CARING FOR CARERS AFFECTED BY ADDICTION

Coming soon... BEHIND CLOSED DOORS Chapter 2. We will be researching issues that carers face every day and updating our last piece of research. Please keep checking in for ways to take part.

Caring for your loved one and stress at Christmas.

SAPS in Washington

We are proud to be working with The Concord and Sulgrave Neighbourhood Management Team and will be hosting drop in afternoons every Monday at 133 Waterloo Walk. Feel free to pop in for advice, information, get referrals to other services or for support and counselling. We look forward to seeing you there!

The most wonderful time of the year is upon us once again!

SAPS is once again taking part in Carers Week 2016. This years event will be held on Thursday 9th June at our cottages in Doxford Park. Our carers and volunteers are organising and hosting the day, we cant wait to see all of their hard work come together for what will be un-doubtably a brilliant day! For more information on Carers Day and local events please follow the Carers Day link.

A HUGE THANKS to everyone who took part in our recent Consultation Weekend!.

WOW!!! Junipers Pantry and the Cavalier have donated a Christmas Party for the children and grandchildren of the carers who attend SAPS! This will include visits by characters, a disco, party games and not to mention the delicious food served up by Junipers!! Children are often deeply affected by the substance misuse or absence of a parent, and at this time of year it can be even more heartbreaking for them. The party will be held at the Cavalier on Tuesday 22nd December from 1pm till 4pm, booking is essential if you'd like to come please contact us ASAP.

​PS Did we mention a veryyyyyyyy special guest will be making an appearance!

Caring for your loved one is stressful at the best of times, we know from experience that this can get even more stressful over the Christmas period, our counsellors and complimentary therapist have created a some small articles which may help to relieve some of the stress and gives some great ideas on low cost ideas to decorate your home and feel and look great over the holiday time.

A huge £1021.49 raised by patrons of Phil Jefferies Pro Box North East!

Wow!!! This is simply amazing! On Friday 20th December, SAPS were invited to a huge boxing event at Rainton Meadows Arena, thanks to the fabulous MC, promoter and patrons we were able to raise a staggering £1021.49! This has allowed us to make some great plans for the children of our clients as well as providing emergency packs for over the Christmas period. This money has made a huge difference to the people who attend SAPS and we cannot thank all those who donated enough!!!

Last weekend saw a weekend of consultation and our carer volunteers were out in force to find out what you would like to see over the next few months! We look forward to giving you regular updates on our website and Facebook page.

Paceys Plea Highlights the dangers of substance misuse

Come along and help us celebrate Carers Day!

Cath Waring is heading a campaign highlighting the dangers of substance misuse to young people following the tragic loss of her son David. SAPS are helping Cath to organise a series of events. Here the link to first event. If you would be interested in attending please give us a call to secure your place.

Crissy Rock is a huge advocate for carers, she has written the foreword for our latest book which is hugely inspiring! Crissy has done some amazing charitable work over the years with her latest venture being Just the Tonic.

Just the Tonic is a recovery social enterprise, working towards creating a Dry Bar and entertainment venue in Whitley Bay. Please click the link below to visit the facebook page and support this fantastic cause. 

Over recent months our Creative Writing Group have been working hard to produce our latest book of poems and short stories which is called (drum roll please) ‘Finding Yourself’. The book is a brutally honest account of caring for someone with an addiction which is thought provoking and at times heart breaking, however, it carries a message of hope and survival. Our release date is Thursday 18th June and the amazing Crissy Rock will be here to launch this fantastic piece of work. We are now taking pre orders of the book, a suggested donation is £2.50, you can also choose to add an extra copy for a carer who hasn’t yet accessed support or help. To order yours please use the contact form.

Christmas has been a very exciting time for us. We had the SAPS Carers Christmas meal and a SAPS Carers childrens Christmas Party, Santa Claus himself was in attendance much to the delight of all of the little people (and big people :-)) Please like our facebook page for news on our day to day events.

Graduates Galore!!!!

'If you can dream it, you can do it' 

(Walt Disney)

We are so very proud to announce that our support worker Vicki graduated from Sunderland University with a degree in Youth and Community Studies. We had a fantastic day celebrating her achievements... WELL DONE VICKI!

In other graduate news both Kerry Rafferty and Elaine Taylor will graduate from Sunderland University in November with the Counselling Degree... We can feel another celebration event coming on!!!

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Lottery Grant

We are absolutely delighted!

... to announce a fantastic grant for a new project within SAPS which gives support to those carers who develop a drug or alcohol problem themselves due to the stress of looking after someone with a problem. Sharyn Smiles, Senior Support Worker at SAPS said 'I have worked with carers for a number of years now and have seen how the stress and pressure of caring for someone with an addiction can cause. It starts off as a glass of wine to relax on a Friday night and can lead to bigger problems' Click this link to read the full article from the Sunderland Echo

Work is well underway on our new building 'The Lodge' and boy O boy is it looking good :-) So far Kristy (Finance) and Sharyn (Senior Support) have taken residence in their new office space. Next week will see Helen our lovely Complimentary Therapist join them in her new purpose designed room. One of our carer's Jamie said 'It will be so nice to have a space to clear my head and relax, just to get away from it all for a while'. We hope the all of the carers love it as much as we do!!!

Yikes!!! Our new building is nearly ready... we are very excited

Complimentary Therapist room takes shape

LATEST NEWS FROM SAPS