CrossReach opens new residential rehabilitation service in Inverness

The Church of Scotland's social care council has opened a new residential service in Inverness to help people who are committed to living free of drug and alcohol misuse.

An extra 22 placements for those on their recovery journey have been made available at Nevis House, which is run by CrossReach.

The facility expands on existing work carried out at Beechwood House, located next door, offering residential rehabilitation, community outreach and social care to people affected by substance use.

Nevis House will provide six beds, equating to up to 22 placements a year.

It aims to support people who live in remote parts of the Highlands alongside the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland.

The Scottish Government allocated £100 million to residential rehabilitation as part of the National Mission on drug deaths, including over £38 million which was made available directly to eight projects, including Nevis House to increase residential rehabilitation capacity across the country.

Viv Dickenson, chief executive officer of CrossReach, said: "We are delighted that Nevis House has now opened in Inverness and are grateful to the Scottish Government for the investment and support from the Alcohol and Drug Partnerships in Highland, Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland, that has made this possible.

"The centre will allow the expansion of the work of CrossReach in these areas to allow greater capacity in our residential recovery services enabling a quicker response when people come forward for help."

The service was officially opened earlier this month and Maree Todd MSP, Scottish Government Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy, unveiled a sign inside the building.

She said: "Expanding residential rehab capacity is central to our National Mission on drugs and I'm grateful to all those who have worked hard to provide this additional service."

During the unveiling, Mrs Todd shared her reflection on what she had experienced at Nevis House that "people in the depth of despair were loved and valued."

Prior to entering politics, the Ullapool-raised MSP worked as a pharmacist for NHS Highland for 20 years, mainly in a psychiatric hospital.

She met residents on the day and discussed their journeys and plans for the future.

Mrs Todd discussed her experiences growing up in a household where alcohol addiction was present and heard residents' concerns about stigma surrounding addiction.

She expressed an eagerness to tackle the promotion of alcohol to children and those in recovery as well as the impact of social media advertisements.

Nevis House service volunteers Vikki and Maggie shared their personal stories of recovery through CrossReach and transition to helping others.

Maggie said: "Miracles have happened, my life has changed unbelievably and CrossReach has given me such a great opportunity.

"There's no magic wand, you have to work at it but I want to help others now."

Vikki described her journey to recovery like "going from darkness into light."

"You have to want to do it for yourself, other people can be a factor but you have to want to help yourself," she explained.