Our guest this time is David Higham, founder of The Well, a peer-run alcohol and other drug (AOD) service in the northwest of England.

For more than 20 years, David was a habitual heroin user more accustomed to life in prison than the outside world. He joined a 12-step program during his final stay at Her Majesty’s pleasure, and his story since has been one of great achievement.

After prison David embarked on a career in the AOD sector, where often he encountered services that offered solutions to problematic drug use but not necessarily its underlying causes, nor the question of what comes next.

The Well sought to harness the power of lived experience and social solidarity to offer a community-based, self-sustaining alternative. The organisation now operates across the region, combining peer-led therapeutic programs and interventions with drug-free housing, employment schemes, social enterprise and community groups.

Learn more about The Well here.

And here's the BBC article mentioned in the intro. 

The show is brought to you by the Association of Participating Service Users (APSU), which is a service of the Self Help Addiction Resource Centre (SHARC). APSU is a Victorian consumer body that believes the voices of people with lived experience of AOD issues should be heard and incorporated into service design and delivery. 

The views expressed in this podcast are not necessarily the views of APSU or SHARC. Names and identifying details may have been changed for privacy reasons.

Music is by dbh. There’s plenty more of it here.

And there’ll be more from us. Thanks so much for listening.