A REHAB Centre is in the pipeline for Leamington – but it needs £100,000 to get off the ground.
Work is underway on a three-stage drug and alcohol rehabilitation programme to provide long-term support to those struggling with addiction in the town and help them reclaim their lives.
Founded by Yvonne McKinnon, Dr Susan Rutherford and Jonathan Chilvers, New Chapters would provide help to those entrenched in addiction, including those who are homeless and sleeping rough.
The founders have a wealth of experience running homeless projects in the town and have identified a real need for a long-term, sustainable recovery programme that can transform lives and communities, and are now urgently looking for funding expertise to help make their plans a reality.
Yvonne, who has worked in community support roles for almost a decade and has first-hand experience with addiction, explained: “Drug and Alcohol addiction destroys lives, pulls apart families and damages our area. People can recover from addiction, but there’s no quick fix. It takes years of intensive support, but it’s worth it – for everyone.”
The charity hopes to have three properties, starting with a seven to ten bed property that will be staffed 24-7 where residents from the Leamington area will stay for between four to six months for the first stage of their recovery, working with specialists to tackle addiction and related mental health issues.
Residents will then move onto supported accommodation for stages two and three for a further six to 12 months, where they will be given employment and training support as well as the opportunity to mentor others and share their own experiences.
This long-term project, which has the power to benefit hundreds of people in the local area, needs £100,000 to become a reality – with over a quarter of the funds already raised.
And the charity is holding an auction on Saturday (November 12) to raise funds for the project. Held at Dale Street Methodist Church, the event will see items from paintings, toys and a family pass to Warwick Castle come under the hammer, as well as a raffle including vouchers from a wide range of local businesses.
Mayor Nick Wilkins will be bringing the gavel down for the first lot at 2pm, so visitors are urged to come along from 10am onwards for viewing.
Co-founder Jonathan said: “We’ve seen too many people start to recover from addiction, but fail because the support is only given for a short time. That shatters hopes of progress as well as wasting money. We know that when you put the right quality investment in for the long term it gets results.”
As well as holding fundraising events, the charity is welcoming donations from individuals as well as corporate fundraising and sponsorship. For more information visit www.newchapters.org.uk/donate
