The government’s County Lines Programme has closed more than 2,300 ‘deal lines’ and charged more than 1,120 senior gang members in the year since July 2024, the Home Office has announced – the highest numbers since the programme began six years ago.
The programme has been focusing on ‘targeted policing of key transport networks and investment in automatic number plate technology’, with stabbings in the areas most affected by county lines activity also down by nearly 20 per cent. More than 3,200 children and vulnerable people have now been referred to support services by the programme, the Home Office adds.
Three new offences are to be brought in as part of the crime and policing bill – criminal exploitation of children, coerced internal concealment (where children are forced to hide objects such as drugs or SIM cards in their bodies), and cuckooing (where the homes of vulnerable people are taken over for criminal purposes). The first two will carry maximum ten-year penalties, with the third carrying a maximum of five years.
A report last year from the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC) found that the county lines business model was now becoming more localised and less likely to cross police force boundaries, potentially making it more difficult to identify children being exploited locally.
‘The exploitation of children and vulnerable people in this way is disgusting and cowardly,’ said crime and policing minister Sarah Jones. ‘County lines gangs are also driving knife crime in our communities, and I want criminals to know that we will not let them get away with it. We will be relentless in going after these gangs.’
Essex Police have reported the presence of medetomidine, a veterinary sedative, in heroin seized in June 2025. 
Health risks
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Now available, Highland Anywhere offers free confidential support to anyone aged 16 and over in Highland affected by drugs or alcohol – whether that’s them personally, or a loved one.
‘Virtual services are vital for people who need flexible, accessible support,’ said head of service Sovay Fitzpatrick. ‘Whether you’re living in a remote area, juggling work and childcare, or simply prefer not to attend appointments in person, Highland Anywhere is designed around your life and your needs.
With NSP provision dwindling in pharmacies, maintaining fresh supplies was a huge problem, said another peer. ‘The nearest pharmacy NSP is 25 minutes away by bus,’ she said. ‘When you get there, there is so much stigma – it’s mortifying and embarrassing.’
Compiling these reports led the Hepatitis C Trust to begin a mapping exercise of NSP provision along with a mystery shopper campaign to establish the level of service provided by pharmacies offering NSP. It began with a freedom of information request to commissioners to find out where NSP was provided within their area. This was followed up by a telephone campaign to establish if provision was still available and to gain an understanding of the restrictions that were in place around numbers of packs provided and requirements for returns.
Providing packs to people when they needed them, easily accessible, and without stigma, was considered essential. Exchange Supplies’ NSPdirect service was designed to work alongside traditional needle and syringe exchange channels to offer a way for people who inject drugs to access equipment directly via a postal needle and syringe service.
Meal replacement shakes are also an option if they’re available. They’re quick, may be better tolerated than solid food when someone’s high or coming down, and contain balanced amounts of calories, protein, vitamins, and minerals.
Alexandre Piot is research fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
The Broadway Lodge 2025 reunion has been and gone – and what a fantastic day it was! Reunions are always incredible days filled with connection, love and happiness, and Saturday 13th September was no different.
The Scottish Government needs to take urgent action to improve hospital care and support for people with alcohol issues, says a consensus statement from Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP), the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Scotland and the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) Scotland.
About the guide
Adfam’s chief executive Vivienne Evans is a member of the 
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More than 600 kilograms of rubbish was collected in just one hour as recovery groups from across the north west came together for the first Recovery Litter Picking Challenge in Oldham.
Reflecting on the day, Calico’s director of partnerships and collaboration, Tom Woodcock, said, ‘It was great to see so many services together and enjoying doing something good for the environment.
Red Rose Recovery entered three teams from across Lancashire, the Spark Roots Community joined from Blackburn, and Turning Point’s Leigh Bank rehab also fielded two teams, showing the breadth of support across the region.
Any level of alcohol consumption could increase the risk of dementia, according to a study by researchers at the University of Oxford, Yale University and the University of Cambridge. While heavy drinking has already been linked to increased dementia risk, the new research ‘challenges previous suggestions’ that light-to-moderate drinking could have a protective effect against the condition.
Bridges Family and Carers is a specialist service in Stockton-on-Tees providing support to people who have a loved one with issues with drugs or alcohol. As part of our remit we have a dedicated kinship care worker supporting family members who have children placed with them – these carers maybe grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, or other extended family members 
The Bridges activity programme has helped to support the five ways to wellbeing:
Often sessions were tailored for the group, as a number of the young people have health needs and diagnoses such as Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, autism or ADHD, and all have suffered life trauma. Sensory processing disorders are also common, meaning that the young people can struggle in large groups, but we found providers were willing to deliver one-to-one sessions or sessions with reduced noise and dimmed lighting.
One of the most pleasing aspects of the project is the number of young people who have continued to engage in sport. One young person lost their place at college due to a substance-related incident and had criminal justice involvement – after getting into a gym routine they started a healthy eating plan and other sports, and have been working and drug-free for over a year. Also, well done to the young lady who now works at a centre she accessed during the project.
These three carers say it better than me:
There were 1,185 alcohol-specific deaths registered in Scotland last year, according to the latest National Records of Scotland figures. The total is 7 per cent lower than 2023 – which saw the highest figure since 2008 – and represents a five-year low.
In 1971, Reverend Gordon Moody created a hostel in south London offering a helping hand to those struggling with gambling addiction. Over the next 50 years, our experience of working in a residential setting with this service user group developed into the unique therapeutic programmes that we now offer.
OUR VIEW ON ADDICTION
ENSURING CLINICAL EXCELLENCE
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For individuals dealing with addiction and related issues, digital access is essential for accessing services like the NHS online and entering the job market. Forward has also developed its own digital offerings – such as the Forward app – to overcome physical barriers which can prevent people from accessing support. Still, these naturally require access to digital technology and digital skills to be of benefit.
Opioid-related deaths in England and Wales from 2011 to 2022 were 54.7 per cent higher than recorded, according to 
‘In the community, I experienced stigma because members of my family had substance use problems,’ he states. ‘People immediately put me in the same category, and that led to me becoming more aggressive and acting out with violence, mainly to protect my family from the stigma they were facing.’
More than £10m in funding will be made available for addiction research, the government has announced, to tackle the UK’s ‘critical shortage’ of world-class researchers. The funding will be provided for three schemes via the Addiction Healthcare Goals, which were launched in 2022.
Up until the pandemic hit, Henry Mackley co-owned a deli in Ludlow. ‘I had suffered with anxiety and depression for large parts of my adult life and I’d always been a heavy drinker in order to self-medicate,’ he said. ‘I was in denial about how serious my drinking problem was though. Like so many other people I’m just a classic case of somebody who struggled during the pandemic. In late 2021-early 2022, I lost my mother very suddenly and I spiralled. I hit a fairly brutal rock bottom at the end of ‘21, early ‘22, and suddenly just realised that I had a massive problem with alcohol. It nearly killed me.’
A new research project looking at how people with drug and alcohol problems are supported in care homes has been launched by the University of Bedfordshire in partnership with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO WORK IN THIS FIELD?
‘If we think about meeting people where they’re at, we work in commissioning frameworks where it’s very outcome-focused. The systems are dependent on commissioning agreements. It is public money and we do need to be accountable for that, but some people don’t want to come into treatment and fill in forms and jump through hoops and do this and do that. But we’re governed to do that, so how do we be accountable for the public money and the investment we’re getting but still meet people where they’re at?’
Now in its fourth year, the women-only walk is more than a fundraising event – it’s a rallying cry for dignity, justice, and freedom. Many of the women Trevi supports are navigating the long-term impact of domestic abuse and the justice system. For them, this walk is not just symbolic.
EMDR is a globally recognised, evidence-based psychotherapy shown to be highly effective in treating trauma, PTSD, anxiety and depression. Unlike traditional talk therapies, EMDR uses bilateral stimulation (e.g. guided eye movements) to help people process distressing memories without needing to relive them in detail. EMDR is endorsed as a first-line treatment for trauma by international and national health bodies, including the World Health Organization and the UK Department of Health and Social Care.
A range of regular activities will also be organised in partnership with other local organisations, including yoga, meditation, and mindfulness sessions. Creative workshops will be delivered in partnership with The Recovery Collective, including creative writing, scriptwriting, drama workshops, film production, songwriting, and guitar lessons.
‘As a local provider of residential rehab, we recognise the importance of community engagement, and together with the St Mirren FC Charitable Foundation, we believe we can make a positive difference in Renfrewshire. The Abbeycare Buddies sessions will connect people struggling with addiction and mental health issues with our expert team and our network of volunteers, all of whom have lived experience of similar issues themselves.
One of the things I reflect upon now is how oblivious we were at the time to her trauma, and her experience of trying to navigate life as a woman within the drug-using community. Her vulnerability was not an abstract idea – it was the lived reality of being surrounded by dangerous males. We saw the ‘chaos’ of her life but failed to understand it through the lens of her as a survivor of male violence. I have found over the years though that once we begin to view women – our lives and our experiences – through that lens, there is no way to unsee it.
The big question was who does harm reduction serve, he said. ‘Opioid injectors. So who are we excluding? Folks who primarily use stimulants, and people who use more than one drug.’ Syringe access reduced the risk of HIV and hep C, but pipe distribution was also a risk mitigation tool. ‘For safer smoking, pipes replace – and this is my story – drilling a hole in a lightbulb.’ Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US national public health agency, showed that people were up to ten times more likely to enter treatment if they engaged with a syringe exchange, he pointed out. ‘Why do we exclude stimulant users and people who don’t inject from that?’
UNCONDITIONAL SUPPORT
SOCIAL DAMAGE
Eighty-six per cent of the drug and alcohol treatment provider workforce last year were working in the voluntary sector, according to the latest workforce census, compared to 80 per cent in 2023 and 78 per cent in 2022. The proportion of unpaid or volunteer members of staff, meanwhile, was 11 per cent – 4 per cent up on 2023 but in line with 2022.
SYSTEM CHANGE
SOCIAL INTEGRATION
Tom Kirk was told in March 2024 that his bladder, kidneys and liver were functioning at 20% after six years of taking ketamine. Doctors warned him that he would die if he kept taking the drug.
A massive shoutout to everyone involved, especially to our clinical team and BBV champion, for their critical roles in this achievement. Also a special thank you to our incredible recovery practitioners, who tirelessly carry out dry blood spot tests for those beginning their treatment journey with us, working to ensure no one is left behind.
Hepatitis C micro-elimination represents a rigorous standard requiring services to demonstrate:
WHAT DO YOU FIND MOST REWARDING?
Wareham’s message is clear: lasting involvement isn’t about building one big structure that suits everyone. It’s about supporting smaller, purposeful projects that speak directly to the people they’re for – and giving them the space to grow.
We’re thrilled to share that the Roots to Recovery Garden at SIG Penrose Roots has been awarded a Highly Commended honour in the Grassroots and Green Shoots category at the CPRE Bedfordshire Living Countryside Awards 2025.