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Description
According to a Więcbork Municipal Alcohol Problem-Solving Committee report, in the years 2019-2020 the number of families receiving addiction benefits rose from 59 to 61, and there was also an increase in applications for rehabilitation from 48 in the previous year to 66. There is no facility in the municipality at which addicts and co-addicts can attend therapy and integrate. Vulnerable families are left to fend for themselves. We intend to prevent this in a project for social inclusion of those families. We intend to take action to empower alcoholic families and make them independent, with various forms of support and pursuit of passions. We will conduct social training and self-advocacy workshops, and initiate a self-help group for addicts and support group for co-addicts. Working with self-advocates, we will operate an Information and Consultation Point and monthly information and awareness meetings for the local community. Families will be able to participate in cooking and draughts classes, Nordic Walking, and sculpture and painting classes. We will also organize four family integration meetings (sports picnic, Christmas meal, children’s day, closing ceremony), two cultural field trips, two national abstinence meeting trips, and one for on a county meeting. The project will provide 22 people from alcoholic families with self-advocacy skills, and 36 people will receive various forms of support. The people who participate in the project will be empowered and ties will be mended in their families. The project is intended for up to nine alcoholic families who remain sober (26 people) and ten people in abstinence clubs in the Sępolno County (participation in two national abstinence events).
Summary of project results
The project aimed to support families at risk of social exclusion due to alcoholism in Więcbork Municipality and Sępólno District. A report by the Municipal Commission for Solving Alcohol Problems in Więcbork shows that in 2019-2020, the number of families receiving benefits due to addiction has increased, and the number of requests for drug treatment has also risen. Meanwhile, police reports show an increase in the number of people driving under the influence of alcohol. Young people under the age of 14 are also increasingly turning to alcohol. In Więcbork, however, there is no place where people with alcohol addiction and co-addiction can receive comprehensive support, i.e. take part in therapy, develop skills, integrate and, most importantly, speak up for themselves and act on behalf of other families with alcohol addiction.
The families participated in various empowerment and integration activities. Social skills training and self-advocacy workshops were conducted for them (4 meetings), as well as a number of integration meetings, including checkers, Nordic walking training, cooking, handicraft and painting workshops. Self-help group meetings were arranged to meet twice a week and a support group to meet once a month. An information and advice centre was run to provide ongoing support. Participating families were actively involved in various self-advocacy activities, e.g. monthly information and education meetings for the community, "My passions" panel discussions, therapeutic outings. Open integration events for families (e.g. sports picnic, Christmas Eve, Children''s Day) were important activities.
Families with alcohol addiction who are maintaining sobriety and people from sobriety clubs in the Sępólno district took part in the project. There is no doubt that the families have developed their self-management skills and put them into practice. Family ties have also been strengthened, communication has improved and relationships have been rebuilt. The inhabitants of the municipality and the county were also made aware of the challenges faced by families with alcoholism and the possibilities for improving their quality of life.