As part of the development of local early intervention and recovery services, South Lanarkshire Justice Social Work recently hosted a development day.

In partnership with South Lanarkshire Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP), the day emphasised the importance of recovery-oriented systems of care.

The event welcomed a series of thought-provoking performances from Regen FX The Street, with a group of young people depicting a range of issues that can impact their everyday lives.

Themes explored included alcohol and drug use, entry into the criminal justice system and their experience of working with recovery services.

Professor Soumen Sengupta, Director of Health and Social Care for South Lanarkshire, said: “We are committed to strengthening a public health approach to justice services, and fostering recovery services that build on the strengths and resilience of individuals, families and communities.

“Listening to the lived and unfiltered experiences of young people is an important element of our doing this effectively.

“Regen FX The Street were both bold and captivating in bringing to life the challenges faced by many of our young people as well as the vital contribution that staff right across our organisations can and do make to improving their lives.”

The event encouraged all those attending to forge long term connections between services that support those in substance use recovery, and to reinforce the importance of a “no wrong door” approach for people to access services which are trauma informed and stigma free.”

Participants included The Givit, SACRO, Police Scotland, U Turn (Glasgow Council for Alcohol), NHS Harm Reduction service, South Lanarkshire Community Addictions Recovery Service, The Becons (Liber8), Scottish Recovery Consortium, Turning Point Outreach service, My Support Day and Equal Say (Advocacy).