to activities within the community to improve their health.

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