We care for the whole person...
Lisa Williams, director of business development at Adferiad Recovery, on the new charity’s work
ADFERIAD Recovery is a new charity that was launched in April 2021. The charity was formed as a result of four Welsh charities merging, to bring together decades of expertise in both mental health and addiction recovery.
Its aim is to provide outstanding services for people in Wales with mental health problems, addiction issues, and co-occurring and complex needs.
We believe in a holistic approach to recovery, understanding, supporting and treating the whole of the person and not the hole in the person.
One of the founding principles of the charity is that from the very start it should be shaped by our members – mainly clients and their families – and our other stakeholders including volunteers, staff, partners and supporters.
To achieve this level of engagement, we have undertaken a consultation across Wales and beyond during the past few months, asking our stakeholders: what kind of charity should we aim to be?
Throughout September and October our “Talk to Adferiad” campaign engaged thousands of stakeholders including over 1,000 members, 5,000 service users and carers using Adferiad Recovery’s services every day.
Hundreds of people attended 24 local events across Wales, with a final celebration event in Cardiff Bay. In addition, hundreds of people have taken part in our campaign surveys across the whole of Wales.
So what did our stakeholders tell us? Unsurprisingly, when our stakeholders were asked to identify the biggest issues facing them, the numberone problem pinpointed is a lack of resources. Put simply, statutory services are not adequate to meet the huge demand for support and this is affecting the lives of people across Wales every day.
Our stakeholders also identified a range of other issues such as a lack of support for families and carers, a lack of joined-up services and an often “oldfashioned” approach from statutory services which means patients are not empowered to make their own choices.
Unsurprisingly, when asked what Adferiad Recovery should be holding the Welsh Government to account for, the number-one priority was “providing more resources for services”.
But what about Adferiad Recovery’s priorities? Interestingly, our stakeholders told us that the number-one priority for the charity should be to develop and provide holistic services. What they asked for are services which don’t simply meet one need, but which meet many needs. The message was clear – treat the client as a “whole person”, don’t simply address one issue in isolation.
Another clear priority was to tackle the stigma surrounding addiction, mental illness and co-occurring diagnoses. Even though the stigma around mental illness has been challenged in recent years, some stigma remains.
For addiction, the stigma is arguably even greater. We must work to tackle this, or even more people will suffer in silence or face discrimination.
Finally, our stakeholders said that one of the main priorities for the charity must be to campaign for the rights and needs of people in our client group, including those beyond our services. We need to be the voice of our client group, and that voice needs to get louder.
So what’s next? In the coming months trustees and the management team will work on an organisational vision, an organisational strategy and a range of supporting strategies. These will directly address the issues and aspirations identified by our stakeholders.
Then, of course, it’s about putting those strategies into practice and achieving better outcomes for our client group.
There’s much to do and creating change will be challenging – but as an organisation we are looking towards a much brighter future where we provide services and support across Wales and no-one needs to feel alone.