SMART Recovery & Recoverlution Unite For Recovery

By Daniel Fincham on

During May the campaign Unite for Recovery encourages people from all walks of life to come together to raise money, so that more people can access free addiction recovery.

The campaign has been launched by SMART Recovery who offer free addiction help, treatment and support to those affected by addiction. The funds raised will ensure that SMART Recovery, a registered charity, can continue to meet the ever-growing needs of the addiction recovery community.

Recoverlution and SMART Recovery are already partnered as we feel uniting for recovery brings all the needed resources more strength and reach. By partnering with a worldwide organisation such as SMART, we hope to get more people who need help into long-term recovery sooner.

What is...

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NHS stops taking gambling funds to treat addiction

By BBC on

The NHS will stop taking money from the gambling industry to treat people with addiction, the NHS England national mental health director has said.

Writing to charity GambleAware, Claire Murdoch said the NHS would instead fund its own gambling services from 1 April.

The gambling industry paid 16m to GambleAware between April and December to help fund treatment services.

Of this, 1.2m was awarded in grants to NHS-run gambling clinics.

But Ms Murdoch said patients were uncomfortable about using services paid for by the gambling industry - and she said that had "heavily influenced" her decision to reject future funding from GambleAware.

She said industry funding "has allowed us to roll out treatment services faster than would have otherwise...

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Police Scotland rolls-out naloxone programme country-wide

By DDN on

Police officers across the whole of Scotland are to be equipped with and trained in the use of naloxone, Police Scotland has confirmed.

The national roll-out follows pilot schemes in Caithness, Dundee, Falkirk, Glasgow and Stirling that saw more than 800 officers trained to use naloxone and more than 650 volunteer to carry nasal spray kits.

All operational officers across the country will now carry naloxone spray, says chief constable Iain Livingstone, following an independent review last year by the Scottish Institute for Police Research which recommended a national roll-out. Work has already commenced to ensure there are sufficient stocks of naloxone to equip more than 12,000 police, along with a national training programme. The...

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Glasgow Taxis Supporting #StopTheDeaths

By SDF on

More than 20 drivers for Glasgow Taxis have applied to receive and carry naloxone as part of the nationwide initiative to reduce drug deaths.

Drivers who apply to carry the opioid overdose reversal medication will have it in their cabs as they complete their journeys in and around the city.

The taxi firm were one of the first to take a step forward and show support for this initiative, advertising their advocacy with an emblazoned car that can be seen around the city, carrying the #StopTheDeaths message.

The joint initiative by the Scottish Government and Scottish Drugs Forum has used TV and radio adverts and billboards at transport hubs and shopping centres to promote the message that drug deaths in Scotland are preventable.

Drugs...

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What gambling firms don’t want you to know – and how they keep you hooked

By Rob Davies on

From brain hacks to dark nudges and near misses – betting companies employ an arsenal of clever tricks to tempt punters into spending more money. Here’s how …

Each year, British punters lose more than 11bn to the gambling industry, equivalent to nearly 164 for every man, woman and child in the UK. This money-spinning national love affair with betting owes much to the liberalisation of gambling laws under Tony Blair’s Labour government in 2005. The growth of the UK betting sector since then has created billionaires, such as Bet365’s Denise Coates and Betfred’s Done brothers. At the other end of the scale, what starts out as a harmless flutter has driven countless customers into financial ruin, family breakups, and worse.

The betting...
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