Appeal to save drying-out centre

MSP IN 11th-HOUR BID FOR FUNDING TO KEEP UNIT GOING AS AUTHORITIES STICK TO CLOSURE PLAN

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The north MSP campaigning to save the Beechwood House “drying-out” centre in Inverness has made an 11th-hour appeal for an outside party to find funding to save the unit.

Highlands and Islands MSP Dave Thompson at the weekend met with representatives from NHS Highland, Highland Council and the Highland Alcohol and Drug Partnership but was disappointed to discover they were resolute in their determination to stick by their original decision regarding the designated places’ future.

“I am very disappointed that they were not prepared to reconsider their decision, which will mean the closure of this very important facility,” the SNP politician said after the meeting.

“I am also concerned that they didn’t appear to understand that Beechwood also deals with the important two-week detoxification programme which acts as a bridge between the 24-hour crisis admissions and the centre’s rehabilitation work and that this will also be affected by the removal of funding.

“The supporters and I have called for funding to give the unit a six-month reprieve while we seek alternative funding to help put Beechwood and the Designated Place unit on a secure footing.

“However those present at the meeting were determined that this could not happen, so I think the only hope for Beechwood now is for some third party to intervene at the last minute to provide funding for six months to a year while efforts are made to find a permanent solution.”

The designated place project at Beechwood was established to give people under the influence of alcohol an alternative place to be accommodated to police cells, following a series of deaths in custody.

Last year Highland Council decided to axe £200,000 of funding for the centre’s designated place facility, which provides emergency accommodation and therapy under well-supervised conditions for people whose abuse ofdrink or drugs has spiralled out of control.

The loss of this local authority funding for the designated place left the CrossReach charity which runs Beechwood House and the unit with a cash shortfall and little means of keeping the unit open if this funding can not be replaced.