Adfam / DDN Conference 2013
Families First – our second annual conference championing the needs of families affected by drugs and alcohol
09:30am – 10:30am: Registration, Exhibition space and coffee
10:30am: Welcome and Opening Remarks – Vivienne Evans OBE, Chief Executive, Adfam
Vivienne will draw on Adfam’s national, regional and local work to set the context of the day and the importance of family support in our communities.
10:45am: Public Health, Recovery and Families – Mark Gilman, Strategic Recovery Lead, Public Health England
Using his expertise in developing recovery-orientated systems across the UK, Mark will examine the role of families in supporting and building the recovery movement in our communities. He will consider how families can and should harness their potential recovery capital while taking care of their own recovery.
11:15am Having a voice: how families can influence and be agents for change – Kate McKenzie, mother and activist
Kate’s involvement with the trauma of drugs in the family began when her daughter became addicted to heroin. She became a passionate advocate of harm reduction, and as a member of the Brighton Independent Drugs Commission, she added a mother’s perspective to the case for treatment over punishment.
11:40am: Tea Break
12pm – 12.20pm: Tough love and recovery: how tough is too tough? – Nick Barton, Chief Executive, Action on Addiction
‘Tough Love’ has by some, been seen as a useful response for families affected by drugs and alcohol, but how does it fit with the current recovery narrative? Nick will consider how a focus on the potential of recovery capital and the significant role families play in supporting and maintaining recovery fits with the old ‘tough love’ approach. How do you fit together the needs of the family in their own right and the harnessing of potential recovery capital?
12:20pm: Finding our voice: The future of family support. A ‘question time’ panel with expert panellists from the drug and alcohol sector and family support
This ‘question time’ debate will present all delegates with the opportunity to ask the experts their views on the future of family support, and challenge other delegates to consider how we find our voice to raise the profile of the needs of families.
1 pm – 1.50pm: Lunch and networking
1:50pm: Workshops
- Young people and families: Kama McKenzie, Family Development Coordinator– Adfam
- Kinship carers – the legal implications: Kirstie Douse, Head of Legal Services, Release
- Alcohol and Families: Lauren Booker, workplace programme manager, Alcohol Concern.
- Club drugs and legal highs: Becky Harris and Mark Dunn, The Club Drug Clinic
- Carers’ rights: Princes Trust
- Naloxone: Nigel Brunsdon
2.50 – 3.10: Coffee
3:10pm: Stigma – ‘Speak Out Campaign’ – Kate Peake
Kate will share how new publicity techniques such as flash mobs can be used to talk about the challenges and benefits of speaking out for families
3.30: My Recovery and My Family – Jason Gough
Jason will share his personal insights into the journey he and his family took through recovery and repairing their relationships.
3.50 – 4pm: Vivienne Evans, OBE – Summing up and closing the conference
4pm – 5pm: Al-Anon and Famanon Open Group Tasters