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SDF wins award for Lanarkshire volunteer opportunities
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8 May 2010
SCOTTISH Drugs Forum has received a local accolade for the quality of care and opportunities given to its volunteers in Lanarkshire.
SDF has been awarded the Quality Standard Plus Award from the South Lanarkshire volunteer centre SoLVE at an awards ceremony to recognise good practice in the voluntary sector.
The honour was given to mark the range and quality of effort given by SDF to its Lanarkshire User Involvement Group, which received national media attention after meeting Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing earlier this year.
The Group, set up around seven years ago and funded by Lanarkshire Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP), was the focus of national attention when the BBC Scotland online news service profiled the experiences and views of its members during a Ministerial visit to the local ADP. The Group has around 17 volunteers and aims to promote the service user voice in policy and practice.
Days after the visit, SDF’s Lanarkshire UI Development Officer Derek McCabe and two UI Group volunteers received the SoLVE award from South Lanarkshire Provost Russell Clearie.
Local UI Group members are active on the North and South Lanarkshire Public Partnerships Forums, which meet regularly to discuss local health issues.
Two volunteers sit on the North Lanarkshire Addictions Partnership Board and another is a member of the Joint Services Management Group which covers substance use services in South Lanarkshire.
One UI Group member is also a member of the Scottish Drug Recovery Consortium and the Board of the Scottish Network for Families Affected by Drugs.
Last year more than 40 volunteers took part in UI Group activities and were involved in working groups looking at the shape of services in Lanarkshire and in developing a recovery-oriented system of care, as well as undertaking peer research.
They have also been involved in helping develop the Hepatitis C intervention and education strategy in Lanarkshire and presented at a recent Hepatitis C conference.
Eligibility for becoming a UI Group member is that applicants must have experience of being a client of drug and/or alcohol services and be stable.
Derek McCabe said:”We are proud to accept this Award as it is good to know that people understand that service users have an important part to play in helping improve drug services and that volunteering opportunities are vital if people are to move on with their lives.”
You can see the BBC Scotland online feature about SDF’s Lanarkshire User Involvement Group - “Road to Recovery – I have got a future now” at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8560180.stm