New Start are very proud and extremely excited to be working in close partnership with YMCA Liverpool & Sefton to deliver a pathway of accommodation-based recovery services for the city of Liverpool. During 2018, Liverpool City Council undertook an exercise to procure a range of services to provide recovery options for people in addiction, and following a rigorous tendering process they were commissioned as follows:

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• A Community Day Treatment Service. (Action on Addiction AoA)
• A 24/7 Residential Treatment Centre providing therapeutic interventions for up to 30 individuals at any one time. (YMCAL&S/New Start Partnership) to be delivered by YMCAL&S
• A 24/7 Step-Down Abstinence service for up to 22 individuals finishing 1st stage Residential Treatment or accessing Community Day Treatment Services. (YMCAL&S/New Start Partnership) to be delivered by New Start
• An 8-bed 24/7 Harm Reduction Service for Women with multi-complex needs. (YMCAL&S/New Start Partnership) to be delivered by New Start

The YMCAL&S and New Start partnership has been working alongside AoA to ensure our services work in collaboration and provide a seamless pathway for anyone in our city seeking recovery from addiction.

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The first of our accommodation-based services which is the Harm Reduction Service for Women is going live during the second week in February 2019 and we are currently implementing plans to ensure the Treatment Centre and Step-Down Abstinence Services are available and fully operational by the beginning of July 2019. 

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Being the delivery partner for the Female only Harm Reduction Service, New Start has been working tirelessly since the beginning of December 2018 to get the project off the ground. Due to the scope of the works which have been required in such a short space of time, it has not been easy and has only been made possible by the can-do attitude of our teams and individuals across the organisation, who have worked collectively and with great coordination to achieve our goals. We are very lucky at New Start to have such a dedicated workforce!

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There is one thing our teams have not been able to do though and that is to identify a name for the service which we can all agree on, so this piece of work is being given to the first group of women who enter the service. Keep an eye on the Latest News section on our website where we will announce the chosen name in due course and also post regular updates on our progress with the other Recovery Services that are going live later this year.

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Throughout the development of our partnership with the YMCAL&S and the work which has led to the procurement of these services, the strategic leadership of CEO Ellie McNeill at YMCAL&S has been exceptional and the senior management at both of our organisations have worked extremely well together to develop this pathway. I am now looking forward to working with all our partners at the YMCAL&S to deliver these services and further developing our relationship over the course of the contract and in to the future.

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Neil Baynes

Managing Director