This week 15th- 21st November 2021 marks Alcohol Awareness Week. This is a week organised by Alcohol Change UK designed to get the UK talking about their drinking and the drinking of those around us. The theme of this year's Alcohol Awareness Week is ‘Alcohol and relationships’.

Alcohol is used within our society to socialise, celebrate and commiserate, so is a large part of our interactions and relationships with our friends, family and loved ones. However, when a person’s drinking starts to become problematic it can dramatically impact on their relationships with those they love most.

Excessive or problematic drinking can cause huge levels of stress for the family, whether this is due to the individual’s behaviours under the influence, or due to dangerous behaviours exacerbated by alcohol such as drink driving and domestic violence. 

The pandemic has caused many to feel isolated and the levels of stress have been incredibly high over the past two years. This has led to many turning to alcohol to help them cope with their heightened levels of anxiety. 

But what do you do when you are concerned about your or a loved one's drinking?

At Kenward Trust, we offer residential addiction rehabilitation for those addicted to alcohol and substances at Kenward’s Therapeutic Community. This service lasts between 4 and 24 weeks, and our treatment is designed around empowering the individual to transform their life and create a new future for themselves. As we offer such a large level of support this is a paid-for service, to which you can fund yourselves, or access statutory funding through community drug and alcohol services. The local community drug and alcohol services to us are:

CGL Maidstone
Mill House
Mill Street
Maidstone
ME15 6XH

01622 690944

Turning Point Ashford
Transport House
Drum Lane
Ashford
TN23 1LQ

0300 123 1186

To find your local drug and alcohol service you can search here.

We also offer Day Treatment, a more flexible and affordable service providing those affected by addiction the chance to spend time with our dedicated team of professionals. This can be via counselling, recovery coaching or groups at times which can work around work. This is again a paid-for service, but we have worked to ensure we keep the costs down to make it as accessible as possible.

Our Friends, Family & Loved One's Support Group is a completely free service for those who feel they would benefit from speaking with one of our dedicated team of professionals. We run these over the phone, or by Zoom if preferable, so just get in touch with a member of our team to arrange this.

Another option we offer is our Resettlement Service which provides supported accommodation for individuals who are homeless and have addiction issues. This service allows the individual to be more independent whilst receiving support and key working from our team. The aim is that the residents of this service access their main treatment within the community drug and alcohol services, but we give them a safe place to live that is conducive to a life in recovery.

To find out about any of our services or make a referral please call us on 01622 812603 or email admissions@kenwardtrust.org.uk. 

Other support 

Drinkline is a free, confidential helpline for anyone concerned about their, or a loved one's drinking. 
0300 123 1110 (weekdays 9am- 8pm, weekends 11am- 4pm)

Drinkchat similarly Drinkchat is a free online chat service with trained advisors for anyone looking for advice about either their own or someone else’s drinking. 
To start chatting click here.

Alcoholics Anonymous runs groups across the country using the 12 step programme. Find your nearest meeting here.

FRANK is a vast resource on drugs and alcohol and drugs, as well as helping you find nearby support services and advice. Visit their site here. 

To find out more about the Alcohol Awareness Week Campaign and how you can get involved here.