By Brontë Schiltz
In December 2021, the UK government launched a 10-year drugs strategy “to cut crime and save lives”. While it has drawn criticism from experts for its continued focus on criminalisation, it also sets out the largest ever increase on treatment funding – a move praised by practitioners working in residential rehabilitation clinics.
Phoenix Futures offer treatment for those suffering from addiction in prisons and in the community, but it is in residential rehab that it sees the greatest results.
A 2021 report found that patients are three times more likely to complete rehabilitation if they attend a residential clinic. Criminal justice outcomes are also twice as high, and residents report 83 per cent greater physical and mental health and quality of life gains compared with those in community treatment.
Big Issue North was a weekly magazine sold by people who have limited other ways of earning an income in the north of England. Staff now contribute weekly content to The Big Issue, supporting vendors in the north, and run Street News.