THOMAS’s Drop In Centre Blackburn has 600 registered users. We have seen numbers increase dramatically as the recession has deepened and more people become homeless.
Through the Drop In Centre we reach out to individuals battling to overcome drug and alcohol addiction, who have not yet engaged with specialist drug and alcohol services. They may be living on the streets, in hostels or sofa-surfing without access to healthy food. The Drop In is the first step towards a comprehensive recovery service, which is likely to include housing and move-on accommodation.
THOMAS provides a healthy freshly-cooked lunch to more than 70 people every day. For many this makes the difference between life and death. After the meal which is shared to encourage “community”, we encourage engagement in other services including outreach health services.
More formal recovery interventions provide explicit support to overcome addiction. We remain in contact with many of our service users as they move from the Drop In Centre, through rehabilitation and onto recovery and are then able to support them to begin volunteering with us.
