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WDP WORKER RECEIVES AWARD

WDP’s Rachel Hassan has been announced as a winner of this year’s Leadership Awards within Westminster. The awards recognise individuals who have made great efforts to the benefit of the local community

The prizes were given out by the Lord Mayor of Westminster on 21st February at the Lord Mayor’s parlour. Each nominee required at least three nominations, which came from both service users and other professionals. A panel of Westminster councillors and MPs decided the winners.

Rachel runs The Christopher Project, a service operating out of WDP’s Harrow Road premises. Its aim is to reach out to those who are indirectly affected by drug use, whether that is the families, partners and friends of drug users, or the wider community.

Rachel wants to redress this imbalance in drug treatment: ‘they are often the forgotten element in drug services. There’s a whole range of options open to drug users, but if someone you are close to is a drug user it’s likely to have a huge impact on your life as well.’

Her nomination came as a shock: ‘I was surprised to be nominated as The Christopher Project has only been running since January 2005. But I’m really proud to receive the award, and I hope that it will allow us to move the service on and grow as a team.’

Part of the reason Rachel received this award was the outstanding work that The Christopher Project does with black and minority ethnic groups. Great efforts are made to target these groups through attending and arranging events, raising the awareness of drug issues within the community.

One element of the work she’d like the service to develop is with vulnerable tenants. Rather than waiting until the neighbours of known ‘crack houses’ experience problems, Rachel would like to intervene and try to avert a crisis developing. If eviction can be prevented through a change in the tenant’s behaviour then it works to everyone’s advantage.

The Christopher Project offers a wide range of support to people who are close to someone affected by drug issues. Group therapy sessions are offered to the family members of drug users. Often people in this situation feel embarrassed and isolated. By sharing their problems with other people, and realising they are not alone, family members can often find huge benefits.

The Christopher Project is named after the nephew of a Westminster councillor who died of a Heroin overdose. The councillor was amazed that there was no support on offer to the family after this tragedy, and contacted WDP to set up a service for this purpose. Not only does the service provide much needed support for family members, this can in turn play a huge role in preventing relapse for a drug user.

Rachel hopes that the award will lead to an expansion in her team so that more can be done for the community: ‘we want to deliver a community led service that is in touch with the needs of the people it serves.’

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Client art exhibition gains positive response at Wandsworth

More than 100 clients of WDP’s Wandsworth project recently participated in an exhibition of their artwork, with a wide range of creative work on display.

Wandsworth’s Open Access manager, David Bouldin was keen to stress the importance of the exhibition, stating that art and poetry have always been encouraged as a form of therapeutic expression for clients, and adding that art can be a good way of clients using their imagination and artistic skills to help address their personal struggle against addiction.

The Wandsworth exhibition was so popular and successful with clients and visitors that it has become a yearly fixture at the project, and one that will hopefully provide inspiration to other aspiring artists. Back to Top