Pop up café in Haverhill offers recovering addicts a sober safe space

A supported housing service in Haverhill has partnered with the local drug and alcohol treatment service to raise awareness of support available for people in recovery from addiction.

Sanctuary Supported Living’s Haverhill Homeless Supported Housing, which provides support for adults who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, were joined by local drug and alcohol service, Turning Point, which provides support for substance users, to host a pop-up recovery café.

With two-thirds of homeless people citing drug or alcohol use as a reason for first becoming homeless, the pop-up café was an important opportunity to make recovery from addiction more visible to the community and provide an open, safe space for people in recovery to connect with others. As well as support and advice, visitors could enjoy a cup of tea or coffee, and a slice of cake.

Kate Molope, Local Service Manager for Haverhill Homeless Support Housing said: “Not so long ago, we attended a Turning Point event in which we discussed the lack of awareness for services like ours that support people struggling with alcohol and drug dependency on their journey for recovery. We realised the strength of a collaboration between us that would take advantage of resources, expertise, and innovative ideas, and took the bull by the horns by planning the pop-up recovery café.”