Our latest impact report is now available to read!
3,724 more people were supported by Scottish Families’ services in 2022/23 as well as those we are already supporting.
‘This group has been a lifesaver for me, as I was feeling exceptionally low. I can share my feelings without judgement in a safe and empathic space. Everyone has been so welcoming and understanding, particularly in my early days of daily ‘breakdowns’. I have been to the gym twice this week, I was not going out the front door prior to this group, I don’t feel so alone so thank you all.’ – Family Member
Our Impact Report for 2022/23 is inviting everyone to Meet the Family! The above image of some of the #TeamSFAD crew at our 20th birthday party says it all about what our own family is like – noisy, lively, chaotic, and always up for a laugh (and of course a group photo). This report firstly invites you to meet our Scottish Families family in more detail, not least because we have had an incredible year and we can’t wait to tell you about everything we have done.
But Meet the Family! is really about the families we support every day, right across Scotland. We may have just marked two decades of work this year, but we are a long way off from everyone who is concerned about someone else’s alcohol or drug use in Scotland getting the support they need.
From our ‘Ask the Family’ project, we know that an average of 11 people are harmed for every person using alcohol or drugs, covering every possible family relationship or social network (such as friends, work colleagues, neighbours). Ask the Family also found that family members were harmed by alcohol or drugs for an average of 16 years, but it took an average of 8 years for them to reach family support for the first time. Yet when people hear ‘families affected by substance use’, they quickly jump to thinking about young children affected by a parent’s drinking or drug use, or about parents in recovery or struggling to support their own families due to their substance use. The ‘Whole Family Approach’ in practice is too often focused only on these groups (both of course needing support), not the ‘whole family’ at all – despite what is written down in national and local commitments. And where the family is considered, this is often from the perspective of the individual using alcohol or drugs, for example as a positive resource to support their treatment or recovery, or in terms of child risk and neglect.
If we accept that the Whole Family needs support, that means of course that everyone in that Whole Family should get the support they need, in their own right, in a way which suits their needs. We have been talking (and sometimes shouting) about this for the past 20 years, and we will not skip a beat in continuing to do so.
This Impact Report shows what happens when families are seen and heard, when they are supported and included, when they connect together and when they create change. We hear every day from families that engaging with us has been life-changing and transformational for them – whether or not their loved one has reduced their substance use, or engaged in treatment, or indeed where they have lost a loved one.
From learning about their rights and how to access these; sharing their experiences through storytelling with other families, with the media and at events; researching the impact of substance use in their communities; connecting with other family members in safe, creative and supportive spaces; ordering a naloxone kit to save a life; campaigning for changes in policy and practice; and making friends for life – every day families supported by Scottish Families are creating change for themselves, their loved ones and their wider communities.
Come on then, let’s Meet the Family!