Hawkspring closure statement – issued 1st March 2016 It is with regret and sadness that the Board of Trustees of Hawkspring, supporting Drug and Alcohol recovery, have to announce that we are closing our doors in Hartcliffe to clients on 31 March 2016, and our office will be handed back to the landlords on Thursday 21 April 2016 following an office clearance. This very difficult decision was made at our Board meeting on 29th February 2016.

When Hawks and Kwads both lost all their funding from Bristol City council in October 2013, both organisations knew that there were still huge demands for local accessible support services, so with a small amount of funding and reserves, the merger took place and Hawkspring began on 1st November 2013. The merger brought together 30 years' combined experience of providing support for people affected by substance misuse. Hawks and Kwads had successfully built a reliable reputation through the establishment of close relationships within the communities throughout South Bristol. The results of this merger and the development of the whole family approach by Hawkspring have been astonishing. Bringing together family / carers and children’s services as well as services for people with substance misuse problems. Using the whole family approach has proven to be very successful, resulting in longer lasting change for the whole family when offered from one single place. Despite having limited capacity, and trying to cope with the high demands for our services, we have worked very hard to raise funds necessary to keep the door open. But without core funding to give us stability, it has become untenable to continue to fire fight for every penny.

Since Hawkspring began just over 2 years ago, we have supported 1,300 people, many of whom were not able to access help elsewhere, some of whom were referred to us from Bristol Roads, Probation, GP’s, Social workers, Teachers, Mental health and many other statutory and voluntary services. So many of our clients tell us they are unable to travel distances to access other services. We also have many vulnerable children aged 5+ who rely very much on our support services. We currently have 25 people on our waiting list wanting to come in to our services today. With many years experience of being a grass roots service in this community (which is currently the most deprived ward in Bristol), it is clear to see that the need for services like Hawkspring has never been greater [and more needed than ever before]. Every day people turn to us when they are in crisis for support, we have been able to successfully empower people to make the changes necessary to cope with their circumstances. The social value we offer is incalculable and over and above the addiction services we provide, we have been seeing people with a range of other issues: e.g. Homelessness, mental health, no food, needing a telephone, benefits & debt issues, employment concerns, needing access to a computer, literacy problems, isolation, poor health etc etc. In August last year when we were at risk of closure, Mark Goodway from The Matthew Tree Project came forward to explore the possibility of a merger with Hawkspring. Although the merger was agreed and a lot of work has gone into building a sustainable model for a successful future, we have been unable to secure enough funding to give us the time necessary to merge and implement our plans, before our current funding runs out. We want to sincerely thank all the individuals, trusts, foundations and organisations who have so passionately believed in the work we do, have funded us and helped Hawkspring to survive this far.

There is no doubt that the need for local assessable services are needed now more than ever before. Key facts: A&E departments in Bristol reported 40% rise in admissions for drug & alcohol misuse -April 2015. Public Health England figures 2014: Alcohol costs society = £21 billion per annum / Drugs costs society = £15.4 billion per annum. Its estimated for every 100 people in alcohol treatment prevents 18 A&E visits & 22 hospital admissions, saving £60,000. How much will it cost Bristol if we close? The amount we need is far less than the amount it could cost if Hawkspring closes. It is therefore, with great regret and sadness that we’ve had to issue notice to all our clients and very dedicated and hard working staff and will be force to close at the end of March. For further information contact: Lorraine Bush- CEO 0117 9642859, email: lorraine.bush@hawkspring.org.uk