Get Help
You can get advice about what treatment is available as a first step to recovery. As well as all of the partners making up the Recovery Street Film Festival, this can be obtained from the following sources:
By talking to your GP about getting help.
Through Social Services.
Through local drug and alcohol support agencies (these can be found on your local government or council website).
Staff at these agencies and departments will work with you to decide on whether you are eligible for treatment through residential or community rehab.
NEED HELP NOW?
IN AN EMERGENCY: CALL 999.
If someone is unconscious, has overdosed, or is having a bad reaction to drugs or alcohol, call 999 and ask for an ambulance. Stay with the person until the ambulance arrives.
If you are honest about what the person has taken, it will be much easier to give them the correct medical attention. You will not get into trouble for trying to save someone’s life.
TO SPEAK TO SOMEONE OUT OF HOURS: TALK TO FRANK
To speak to someone confidentially about problems relating to drugs or alcohol contact Frank on 0300 123 6600 or visit the Frank website.
NALOXONE
Please note: this article is for information purposes. If you would like a naloxone kit please visit your local service, who can supply one along with training on the prevention and management of opioid overdose. Training can take as little as 10 minutes.
Naloxone is a drug that can reverse the effects of opioids and prevent death if used within a short period following an opioid overdose. For many years, naloxone has been used within emergency medical settings to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose and prevent death.
Naloxone can rapidly reverse a reduced breathing rate (known as respiratory depression) when caused by an overdose of opioids. Naloxone takes 2-5 minutes to have an effect when injected into a muscle. The effects last for about 20 minutes. This means the use of naloxone can buy critical time while waiting for an ambulance to arrive.
Watch a short clip on how to administer Naloxone here.
You can also see a short film about recognising the signs and symptoms of overdose here.
FOR LOCAL SUPPORT
Action on Addiction brings help, hope and freedom to those living with addiction and those living with people who suffer problems of addiction. It is UK's only charity working across the addiction field in treatment, professional education to honours degree level, support for families and children, research, and campaigns.
Clouds House is a residential detoxification and rehabilitation treatment centre for men and women in Wiltshire, Hope House is a residential treatment centre for women only in London who have already undergone detox, and there are day programmes in Liverpool and Essex, aftercare in London and Wiltshire, and Wiltshire-based family services. The charity also owns The Brink, the first dry café bar of its kind in the UK in Liverpool city centre.
Adfam works to improve life for families affected by substance misuse. Drug and alcohol use can threaten and ultimately destroy family relationships and wellbeing. As the national umbrella organisation we empower thousands of family members and carers, support front-line workers and influence decision-makers at all levels to stop this happening.
CGL is a social care and health charity, which supports people to change their lives for the better. We provide help and support to adults, children, young people and families. Our services cover a wide variety of areas including health and wellbeing, substance use, mental health, criminal justice, domestic abuse and homelessness.
We work in a number of locations across the U.K. including Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Kent, London, Manchester, Norfolk, Sheffield, Wigan and Wirral. Visit our website to find details of your nearest service.
Humankind is a national charity that provides support services for drug and alcohol use, families, and carers across England. In 2021, we supported over 85,000 people to achieve their goals and improve their lives. We have a number of recovery services running across London and the South, the North East and North Yorkshire, South and West Yorkshire, and the North West.
The Phoenix Futures Group is dedicated to helping individuals, families and communities recover from drug and alcohol problems. We work in a number of locations across the U.K. including Barnsley, Cambridgeshire, Central Lancashire, Derbyshire, Essex, Fife, Glasgow Hampshire, Lanarkshire, London, Manchester, Norwich, Rugby, Sheffield, Suffolk, Trafford, Tyneside, Wigan, and Wirral.
Steps2Recovery was set up as a charity in 2010 with the aim of providing help for ex-offenders caught in the merry go round of short prison sentences, homelessness, using and chaotic lifestyles who wanted to turn their lives around and become abstinent from drugs and alcohol. Since July 2014 we have run a rolling 12 week abstinence-based day programme in Stoke Newington, in partnership with St Mungo’s Broadway. We have six beds for resident clients and additionally take up to six day clients. We take male and female clients.
Turning Point were founded 50 years ago on the principle of reaching out to support people to find a new direction on their journey and this has always remained the case.
Today we are a social enterprise, providing specialist and integrated services which focus on improving lives and communities across mental health, learning disability, substance misuse, primary care, the criminal justice system and employment.
FOR NATIONAL SUPPORT...
Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous and SMART Recovery.
UK Harm Reduction Alliance is a campaigning coalition of drug users, health and social care workers, criminal justice workers and educationalists that aims to put public health and human rights at the centre of drug treatment and service provision for drug users.
Care Quality Commission (CQC) are the independent regulator of all health and social care services in England.
Scottish Drug Forum (SDF) is a membership based drugs policy and information organisation and is a national resources of expertise on drugs issues.
Find advice from the NHS on calculating units and medical advice.