Welcome to Lifeline London . Lifeline Projects Ltd has been commissioned by the London Boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Enfield to deliver a range of services to people experiencing problems with their substance misuse.

Below is an overview of the services currently delivered to young people by Lifeline Tower Hamlets Young Person’s Substance Misuse Service.

Who We Are

The Lifeline Project is a well-established, voluntary sector agency that provides a range of drug and alcohol services for adults and young people. Since its foundation, Lifeline has grown and developed, responding to the ever–increasing problems associated with drug use faced by individuals, families and communities.

The organisation is a registered charity. The Lifeline Tower Hamlets Young People’s Service is one of many substance services in the Lifeline Projects Ltd family of services.

In all its areas of work, Lifeline strives to ensure that it performs at the highest standards in terms of governance, management and service delivery while retaining its core values with regards to approachability and responsiveness to individual need. Lifeline has a reputation for independence.

Lifeline also has a reputation for the development of services and perspectives supportive of its service users and those broader populations whose lives are directly affected by drugs. These closely allied reputations are underpinned and, to a strong extent, guaranteed by a commitment to an independent and broadly based knowledge sector of publications research, policy and new media development.

Tower Hamlets

Tower Hamlets itself has a rapidly growing population, which according to the Office for National Statistics, expanded by over 35,000 people during the census periods 1991-2001. The total population is now in excess of 196,000 people and is characterised by its relative youthfulness, ethnic diversity and its starkly contrasting levels of socio-economic deprivation and prosperity.

The Borough has one of the youngest populations in the country: 28.4% of Tower Hamlet’s residents are aged 19 years or younger and 76% of the school age population is from a minority ethnic group. Whilst this statistical fact is a cause for celebration, when coupled with high levels of economic deprivation a growing youth population presents many challenges in regard to tackling substance use issues within the Borough. Indeed many of the risk factors related to problematic substance use are highly evident within Tower Hamlets, they cross all ethnic groups, and are currently beginning to be addressed through the formation of strong, and effective local partnerships, many of which include and involve the young people of the Borough.

What We Do

We currently have contracts to provide drugs and alcohol services including harm minimisation services, needle exchange, drop in, day programmes, prescribing and shared care, community based detoxification support services, community development programmes, criminal justice/prison initiatives and services for young people. In addition we have research and publications departments.

In Tower Hamlets, the Lifeline YP service has been commissioned to deliver, on behalf of the borough, a range of substance related services to the young people, families and the communities of Tower Hamlets.

The YP Service is tasked with delivering services to those who are in need and who require support around their substance use. Following an inclusive, harm reduction model of delivery, the service aims to deliver appropriate information, advice and therapeutic interventions to young people, responding to need as it is presented.

Working with Young people across two broad levels of need, we deliver targeted and specialist interventions. We also work extensively with our partners to ensure that YP, their families and the communities have easy access to our services. Some of our partners include:

CAMHS Specialist Substance Misuse Services
Youth Services
Youth Offending Team
Education and Health Schools Team
Children’s Services
Ocean Somali Community Association
Better Tower Hamlets Teams
Tower Hamlets DAAT
NAFAS
Streets of Growth
Positive Futures

Services Delivered through Lifeline  Tower Hamlets YP

Lifeline Tower Hamlets is a community based young people’s substance misuse agency that was set up in Tower Hamlets in 2005. There are a range of free services available that include one-to one care planned support, family support services, health promotion events, community drug awareness programmes and professional training. All services offered by Lifeline Tower Hamlets are geared towards meeting the needs of the young population of the Borough (0 – 19 years of age). Specifically in Tower Hamlets, Lifeline London has been tasked with assisting the Young People of the Borough to reach their full potential, by focusing on providing support to any Young Person, who identifies that drug use is affecting their social and life functioning.

The Lifeline staff team at Tower Hamlets is made up of professionals that provide the first point of contact for young people requiring treatment or support for their drug use. Working in partnership with other Tier 1 and 2 professionals Lifeline Tower Hamlets provides specific drug services with the aim of supporting the young person back into mainstream services. Typically Tier 2 work will include harm reduction work delivered through group work.

The Young People Service delivers Tier 2 (targeted) interventions in:

Youth Centres
Secondary Schools
Safer Neighbourhood Teams
Pupil Referral Units
Community events and festivals

And Tier 3 (specialist) interventions with our partner agencies:

Secondary Schools
Pupil Referral Units
Youth Offending Team
Looked After Children Team
Youth Services

The service also offers services to family members/carers affected by any young persons’ substance use. Developing 12 week packages of practical adn emotional support, this part of the service aims to assist parents, families and carers to come to terms with others drug use and to assist them to look at how the fall out of this drug use is best managed in individual circumstances.

Training

In addition o services we deliver directly to Young People the Lifeline Tower Hamlets YP Service also delivers training to all professionals working with children and young people in the Borough. The training we have delivered through our dedicated training team includes:

• Drug awareness
• Screening for drug use
• Methods and theories of drug treatment delivery
• Crack/cocaine training
• Cannabis awareness
• Alcohol awareness
• Working with ambivalence

Community Interactor Scheme

The service also runs a Community Interactor scheme. This scheme seeks to support members of local communities to gain a recognised qualification in drugs work. On completion of the 16 week accredited course, successful students are then invited to be employed on a sessional basis by Lifeline with a view to delivering services in the community. The modules covered in the training include:

• Drugs awareness
• Delivering Drugs Workshops
• Personal and Professional development

This scheme is open to anyone over the age of 16 years and who can demonstrate a connection with the borough of Tower Hamlets. It is easy to apply for this scheme, all you have to do is call the service (details at the end).

Purpose, Values, Mission and Vision

Statement of Purpose

The charitable purpose of Lifeline Projects Ltd is to relieve poverty, sickness and distress among those persons affected by addiction to drugs of any kind and to educate the public on matters relating to drug misuse.

Our Values

Lifeline is committed to promoting an organisational ethos and culture that respects the dignity of those people who require help and support with drugs and alcohol problems. Our mission statement ‘Telling the truth about drugs’ reflects our role as an organisation in establishing an approach to substance misuse issues that is accurate, credible and

non-judgemental. This approach is the guiding principle that underpins the products and services that we provide.

We do not believe there are any simplistic solutions to the problem of drug use. Over the last decade drugs have become cheaper and more readily available, the number of people using drugs has increased and the age of first use has become ever younger. It is our belief that there are no ‘quick fixes’ or ‘miracle cures’ to this problem and that a realistic starting point is to acknowledge that our impact on the problem will be limited by a range of other individual and social issues.

Fundamental to our work is the recognition that not all drug use is the same. We treat people as individuals: if people want to stop using drugs we will help them; for others our aim to help them live with their drug use until they are able to stop, or live with their drug use with as much stability and dignity as possible.

Many people choose to experiment with drugs for short periods during adolescence or simply take drugs because they enjoy them. For these people we aim to ensure their choice is an informed one and they cause as little to themselves, their loved ones and their communities as possible.

The different types of services that we provide reflect the differing needs of individuals, but fundamental to our work are some key principal:

• Establishing a culture of respect and dignity
• Emphasising rights and responsibilities
• Maximising informed choice
• Supporting stability and progress
• Minimising harm to individuals, families and communities
• Making positive contributions to theories and debates
• Establishing a strong reputation for independent policy, practice and communication

While recognising the medical, social and criminal justice elements of this work, we are deeply committed to the individual needs of those who access our services. This commitment drives us to provide meaningful and sustainable interventions that are frequently innovative, distinctive or unique.

Our Mission

Lifeline provides itself on taking a holistic view towards drug problems, rather than a purely medical or criminal justice approach. Our mission statement ‘telling the truth about drugs’ reflects our commitment to those people who access our services, and our desire to make a positive contribution to the challenges and debates that arise within the

drug and alcohol field.

Our Vision

Our Vision is to deliver attractive and effective responses to the challenges associated with drugs and alcohol use. Despite many changes over the years, a number of features have remained consistent. Our approach is pragmatic. We do not take a moral stance by condemning drug use; that position would simply alienate the people we aim to help.

Providing high quality, best value service is reliant on good management, creativity and innovation, together with a clear idea about whom we serve and how they judge us.

These include:

• Those who receive our services, such as people with drug or alcohol problems and their families.
• Those who purchase our services, such as commissioners and funding organisations.
• Our fellow professionals, such as colleagues and others who work in similar or related organisations.
• The wider community, such as residents and business people who live and work in areas where drugs and alcohol use are causing difficulties.
• The public: the broader population without whom our services would not exist and who are ultimately decide the legal, social and economic circumstances which shape the lives of those we serve.