News

Welsh Mountain Zoo

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Yesterday we were able to once again to the Welsh Mountain Zoo for one of our family cohesion days.

A brilliant day was had by all….. but in future we might have to bring more sandwiches with us as the seagulls kept stealing them he he he

The Reach Team: Is Thank you enough

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We cannot express our thanks to all the Volunteers from A, who have not only helped us with furniture, but also decorating two of our rooms, our garden cleaned and new plants,

For the furniture we would like to Thank

Debbie Smalldridge: Linda Hornby: Karen Agate and Mark White

For the painting and the Garden

Linda Hornby (Organized it) : Debbie Smalldridge (Team Manager): Emma Melville: Mark White: Kevin Murphy: Mike Andrew: Tom Clegg: Graham Scott and Luca Della-Rocca.

and finally we would like to express our gratitude to Roy Davis who put our name forward,.

You are all stars

GoodGym comes to the rescue

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We would like to THANK GoodGym for coming to our rescue once again….. please read the article from their website………

Written by GoodGym

Waking up to a slightly cooler day at the tail end of this heatwave was a good start for this community mission, and on the same day as the momentous return of parkrun, our GoodGymers WhatsApp groups was a buzz with messages of running and volunteering at our local park runs and an excitement to be up and running again (pun intended!) (and of course this CM was timed so people could do both!)

We did our first visit to Sanctuary Family Support in August 2019 with a spot of painting, planting and litter picking. Returning this weekend as 15 months of the building being locked down and all the staff and volunteers working from home has left the Garden in a bit of a sorry state!

We set to cleaning up rubbish, clipping back some hardy overgrown plants, sweeping and scraping moss of the ground, and washing down the garden furniture. Today was all about cleaning up and making the space usable again, and we will be back in a few weeks to help plant some more new flowers and add a bit of glamour and sparkle.

Sanctuary Family Support are a local charity providing support to families of substance misusers, the substance misusers themselves and Kinship Carers. They offer one-to-one counselling as well as a progreamme or courses, workshops and community activities.

Sanctuary was founded by four parents in 1999, who realised then that there was a need for the service as there was no support services available to families in turmoil when they discover their son, daughter or other family member has a alcohol or drug problem, or both.

The Yarden is a perfect space for a little oasis and it’s our pleasure to work the fabulous team at Sanctuary to help make that possible.

Report written by Ema Quinn

AGM

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The Sanctuary Family Support Management Committee

Would like to cordially invite you to our Annual General Meeting

To be held on Friday 9th July 2021

1:30pm– 3:00pm

At

322-326 Upper Parliament Street

Liverpool

L8 7QL

We are looking forward to seeing you on the day.

Please can you R.S.V.P to:

Ruth Tweedale

Administrator

(0151) 735 0747

ruth@sanctuaryfs.org

via Coronavirus Attention to anybody attending the Sanctuary Family Support premises on Upper Parliament Street. Please can you only attend if you are not showing any signs of flu-like symptoms. Thank you for your co-operation.

Coronavirus Attention to anybody attending the Sanctuary Family Support premises on Upper Parliament Street. Please can you only attend if you are not showing any signs of flu-like symptoms. Thank you for your co-operation.

Quote• Posted on by sanctuaryfs

LIVERPOOL VETERANS PRAISE DRUG AND ALCOHOL SUPPORT AND RECOVERY PROGRAMME

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Launchpad’s Speke House in Liverpool provides safe, secure accommodation for up to 48 veterans to help them stabilise their lives and make a successful transition from military to civilian life.

In addition, Launchpad staff refer residents to a multitude of partner organisations and specialist providers to ensure residents receive the help they need.

One organisation doing just that is Sanctuary Family Support from Liverpool, who provide free, confidential advice and one-to-one support with a substance misuse worker providing assistance with drug and alcohol issues and a counsellor offering CBT and Trauma counselling.

Currently celebrating its 20th anniversary, staff from Sanctuary visit Speke House every Monday between 10am and 3pm to meet residents and help them on their road to recovery. A dedicated room within Speke House means that residents can have confidential meetings within the comfort of their own surroundings. A holistic practitioner is also available to provide relaxing head, back and foot massages for residents.

Since October 2018, the service has been delivered from within Speke House and has been widely accepted by residents. Up to 30 residents are now regularly attending appointments or calling in if they need to have a chat or some advice or even a massage.

Grant Blackburn, 49, who has just recently moved out of Speke House and into his own home, has been visiting Sanctuary since May 2017. He attends to discuss his problems with alcohol addiction and coming to terms with his sexuality. He said: “For the past 17 years, I have been battling a drink problem and the behavioural patterns of this problem have varied over the years. I have tried AA meetings, private counselling and all sorts of tools and coping strategies to overcome my obvious addiction.

“Staff at Launchpad referred me to Sanctuary and it has made a huge difference. I find them incredibly homely and because I felt comfortable, I was able to be 100% honest about my past, present and what I’d like for the future.

“The staff at Sanctuary are brilliant and without the amazing manner in which these meetings are conducted, I would not have been able to open up. The meetings make me feel relaxed, honest and open. They also make me smile, laugh and cry! The common denominator with all these variables of emotion is the fact that whenever I leave Sanctuary, I always feel a stone lighter. They are working like nothing ever has done before.”

Each meeting is tailored to address their [residents] individual needs. Throughout Grant’s counselling sessions, he has discussed in depth about his drinking habits, understanding his circumstances, cognitive relaxation methods, creating a relapse prevention plan and building discrepancy.

Sam Jackson, Manager at Launchpad’s Speke House, said: “We work in partnership with lots of different organisations to ensure we can signpost residents to the appropriate help they need. We are very fortunate here in Liverpool that there is a lot of professional support out there not only for our veterans but also general public who may also be experiencing these issues.

“We have been working with Maddy and the team at Sanctuary for a few years now with successful outcomes for our residents. Every resident is on a different path, some need more help than others but everyone is treated individually. Grant has really benefitted from the support by Sanctuary and we’ve seen him come a long way. There is still a way to go but we’re on the right path and he will continue to access the service even though he has now moved on.

“We have seen an uptake in participation since the service came in-house and this is coupled by a number of factors such as access to the service, the expense of catching buses to go to appointments, anxiety, confusion and the worry at the thought of leaving Speke House. We are always looking to create new partnerships with organisations like Sanctuary that will benefit our residents.”

Maddy Vaz, Chair and volunteer at Sanctuary, said: “The Road to Recovery project has been a success. It’s a pleasure to work with the veterans and staff at Speke House.

We now need to ensure funding for this project is long-term as the Launchpad project is on-going.”

Speke House consists of 48 bedsits including communal space and a garden for residents to socialise. Last year, Launchpad supported 157 homeless and unemployed veterans at Speke House and at Avondale House in Newcastle and has helped 437 veterans since 2013.