News

As it reaches the end of its 5th year of operation, the Midlothian and East Lothian Drug and Alcohol Partnership (MELDAP) Recovery College is still expanding the range of services it provides.

“In the last 12 months, partnership working has once again been our key priority,” says AI Advocacy Worker, Claire Grehan. “We have built on our already strong links within the wider MELDAP Network. We have also secured further funding and our team has grown from three to four.”

Among the College’s recent achievements is the delivery of a three-day training course for 11 new Peer SMART Recovery Facilitators. As a result of this course two new SMART Meetings have begun in East Lothian. Early 2019, saw the start of a new College partnership with Children 1st Midlothian. This involves the support of a group for parents affected by addiction. The Peer Support worker managing this project is a former student of the Recovery College.

Another success is the Starfish Recovery Café in Musselburgh. This has gone from strength to strength, with a new advocacy worker providing weekly drop-ins. Equally successful is the Horizons Recovery Café in Dalkeith, which provides a safe space for those in recovery and an excellent meeting place for students and caseworkers. A number of students have moved into volunteering roles with Horizons and are supporting the café’s outside catering work.

2019/20 will see the start of further SMART Tools Training for facilitators. This should lead to a stronger SMART network across the MELDAP Region. Midlothian will also benefit from a new Recovery Hub in Dalkeith which will house all recovery services in one building. This will further strengthen the work that the Recovery College is able to provide throughout the region.