Stronger Together – Via at the 2024 DDN Conference!

 

The DDN (Drink and Drugs News) service user conference took place this year on 11 July in Birmingham, and our Via colleagues from Brent, Cheshire West and Chester, and Surrey hosted a stall. 

This annual event provides an invaluable and inspirational space for sharing knowledge, fostering partnerships, and highlighting essential services and programmes offered across the UK. 

Max Griffiths, Service Manager at Via – New Beginnings – Brent, said: “This year’s theme was ‘Together Stronger,’ and we attended alongside Brent’s Service User Council, B3. B3 ran a session at the conference, showcasing the impactful work they do in Brent, including their collaboration with our New Beginnings team to deliver a peer-to-peer naloxone programme.” 

 Max continued: “Our Reintegration Coordinator, Andreas Kavalierou also attended with boxing gear, demonstrating our innovative and inspiring GLOVES programme to attendees.” 

Our stall featured a variety of initiatives and topics, including the Via Capital Card, the Re-new enhanced brief intervention programme, and our upcoming women’s detox facility in Gloucestershire. Visitors were also invited to participate in a survey on improving service collaboration. 

Max concluded by saying: “Overall, the day was a fantastic opportunity to hear from guest speakers and engage with other providers and companies in the field.” 

Andreas Kavalierou, Reintegration Coordinator, said: “I thoroughly enjoyed the DDN conference with Via colleagues – connecting with others in the field and being able to talk with pride about the work Via does.” 

Peer mentors, volunteers and people who use our service in Redbridge who attended told us that they felt very lucky they were invited and they felt “inspired and blessed.” 

Another peer mentor said that “It was a lovely experience and very educational.” 

Dave Targett, Area Director at Via, said: “It was great to attend the DDN Conference, to hear from the speakers, see some exciting work being presented and to be able to talk about the delivery of our own commitment to the theme of the conference. Via strongly believes in the importance of working together with all stakeholders, and most importantly our clients, to provide the best health and wellbeing support to as many people as possible, helping them to change their lives for the better. There will be a number of exciting initiatives focussed on working together with our clients coming in the future. If this is something of interest, please do reach out.” 

---

 

About B3

B3 aims to raise awareness of drug and alcohol issues through information and education, provide a voice and support for service users, and improve services in Brent through community feedback, partnership work, training, and service user involvement. Established in 2008 as a small service user group, B3 has grown significantly, eventually running courses, conducting outreach and education, and setting up BSAFE, a weekend service, in 2010.

 

About GLOVES

The GLOVES programme is a 6-week initiative using boxing skills to aid recovery through boosting responsibility and resilience. It features two sessions each week: a group strategy session and a one-to-one boxing session with a personal GLOVES trainer. The programme helps build and sustain a winning mentality, improve fitness, and develop a personal plan for sustained recovery. Through boxing, GLOVES offers new strategies and a fresh perspective on overcoming challenges, ensuring continuous support and motivation.