Issue 34 - November 2020 On the road The newsletter of Open Road published for staff, volunteers, service users, partners and supporters Spotlight – Caitlin Smith, LGBTQ+ Outreach Worker Funding and Fundraising in our 30th Year! Open Road Medway Welcomes High Sheriff of Kent Sarah’s dogs, Jess, Barney and Molly, modelling 2 Open Road’s gorgeous SOS Paw Patrol bandanas. Bandanas soon to be for sale! Welcome from the Chief Exective Welcome to our latest newsletter. Thanks Giving event at Chelmsford Cathedral, our staff and volunteers Rewards and Recognition event Covid-19 Up-date – we have prepared well for our and our AGM event. However, the main AGM business second lockdown to ensure that we are still able to meeting took place in October via zoom, and then deliver a first class service to the people who need the Board zoomed in to our Medway teams to discuss us most, and also to ensure that all our premises the successes and challenges working with our remain Covid secure for the safety of our clients, staff service users during Covid. and volunteers. All centres will remain open on an appointment only basis and many appointments I was delighted to travel to Medway to meet The both one to ones and groups, will take place High Sheriff of Kent, Remony Millwater, with Open virtually. Again, a huge thank you to all our staff Road representatives from the Wellbeing & Recovery and volunteers for ensuring that services stay open, Service, Cookham Wood YOI and Medway Young safe and accessible, and for everyone’s adaptability People’s service. A big thank you to Remony for giving and flexibility. up her morning to come and meet us all. Please see photos on page 11. We were delighted to receive funding from The Petley Charitable Trust to deliver a family support service Our new partnership with Chess commenced in for the next three years in South, West and Mid Essex, September and we were delighted to welcome Dawn having already received matched funding from Jenkins to Open Road to deliver this new project with The Community Initiatives Fund for a family support colleagues from Chess. This is progressing well and we service for three years in North Essex. This service will provide more information on the developments in is now being delivered by Simon Aalders in North our February 2021 newsletter. and Mid Essex, and Suzanne Donovan in South and West Essex. Please read more about this vital Finally we were delighted to receive funding from BBC local service on page 8 Children in Need for digital services for our Medway Young People’s service, looking at hidden harm. This month our “Spotlight” articles features Caitlin We are currently recruiting for two part time digital Smith who is delivering our new LGBTQ service – workers for this exciting new project. Further details please see page 4, and Steve Chevis, Medway to follow in future newsletters. Commissioner for the Wellbeing and Recovery Service - please see page 3. A big thank you to Our next newsletter will be published in February 2021 both, for agreeing to be in the November edition’s so please do let my PA Nici or myself have any articles spotlight feature. you would like published. This month we launch our “30 for 30” campaign to Please keep safe and well during these uncertain celebrate our 30th anniversary of delivering services times. to some of the most vulnerable people in our local communities. Your help and support to raise additional much needed funds to keep us going, will be much appreciated – perhaps donating £30 Sarah Wright, Chief Executive or running 30 miles and getting your friends and families to sponsor you on behalf of Open Road. Sadly we have had to cancel a number of fundraising events this year, including our Charity Ball, Make a donation! Text: OPEN00 £5 to 70070 Online: justgiving.com/openroad/donate Open Road - On the road / issue 34 / 2020 or please call: 01206 369782 3 Spotlight on our Funders! In each edition, we invite one of our amazing funders/supporters to tell us more about their organisation, how they came to be involved with Open Road and how they help us fund our vital services. In this edition, Steve Chevis, tells all I’m a Public Health commissioner feedback that has been given and in Medway with responsibility have responded accordingly. The for Substance Misuse Services team have used local resources and (including Alcohol) and Sexual contacts to build up the social capital Health. Medway is a unitary of people who attend their service; authority in the South East of they have not sought to replicate what England and has a population of already exists but to compliment it. I approximately 280,000. have heard accounts of people finding employment, discovering new skills and Insights gathering had made enjoying new experiences as part of Medway Public Health aware their long term recovery. I have been that we needed ‘visible recovery’ pleased with the way the service has and peer led support to prevent people becoming extended and complimented the treatment service. stuck in a cycle of treatment and lapse. The new service was to be made up of two elements: The centre established in the Chatham High Street has been a great place for groups and activities; whenever • Engagement, Assessment, Stabilisation I dropped in there was a ‘good vibe’. Understandably, and Treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wellbeing and • Wellbeing and Recovery Recovery service had to move online with only a limited amount of face to face activities happening. Open Road have delivered young people’s As lockdown eased so the opportunities to meet up substance misuse services for a number of years for mutual support have too, including a flourishing and when the Adult Services were put out to tender allotment. I’m sure that Open Road will take these new they bid on delivering the Wellbeing and Recovery ‘COVID related’ challenges in their stride and provide element of the contract. The national charity friendship, support and present opportunities to live ‘Turning Point’ were successfully awarded the lives free from harms caused by drug and alcohol. other element. Open Road have faced challenges setting up a new service, in a suitable premises with a new Congratulations on 30 team but I have appreciated the candour of management as they have sought to develop years of empowering and improve the service for the benefit of the people to live life community. The team have always listened to Make a donation! Text: OPEN00 £5 to 70070 Online: justgiving.com/openroad/donate Open Road - On the road / issue 34 / 2020 or please call: 01206 369782 4 Spotlight – Caitlin Smith, LGBTQ+ Outreach Worker My role in Open Road is as on LGBT youth to examine their an Outreach Worker in the mood and coping strategies. new LGBTQ+ pilot project. We My hypothesis for this was that are conducting this project to LGBT youth would report lower establish the local unmet need mood and poorer coping for a service to support people strategies than heterosexual from the LGBTQ+ community, youth, which appeared to be who may be struggling with true throughout my research. substance misuse and mental health issues. The research is I moved to Colchester this based in North Essex and the summer with my partner, when aims of it are to identify the I decided I wanted to start my number of people identifying career after finishing University as LGBTQ+, how many use over a year ago. I came across substances and if people have my current role when looking accessed support around for work and I fell in love with substance misuse. The hopes for this project are to it straight away. With the experience from my own find out why members of the LGBTQ+ community in research, I knew it was perfect for me! Fortunately, I Essex may not be accessing services and how we was successful and became an Outreach Worker in can improve this. August. Since then I have begun work on the basics of the project, and have started promoting it to the I began my interest in Psychology during Sixth public. Form, which led to me doing an Undergraduate BSc Psychology degree at Anglia Ruskin University I’m looking forward to seeing where this pilot project in Cambridge for 3 years, where my curiosity into goes and what the results say for the LGBTQ+ the psychology of sexuality peaked during my final community in North Essex! year. For my dissertation, we conducted a research project of our own choice. I chose to focus mine Caitlin Smith – LGBTQ+ Outreach Worker Recovery Stories Our service users’ recovery journeys can be incredibly hard, and their strength and commitment brings amazing successes. FB began engaging with her key worker in late 2019 as she was bingeing on cocaine. With her worker, she did work around triggers, cravings, weekly routine and goals. In attending SMART group every week, which was something she had fear over attending, she became a key member of this group. she thanks her recovery for this, as it was not possible There was a serious chance of FB losing her children. whilst using drugs. All areas of her life have improved Today, some of her children are completely off social because of her facing her substance abuse. care and the others are de-escalated, which shows a massive improvement. Problems at home with the Thank you to FB for sharing her story with us. We are children, and in maintaining the home, have turned really pleased to see how life has turned around for FB around.