Figures released today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal that 5,565 people died from causes related to drug poisoning in England and Wales in 2024. The number of deaths recorded is a 2.1% increase from 2023, twice as high as it was in 2012, and the highest since records began in 1993.
Every life lost to drugs or alcohol is a tragedy and with every life lost there will be ...
Every year at about this time the Government publishes the number of drug related deaths registered in England and Wales in the previous year. The 2024 figures will soon be released and will no doubt be accompanied by a call for more to be done. There will be news items, interviews and editorials and for a few days these deaths will be in the spotlight. Then, inevitably, the news cycle will ...
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has launched a new report, Taking Stock: Counting the Economic Costs of Alcohol Harm, funded by Alcohol Change UK.
The report argues that tackling alcohol harm must be not just a public health priority but an economic one too. Alcohol consumption has large and measurable effects on workforce productivity, increasing both absenteeism and ...
This week (6-12 October) is #KinshipCareWeek, a campaign to celebrate the incredible role that kinship carers play in children's lives and raise awareness of what life is like for kinship families.
Kinship care is when a child lives in the care of a family member, because their parents are not able to care for them. In the UK, there are more than 180,000 children living in kinship ...
Entries for Adfam's Family Voices 2025 competition are now open! Family Voices is an annual poetry and creative writing competition for anyone with lived experience of a family member's substance misuse or gambling. The competition provides an opportunity for family members to share their story and creatively express their thoughts and feelings. Entries can capture both the rawness and ...
Adfam is thrilled to announce that tickets for our Christmas Carol Concert 2025 are now on sale!
When? Wednesday 17th December 2025, 6.45pm
Where? St Bride's Church, Fleet Street, London
Tickets: £25 per person - purchase via Adfam's Eventbrite page
Adfam held its first Christmas Carol Concert at St Bride’s Church in 1997, and since then the event has become a key part of our ...
Adfam's Chief Executive Vivienne Evans, is a member of the Women’s Treatment Working Group, a group of women in leadership roles, working together to improve support for women affected by drug and alcohol use. Today the Women's Treatment Working Group launched its Womanifesto, outlining why women in treatment need a distinct approach, with recommendations for the Office for Health ...
Adfam and Collective Voice are excited to announce the launch of a brand-new group, bringing together organisations supporting families affected by substance use and individuals with lived experience, to work together to improve support for affected others.
Substance use has a devastating impact on families and affected others. Organisations supporting these groups play a critical role in ...
Adfam has responded to the Department of Health and Social Care's Men's Health Strategy for England call for evidence. This call for evidence will inform the development of a Men’s Health Strategy for England. It sought the views of the public as well as health and social care professionals, academics, employers and stakeholder organisations. It requested ideas and evidence that the ...
Adfam is delighted to be working with the charity Kinship, to provide a number of free in-person and online workshops for kinship carers, on understanding the effects of drug and alcohol misuse on kinship families.
Kinship carers are family or friends who step up, often during an unexpected crisis, to care for a child when their parents aren’t able to. Many children are in kinship care as ...
Snapshot of the Sector: Support for families affected by substance use
Earlier this year Adfam published results from the most comprehensive survey ever undertaken into the support provided to the families and carers of people with drug or alcohol problems.
Local authorities are required to help residents who are harmed by substance misuse and receive funding from central government to ...
What does ‘good’ look like in support for families affected by substance use?
In 2025, Adfam conducted a short survey to understand, from both those who use and deliver family support services, what, in their opinion, makes the best possible family support. We know that properly funded family support can improve outcomes for those affected by a loved one’s substance use, including . This ...
Kinship has today launched its 2025 annual survey. The survey is open to all kinship carers who are raising the child of a relative or friend when their parents are unable to.
As the leading kinship care charity in England and Wales, Kinship has undertaken an annual survey of kinship carers each year since 2016. These surveys are the largest of their kind and offer ...
This week (7-13 July 2025) is #AlcoholAwarenessWeek a campaign by Alcohol Change UK to raise awareness of alcohol harm, and this year the focus is all about 'alcohol and work'.
Whether it's long hours, stress, blurred lines between work and home, or peer pressure to drink alcohol at workplace socials, there are many ways work and alcohol are linked.
This #AlcoholAwarenessWeek, ...
Adfam’s East Sussex family support service is entering a new chapter. From Tuesday 1st July 2025 our service will be delivered remotely, offering online support to families affected by substance use living across East Sussex.
This change has been made in collaboration with the East Sussex commissioning team, through the support of a Drug and Alcohol Treatment, Recovery and Improvement ...
Adfam Online Training 2025
Adfam's range of CPD accredited training courses provide professionals and practitioners with the skills they need to better support families affected by substance use.
Our training is delivered online, via Zoom and we have a number of new training dates scheduled, running right up until the end of 2025. Find our latest dates and courses ...
Congratulations to Omar, Adfam's Director of Finance, who completed the 54-mile London-Brighton bike ride on Sunday 15th June, raising £1300 for Adfam in the process!
An amazing effort from Omar, and there's still time to show your support and donate via Omar’s Justgiving page. Every contribution, big or small, will make a meaningful difference to families who need it most.
Take ...
Liverpool John Moores University School of Psychology is leading on a study which explores experiences of discrimination faced by different groups of people, including those affected by substance use.
They are looking for individuals who care for somebody with an alcohol / substance use problem to take part in a short survey (between 5 - 10 minutes). The survey will ask about your every ...
The Centre for Justice Innovation has published an important new research report, “To be listened to… And actually heard” - Women's perspectives on effective substance use treatment and support. This research, funded by the JABBS Foundation for Women and Girls, explores what a better system of substance use treatment would look like from the perspective of women in treatment.
For ...
University of Edinburgh is leading on a new study: Exploring the effects of attachment and care experience on intergenerational substance use, and are looking for people with experience of their own or a parent’s substance use, and participants with care experience.
There is a chance to win a £50 voucher for completing the 20-30 minute survey.
Find out more and take part in the survey here