A pair of Stirling-based projects are to be awarded almost £800,000 of combined funding to support people affected by drug use.
The grants, given out by the Scottish Government, will see a total of 77 initiatives across Scotland share funding worth more £25 million.
National youth charity Includem have received £500,000 to help its work in delivering intensive one-to-one support for young people aged between 12 and 26 in Stirling who have been affected by substance abuse.
Currently, Includem expect to support around 50-60 children, young people and families across the Stirling area this year - with hopes that the additional capacity could help another 12 people in Stirling.
Includem’s director of services Lynsey Smith said: “This is really good news and we are looking forward to getting going.
“We do a lot of one-to-one work in the community, going out to families and providing bespoke support and we have access to people 365 days a year to make sure we’re there when needed.
“We’ve been embedded in Stirling since 2017 and receive most of our referrals through the children and social work department.
“The system was lacking capacity to reach those people who are really hard to engage with and clinical settings don’t often work for that trust, so our proposal was about increasing that capacity.
“The specialist treatment in Stirling was being underutilised and so our goal was about getting those people who weren’t engaging with existing services to do so and the project has been developed directly with children, young people and their families.”
“The service will be truly embedded with children and young people and make sure we physically deliver that one-to-one support to reduce the life-long impact that drug use can have.
“It will provide much-needed non-clinical support and has been generated through real knowledge of where the current gaps are and families have said what kind of service they want.”
Meanwhile, the Change Grow Live recovery service - based across the Forth Valley - has also received funding of £298,500 to assist with the delivery of a ‘harm reduction assertive outreach service’ in Stirling.
Beverley Hubber, Scotland services manager for CGL, said: "Change Grow Live Forth Valley are delighted to receive this additional funding from Scottish Government.
"The funding will allow us to take a new and innovative approach in the attempt to support the Drug Death Task Force in reducing drug deaths in Scotland by reaching those who are at most risk within our community and engage them with support and treatment services. Further, this funding will also provide a way back into employment for those who have lived experience of substance use and are in recovery.
"Over the next three years, it is our intention to recruit, in total, 12 individuals from the Forth Valley area who have lived experience of substance use and are now in recovery themselves.
"We will provide these individuals with paid employment for one year alongside support, training and access to a professional qualification, all of which will hopefully then give them the skills and confidence to move into mainstream employment after the year.
"During their time with Change Grow Live, the peer navigators will work within our established harm reduction team and go out into the local communities providing a variety of harm reduction interventions and advice and engage with those who are most vulnerable and at risk, providing a pathway into treatment and support services."
Announcing the funding package, Drugs Policy Minister Angela Constance said: “I am pleased that so many organisations doing valuable work around the country are to benefit from this latest round of funding from our Improvement Fund and Children and Families Fund.
“The grants awarded will enable services to increase and improve the support available for people suffering from addiction and of course, their families.
“Getting more people into the treatment which works for them is central to our National Mission and we continue to embed the new Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) standards which reinforce a rights-based approach for people who use drugs and the treatment they should expect regardless of their circumstances.
“We aim to increase the number of publicly funded residential rehabilitation placements by more than 300 per cent over the lifetime of this Parliament and I recently announced a treatment target to increase the number of people with problematic opiate drug use accessing community treatments.
“I am determined that the £250 million we are investing in tackling this public health emergency will make a difference and we will continue to prioritise our efforts to turn this crisis around.”
