Addiction, Recovery & Prison Leavers -
Lived Experience
Our Lived Experience Team works across Blackpool
Supporting people who are finding life particularly challenging due to multiple and complex disadvantages
The complexities of trying to manage life with such huge challenges in the mix is often lonely and overwhelming.
Armed with their own lived experience of difficult periods of life, our team are absolutely the best champions in being alongside others who are unable to see hope in their own situations.
Bringing insight, authenticity and realism to the table, our team are skilled at building trusting and meaningful relationships with people, getting to the heart of issues quickly and guiding them through often painful journeys to find a new way in life.
Lived Experience in numbers last year
Connections and conversations with rough sleepers, offering food, clothing, and referrals into support
People have accepted peer support, encouragement, meaningful activities
Our groups enjoyed 37 opportunities to get creative (and a little messy!) in our art sessions.
Flowers and shrubs planted that brought colour to our shared space
What we offer at LET...
Criminal Justice Coordinator
The Criminal Justice Coordinator role acts as a first point of contact for professionals working to support prison leavers who are returning to Blackpool.
Prison Leavers
Supporting people returning to Blackpool after prison who have experienced multiple disadvantages. Our Lived Experience Navigators provide support from pre-release through to resettlement, helping people access accommodation, benefits, healthcare and other services, reducing the risk of re-offending and supporting a positive return to the community.
Recovery Hub
A welcoming drop-in space for people in stable recovery from substance use, offering peer support, recovery groups and wellbeing activities. Delivered in partnership with Jobs, Friends and Houses, Change Grow Live Charity, and our Lived Experience Team, the Hub provides a safe place to connect with others, access support and build lasting recovery.
Recovery Hub, 258 Church Street, Blackpool FY1 3PX
Changing Futures
What we do
Changing Futures Blackpool builds trusting relationships with people experiencing multiple disadvantages, helping them overcome the barriers that can make engaging with services difficult. Our team walks alongside each person, supporting them to navigate and access the services they want and need, including drug and alcohol support. We work alongside partner agencies to understand and address the barriers that can prevent people from engaging with services, developing more flexible, inclusive and accessible approaches that make it easier for people to engage.
For the people we support, this means feeling seen, heard and understood, with someone they trust walking alongside them. With this support, they are better able to access services, stabilise their circumstances and begin making positive changes in their lives.
Who to refer
Support from Changing Futures Blackpool is designed for:
- those who are currently experiencing three or more disadvantages (including homelessness, substance misuse, offending, mental health challenges and domestic abuse)
- are struggling to engage with services
- and are not currently receiving support from drug and alcohol services
Refer to Lived Experience Team
Changing Futures Blackpool and Prison Leavers Project
We’re here to help. Whether you’re looking for support for yourself or someone else, click below to find out more and make a referral to Changing Futures Blackpool or the Prison Leavers Project.
Before submitting a referral, please ensure the person being referred has read and consented to the privacy notice.
If you’d like more information, call 0300 32 32 100 (Option 2) to speak to the Lived Experience Team.
Criminal Justice Coordinator
For more information about the support available to prison leavers, please refer to the Prison Leaver Pathway document linked below. Alternatively, you can contact our Criminal Justice Coordinator, David, for further advice and support:
- Telephone: 07552 846900
- CJSM Email: david.wilson@empowercharity.cjsm.net
- Email: david.wilson@empowermentcharity.org.uk
This year, we proudly celebrated the launch of the new Blackpool Recovery Hub, alongside local recovery services.
The Recovery Hub is a space built on hope, connection and belief that recovery is possible for everyone.
Offering support for people at every stage of their recovery story, we help them to rediscover purpose, join in with activities and start to see that life is still there to be lived, and that it’s possible to live well.
This is more than a launch; it’s the start of a movement. We’re evolving Blackpool into a place where recovery is visible, valued and supported, becoming a town that believes in rebuilding lives and a community that recovers together.
Lived Experience story...
At Empowerment, we recognise that every journey is unique, and we’re proud to support people in achieving their personal goals.
We celebrate each step forward, no matter how big or small.
Naomi’s story
When we first met Naomi she had a history of being in high-risk domestic abuse relationships. Life felt chaotic, Naomi was offending, drinking heavily, using drugs, and her mental health was suffering.