Who are we?
Druglink is a substance misuse charity based in Hertfordshire. Our objective is to change the future for people who are, or could be, affected by substance misuse. We achieve this through Addiction Treatment, Housing Solutions, Education and Training. We support a cohort of clients who are some of the most vulnerable within our community, many have been in addiction for many years, experienced homeliness and domestic abuse. Once in recovery we help people develop skills and confidence to enable them to find work experience and follow the path of reintegration back to a community.
Community impact
It will provide a warm and safe place, which anyone who is connected to the local area and falls under our reemit of mental health, drugs & alcohol and domestic abuse can access. It will allow for those that are at the highest risk and vulnerability within our community, who aren't in a position to financially afford to heat their homes to come to our service, which will be heated and spend time with our dedicated team. As mentioned, above, we will look at ways to ensure people are able to have something to eat with us. Our team are dedicated specialists in housing support, mental health, addiction and domestic abuse, so will be able to support anyone, who has additional needs or support whilst there with us. We will use this as an opportunity to engage with people and possibly sign post them to other services if needed We hope that by offering our space, we will reduce the risk to existing clients and those that require our services. We would hope that it would deter people from committing crime or taking unnecessary risks due to the pressure of not being financially able to support themselves or loved ones.
Why are we crowdfunding?
We decided on this venue as its already operating under Druglink, as mentioned above, the building is open already on Saturdays until lunchtime, with backroom staff. We can quickly mobilise staff that could work from the venue of both Saturdays and Sundays. It is close to bus routes, Apsley train station and is located in area that is easily accessible via roads. The SMT have discussed this idea and want to as a Charity to try and support our community. We have a partnership with Kings Langley Football club, who are supportive of our missions and would be willing to offer support with this project. Being an established Charity within the community, we would be able to invite many organisations within our networks to support us with this project. We estimate that the building would be able to support 25-35 people at a time on both of the days.
How we’ll spend the money raised
Trefoil House is an existing space that operates Mon-Sat for all of Druglink's operational procedures, which includes are backroom staff, plus our supported housing team. The plan would be to open this up to all of our own existing clients, plus partnership organisations that can refer clients to the service on Saturday & Sundays from 10-6pm on both days, therefore making it an expansion of what we can deliver. We will have staff on sites, that will support anyone who needs a warm space over the weekend period. We will run this project throughout the coldest period of the winter from December through to the end of February providing tea & coffee, plus sandwiches throughout the day. We will look to run a donation campaign to help raise awareness of this project, for those that might want to volunteer. The staff on site will part of our existing team, who will be able to offer emotional and practical support to anyone who is requiring this. A plan would be to work with other organisations to arrange and offer the space for them to work in partnership with us on any project ideas, or to help them utilise the space.