Drug & Alcohol Partnership

We launched a new partnership with West Sussex County Council (DAP) on 5th November 2024.

CAPITAL have been commissioned to bring the voice of service users to the Drug and Alcohol Partnership and how people with lived experience could help to offer solutions.

The Coproduction Community Fund will be available for people to support the Drug and Alcohol Partnership priorities in the county, through their own community initiatives and leadership.

At the event, we heard people’s stories, held workshops to get ideas and inspiration going about potential projects - to improve support for people in West Sussex who use drugs and/or alcohol. People had a range of ideas for projects that could be funded.

On Friday 16th May 2025 we held our third event in the drug & alcohol partnership series at Field Place in Worthing.

This event had a focus on creative recovery and the power creativity holds within the recovery process. We celebrated recovery with poetry readings, lived experience stories and art activities. We also heard from some of our latest community projects as well as hearing updates on the latest news from our commissioners and CAPITAL. We welcomed attendees from community sector organisations as well as CAPITAL members and peers.

Quotes from the day:

“Meeting and speaking in person to people with lived experience of drug and alcohol addiction really hammers home the importance of this work. Communicating from behind a screen doesn’t do justice to the real human beings struggling to recover and those fighting alongside them to provide support. “

“This was very emotional for me as I have supported my daughter for a long time now with her cocaine alcohol addiction and the support I felt was amazing.

Very informative and helpful especially during this difficult time for people in temporary accommodation and the rise in homelessness.”

“Without people’s voices and experiences there would be no changes.. with people getting together and speaking out then hopefully the Current system will change for the better..
The situation as it is at present is very concerning.. we really need to make our voices heard and get an outcome.”

“It was very moving to hear people's stories. It was brilliant.”

“Fabulous!”

Community Fund Available Now

Do you have an innovative and new idea to support those people in your community who are or were Drug & Alcohol users?

If your answer is yes then you might want to take advantage of the community fund. Each project/idea will need to meet specific criteria based on the Drug & Alcohol Partnership Priorities.

If you are interested in applying, please use the following form to begin the application process: https://forms.office.com/e/QWJJhUWdsv

View our fact sheet for more information on the project here

Lived Experience

Watch this video to hear from our Lived Experience Lead, Sara Shepherd, about her own experience of drug harm.

Here is Jason sharing his story and talking about what good support feels like:

Here is Tracey sharing her story and talking about improving services as well as support with trauma and substance and alcohol use:

Combatting Drugs Partnership Report - March & April 2024

West Sussex County Council and CAPITAL collaborated to run several online and in person events to gather feedback around substance misuse issues in the community to inform Combatting Drugs Partnership priorities, and development of a county wide action plan for 2024/25.

View the full report here:

Understanding the experiences and impact of temporary accommodation on adults who use drugs and/or alcohol report - October 2024

Nationally, and locally in West Sussex, the need for more permanent housing options exceeds the availability, which has resulted in a reliance on the provision of temporary accommodation (TA). Given this situation, the placement process for TA is often based on availability, rather than choice, which can be challenging.

In 2023-24 the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities awarded a grant to West Sussex County Council (WSCC) and 27 other local authorities to enhance support to people in accessing and maintaining more permanent housing to help them engage in specialist drug and/or alcohol treatment and sustain their recovery. This grant is part of the Government’s ten-year national strategy to reduce drug and alcohol harms and improve treatment and recovery services. As part of this work, WSCC Public Health commissioned CAPITAL, as a local lived experience organisation, to conduct focus groups with people to gather their views and experiences. The objectives in commissioning this report were to:

Understand people’s experience of TA, and the extent to which it assists or inhibits their ability to engage in specialist treatment and support and sustain their recovery, including their individual physical, social, and mental wellbeing.
Identify, from the perspective of people with lived experience, what ‘good’ looks like in terms of TA conditions and what additional support could benefit recovery

The findings of this report will help organisations across West Sussex to understand the risks and harms that drug and/or alcohol dependent people experience when living in TA, and how this impacts on their ability to access and engage in specialist treatment and sustain recovery. Recommendations will be outlined at the end for professionals, organisations, and commissioners to consider how support for them can be improved.

View the full report here:

Other Resources - Build on Belief

If you’re struggling with alcohol and drug problems join Build on Belief for a cuppa and a chat in Worthing, Chichester and Crawley (see poster below for details)

Build on Belief also offer a 7 day a week on-line programme, check out the website for more details. https://www.buildonbelief.org.uk/

Women's Wellbeing Programme (Worthing) - Starting June 2025

Saturday Art Group (Bognor)

These two fantastic new groups have been funded by the community fund. Please contact Sara or Mark (details below) if you have any questions or would like to know more.