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Recovery Festival 2014 |
Employment
drug and alcohol policy and realise that it should be dealt with as a safeguarding
issue for people involved in dangerous work.
The skill base of the drug and alcohol workforce could also bring value to many
other businesses, he said, such as helping retailers to train security staff in drug
awareness. Skills were also useful in helping businesses to reduce stigma and
address prejudice that often stood in the way of treatment.
Molinaro ran a peer mentoring service that was targeted on employability.
Initiatives included a partnership with Railtrack and a scheme at Prescoed Open
Prison, helping prisoners to get references and gain qualifications and work
experience.
‘The mainstream media don’t talk about partnership stories, such as The Hub, a
volunteer-run café,’ she said. ‘But I’m in recovery myself and I truly believe that
finding a job saved my life.’
Peer mentoring services, such as ‘Change Step’ for military veterans and those
from the emergency services, were proving to be an effective way of supporting
people in the workplace – and a way to ‘save a lot of money for the NHS’, according
to Blakebrough.
*****
Catherine Sermon of Business in the Community (BITC) explained a campaign called
‘Ban the Box!’, which looked to change criminal record disclosure policy – the tick box
on application forms – in a bid to create fair opportunities for people with conviction
to compete for a job (
DDN
, June, page 8).
‘We’re not asking to ban disclosure, just delay it,’ she said. ‘We’re forcing people
to scratch their heads.’
One of the catalysts had been her own organisation’s difficulty in getting clients
on employment placements: ‘We thought, if we’re struggling, what are the chances
for everyone else?’
BITC also ran a programme called ‘Ready for Work’, which helped around 700
disadvantaged people a year to find work, many of whom had had drug and alcohol
dependency and convictions. ‘It’s all about challenging stigma,’ she said.
Philip Richards, senior partner in major law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer,
demonstrated the scheme in action, by explaining how the company signed up to
the Ready for Work programme and offered 25-30 places a year.
‘You can’t work as a lawyer with a conviction, but there were lots of opportunities
for support staff,’ he said. ‘At first we bottled it – we thought the lawyers wouldn’t
like it. But the numbers of people going back into jail is a national disgrace, so we
asked ourselves whether people could come and do work placements with us.’
Realising they needed help with considering the risks, they talked to probation
officers and decisions were made by the company’s global HR. But once the scheme
started, ‘the clients have been great – committed, energetic and employable,’ he said.
‘When Business in the Community started “Ban the Box” it wasn’t a difficult decision.’
‘This is a huge problem and we can’t make a difference on our own,’ he added,
urging delegates to think about the influence big national companies and public
sector employees could have. ‘We need to get the word out.’
Lester Morse and Dan Farnham from East Coast Recovery gave a perspective of
how they, as treatment providers and a recovery community, were making clients
‘work-ready’.
‘We’re more than a rehab – we try to create spaces,’ said Morse. ‘We create lots of
projects and keep it as close to real living as possible to get the foundations in place.’
Farnham described how East Coast Recovery’s range of opportunities, such as
their woodworking business, were investing in the recovery of their employees.
Together with the education programme, they were making sure people were
leaving with the skills necessary to get a job.
Don Shenker, director and founder of the Alcohol Health Network, brought a
much-needed perspective on reducing alcohol in the workplace.
‘Most of the population are rubbish at working out how much they drink,’ he said.
‘We are trying to work with the people who are in work but drinking at too high levels.’
Drinking at these levels could have a serious impact on work performance. ‘Our
intention is to support people at a much earlier stage,’ he said.
The aim was to work proactively and preventatively in all sorts of ways, rather
than reactively, signposting them to support and linking them to local services.
‘But are there other ways we can engage with people we know are stuck,’ he
asked. ‘We want to engage the recovery community to bring in expertise. Come and
speak to us – we want to find a way of joining the dots together and supporting
people in work.’
DDN
IS VOLUNTEERING VIABLE?
‘Volunteering is really key… employees need to be as clear as possible about
working requirements.’
Don Shenker, Alcohol Health Network
‘I was petrified of doing “normal things”, like going into a shop and buying a
newspaper. People don’t get that – it’s a petrifying world. If you’re taking on
volunteers, it’s important to have structure and support… but sometimes it’s
the little things that are important as well.’
Richard Maunders, UKRF
‘There are two problems with volunteering – the first is that you’ll give people
the impression you’ll give them a job at the end of it when you can’t. The
second is that some employees now see themselves above volunteers. We
need to break down the hierarchy.’
Martin Blakebrough, Kaleidoscope
‘After 17 years in recovery, I’ve been professionalised. I felt better when I was a
volunteer – I felt like I was giving. There should be routes to both choices.’
Ashley Gibson, The Basement Recovery Project
‘How about professionalising and training people rather than just calling them
volunteers?’
Andy Stonard, Esprit de Bois
‘Part of the problem is that the conditionality regime doesn’t necessarily
support volunteering. It’s important to have a clearer, more consistent
message across the board.’
Paul Anders, DrugScope
HOW CAN EMPLOYERS BE MORE SUPPORTIVE?
‘It’s about having a conversation with people and having appropriate
supervision. Learn from your own experience and empathise with other
people.’
Martin Blakebrough, Kaleidoscope
‘Make companies aware that there are different types of issues with problem
drinking. Employers have a duty of care.’
Don Shenker, AHN
‘I’m a service user and I come from a corporate environment. It’s dog eat dog
out there, so the last thing we were there to do was talk about problems. It
was a liberating experience to ask for help; it takes strength to do that. The
corporate attitude is all about going on the piss.'
Delegate
The UK Recovery Festival was organised by
DDN
on behalf of The Recovery
Partnership, with the aim of creating a dialogue between the treatment, housing
and employment sectors.
Full reports at www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
OVER TO
YOU…
BBC broadcaster
Edward Stourton
chaired an expert panel, with
contributions from the floor