Rachel Walker is the Residential Manager of our Blackburn Service.

Another year has passed managing the Witton Bank rehab unit, another year of an eclectic mix of interesting characters passing through the program, some days filled with sadness most days filled with joy.  The burden of a life of addiction is hard to break for many, standing back and watching people, develop, gain hope and positivity to move forward in their lives is beyond rewarding.

We have been fortunate this year to gain the backing of the Borough Council to offer 11 of our beds to residents of Blackburn, a direct access approach to this pilot is proving to be working well, we have forged great links developing a care pathway in conjunction with the Drug and Alcohol Recovery Service (Greater Manchester West – GMW), the Hospital Alcohol Liaison Service (HALS), Probation, Revolution Team, Health Outreach Team, LifeLine Young Persons Service & Evolve,  We now offer beds to clients who require community detox which is facilitated by GMW detox team.

Four  Blackburn clients have now completed the 6 month programme and are in our stage 2 move on independent flats, all involved with voluntary work within the community. In addition I have 3 new members of staff who have joined my team, all graduates of our program, exciting times ahead for them as they grow, develop and gain confidence in the work place.

Witton itself is about to start work on phase two of the refurb, having completed the roof and new kitchen last year, we are now commencing new flooring, decorating throughout, new sofas and bedroom furniture.  Our stage 2 flats are also undergoing a face lift, again with full decorating and new carpets.

We remain to have very close links with SAMS (Blackburn Scrap Art Material Store) where our residents enjoy art therapy on a weekly basis, the result of which, last month hosting an exhibition at Blackburn Museum of the works created by our clients.

SAMS also very kindly arranged a musical instrument amnesty for us, we now are the proud owners of a number of guitars and an electric organ, watch this space!

We once again have our own football team in the recovery league at Blackburn Rovers Community Trust in partnership with Café Hub.  We aim to win the trophy this year .

Blackburn Rovers have also shown their generosity once again this year in donating 25 tickets for the residents to watch a home game over the festive period – Thank you.

We had an evening of great entertainment in the summer – a fashion show at Café Hub, the clothes from the THOMAS Vintage Charity Shop, the gorgeous (male)  models all residents from the rehab showing off the beautiful (female) outfits! Much laughter had all round and a great way to raise some money for the charity.

In 2015 we plan for a camp out weekend in the summer for residents old and new, we are embarking on a garden project with the help of tutor Peter Lees from Accrington & Rossendale College, we hope to once again to frequently utilize our fishing equipment & BBQ come those sunny days ahead.