Cumbria Addictions: Advice and Solutions (CADAS) Addiction affects people from all walks of life and is more common than many people think. Cumbria Addictions: Advice and Solutions (CADAS) provides support for individuals, family members and carers, promoting recovery in the community. CADAS will support anyone who feels their addiction or substance use is problematic, believing everyone is capable of change. Support services are based on one-to-one recovery support which can take place online or face to face and always with an experienced, qualified coach. The charity also provides peer support groups and drop-in sessions, health and wellbeing activities and events for clients after they complete their CADAS coaching sessions to help them maintain the changes they have made. In response to the needs of clients, CADAS established the West Cumbria Family Support Service, which aims to reduce the number of children taken into care and improve their life chances. Families affected by parental substance abuse are taught emotional resilience techniques and how to use talking therapy and other strategies to change their behaviour. One service user explained the difference the project had made: CASE STUDY 64 Watchtree Nature Reserve Watchtree is a 205 acre, fully accessible nature reserve, situated on the Solway plain, six miles south west of Carlisle. A former World War II airfield, the site was chosen to dispose of hundreds of thousands of animal carcasses during the 2001 foot and mouth crisis. Afterwards, to change the perception of the area, the local community decided to convert it to a nature reserve, which now attracts tens of thousands of people each year. Watchtree Nature Reserve is a charity with learning and wellbeing at its heart. The site has a dedicated education zone with secluded woodland, fire circle, den building and foraging zones, and woodland crafts, enabling children to learn and play in a natural outdoor setting. The site is also home to Watchtree Wheelers which states its mission as “all about getting people on bikes’. There is a fleet of more than 100 bikes and trikes for hire, suitable for all abilities, allowing more people to explore the site, which has a network of accessible trails. Watchtree Wheelers also sells and fixes bikes, as well as teaching people to ride. Cycling is great for mental and physical wellbeing, and Watchtree provides the perfect place to ride in a safe, traffic-free environment. The Watchtree team also run Woodland Wellbeing sessions, which harness the healing power of being outdoors. Evidence is increasingly suggesting that just simply being in a woodland environment can make significant improvements to an individual’s wellbeing. The team takes groups from local organisations and businesses into the woods to embrace the outdoors and learn techniques to help them deal with stress in the workplace and at home, and improve resilience. CASE STUDY 65 I now have different ways to manage how I’m feeling and I’m able to be a mother to my child. You’ve helped me to make sure I keep going in this way and don’t take a step backwards. I thought I’d struggle more than I have; but I think that’s the difference you all make; I wasn’t on my own and you helped more than I could have imagined.
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