Telford After Care Team (TACT)

'Recovery through Discovery'

Telford After Care Team (TACT) C.I.O. was setup to provide its service users with a structured and daily programme of activities and a powerful network of contacts to assist with practical issues such as housing, health needs, benefits and employment opportunities. TACT is a registered charity run and managed by a blend of people who have been service users and have experience of working with service users.

TACT was founded in 2012 by Robert Eyers who himself endured 20 years of addiction. During his recovery Rob became aware of the lack of support available for service users in Telford like himself.

Rob set up TACT initially on a voluntary basis with a small amount of funding to help run a SMART Recovery Group and a Gardening Group. This provided people in recovery an option to do something new and prevent them from returning to their old lives.

The main aim of TACT is to assist people in recovery from using drugs or alcohol and associated mental health issues. This is achieved by improving the health and wellbeing of its service users; empowering people to lead productive and fulfilling lives so that they can once again be valued members of the community.

TACT has become a flagship locally and nationally for releasing the talents of its service users through a range of discovery and recovery programmes. TACT aims to compliment and enhance the work undertaken by Community Substance Misuse Teams by providing service users with access to practical support, as well as providing opportunities for services users to engage in mutual aid and peer support. Volunteers have access to continual development through training programmes and TACT Training is a registered training centre with Open College Network West Midlands to offer training and qualifications. The continuous development of volunteers aims to increase their readiness for moving on into other voluntary work and paid employment.

Volunteers needed

Telford After Care Team has, since 2012, run a comprehensive and pioneering programme of volunteering for service users in the Telford area. We have continued to develop and grow this programme and now offer a variety of volunteering opportunities across the services on offer from Strickland House. We welcome volunteers from all backgrounds but particularly encourage individuals from the Telford area who currently access services (whether this be for addictions or mental health). In order to volunteer you must be abstinent from illicit substances (if you were accessing services for illicit substances) or alcohol (if you were accessing services for alcohol). Our focus is on this group so that opportunities can be provided to those who have been directly affected by these issues to positively contribute to the community and support those individuals who are not yet as far into their recovery. This approach not only has a significant evidence base but has allowed TACT to provide significant levels of support to individuals throughout the community for the benefit of service users and volunteers alike. In addition to welcoming those from a service user background TACT also welcomes those who are able to give their time to support individuals with their recovery. Please feel free to enquire for more details.

What your gift could provide

£5

A day's travel expenses for a volunteer to attend Strickland House.

£25

Ten service users with stationery and equipment for a typical training course

£50

Five listening, drop-in, or outreach service, hour-long one-to-one appointments

Fundraise for us!