Here you will find news articles, press releases and occasional blogs about the charity's activities.
FASS Secure Funding in Combatting Drug Deaths in Fife
FASS’s Near Fatal Overdose (NFO) team will be helping people and their loved ones avoid drug related deaths until 2026. The team is doubled in capacity, thanks to the grant of £386,041 from the Corra Foundation. The grant is recognition of the important work FASS’s NFO team are doing, while Scotland’s drug deaths outstrip any other country in Europe.
FASS manager Dave Dempster said, “This grant allows us to continue the vital work our NFO team are doing across Fife. In particular, it lets us continue to focus support in areas with high drug related deaths. We work closely with the Scottish Ambulance Service and other partners to make sure people get the support they need after a near fatal overdose.
“Many people don’t realise that the likelihood of death within a month of a near fatal overdose is very high. A lot of what we do is to help make sure that doesn’t happen. We support people through those 28 days and beyond, making sure they are on track with all the treatment and practical support they need. And we educate about the dangers of drugs—including prescription drugs—and overdosing. We’re helping families and communities get wiser about what misuse of alcohol, prescription and street drugs can do, and providing support to save pointless loss of life.”
FASS NFO team worked with around 600 individuals and their loved ones in the last year. Support is wraparound and based on what the client needs—from testing for blood borne viruses, advocacy and helping clients attend services, to counselling and Naloxone training for significant others.
John Hamilton, FASS Chair, commented, “The NFO team’s partnership with the Scottish Ambulance Service and proactivity in opening new direct referral pathways with other key services is exemplary. For every person who loses their life to drugs, whole families and communities of others are affected. Fife may still be under threat from drug related deaths but our team is reducing the number of those deaths in our local authority area.” Dave Dempster added, “We’re getting better at partnership working so people don’t fall through the cracks. It’s heartening to see the team leading on the official launch of the KY8 Community in Fisher Street Centre, Methil, on 22nd April. This is an ongoing space for community engagement around drugs misuse and there’s no Powerpoint involved. Just drop in any Friday between 11 and 2. Anyone can come along and have a chat, a cuppa or a game of snooker, just for the company—but the advice will be there if they need it. All relevant services in Fife’s Health and Social Care and Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships are on board, as well as local politicians.
“The Corra funding helps ensure our team are there for people in Fife to drop in for advice and services for the next four years. This will reduce the devastation of drug deaths in our communities significantly. But we can’t be complacent—there’s plenty of work to be done and we’re a small team. Anyone who can help us through volunteering should contact me.”
FASS operates drop-in services for drugs and alcohol all over Fife and urges everyone to become more educated on the changes. There's no need for an appointment and the team can provide, or signpost to, specialist support if needed. For further information on their support, drop-in services or counselling please visit out website or follow them on Facebook or Twitter. To contact Dave or with general enquiries people should call 01592 206200 or e-mail enquiries@fassaction.org.uk
Can you be a Trustee Volunteer?
We are inviting applications for the position of Trustee Volunteer.
You can find out more below.
Vote of confidence for unique Fife approach to tackling loneliness
- Curnie Clubs are secured in Fife for another three years thanks to a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund
- Unique approach combines friendship, therapeutic support and counselling
- Further funding sought to meet need following lockdown
FASS Curnie Clubs will be helping lonely and isolated adults back into communities across Fife for another three years. The news comes thanks to a vote of confidence through funding from the National Lottery Community Fund. The Clubs began in 2015 and, thanks to a great record to date, are now assured to 2024. They are small social groups (Curnie is a Scots word for a small gathering), with several running across Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes, Methil, Leven, Cupar and Cowdenbeath. Since lockdown it’s been very apparent that social isolation takes a heavy toll over time, so the Clubs are vital now.
ACCREDITATION SUCCESS FOR OUR LISA!
We’re delighted to share the news Lisa McDonald, one of Counsellors, is celebrating her accreditation as an Alcohol Counsellor.
Lisa has kindly shared some details of her learning journey as a counsellor and her involvement with FASS.
“So, I started volunteering with FASS on the 18th of December 2018 I had my first client, I started volunteering with FASS as a placement for my Diploma
I decided to go to University to study counselling in 2016, I was on Maternity leave from working at a bank and decided if I don’t go and study now I never will, I had always wanted to be a counsellor after my mother in law passed away due to suicide in 2006 this destroyed my family and really effected myself and ended up having to go to counselling myself which helped me so much and don’t know what I would of done without having this, so thought how much I would like to help others, but at that time I had a full time job and had bills to pay, so decided to go and do a evening class and completed Counselling skills level 1 and 2 and did some volunteer work as a befriender. Finally, when I was on maternity thinking about what to do with my life I thought right this is my time and applied to Queen Margaret University and got in and started in 2016 and finally graduated in 2019.
Being a volunteer has given me so much experience and I am so grateful I got this opportunity to do it, I learnt more volunteering than I ever did at university, don’t get me wrong university gave all the theory side, but the real-life experience came from volunteering. I have since managed to get a job through FASS but still continue to volunteer.”
Congratulations Lisa!
Alcohol Counsellor Accreditation Success for Our Natasha!
We’re delighted to share the news Natasha Shearer one of Volunteer Counsellors is celebrating becoming accredited as an Alcohol Counsellor.
Natasha has kindly shared some details of her learning journey as a counsellor and her involvement with FASS.
“I started volunteering with Fife Alcohol Support Services
(FASS) in April 2019 after completing a Degree in Psychology and an Advance
Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling. The first time I have heard about
FASS was from a couple of my colleagues during my Advance Diploma training and
hearing my colleagues talking about the positive impact this organisation is
making not just for their clients and the wider Fife community, but their staff
and volunteers made me want to be part of such a team and made me want to be
part of such a cause. Looking back now, I can say that the initial expectations
I had when joining FASS have been met and exceeded, to be part of a team where
you feel supported, valued and respected; to feel part of something great and
that you are making a difference.
From Day one, I have felt at home and valued as a member of the bigger FASS Family. This family’ support never faltered, not even in the face of the Covid pandemic during which our services had to be transferred on-line and with telephone. In the past 2 years with the help and support of FASS staff and my peers, I have managed to complete a Certificate in Advanced Alcohol Counselling Skills amongst a dozen of other CPD courses. However, most importantly this organisation has helped me to become a confident counsellor able to adapt and evolve, maintaining quality and professionalism in any circumstances.
I was always interested in what makes people ‘tick’ so to speak – what makes people act the way they do? I love asking lots of questions and listening to what people have to say. I am that annoying person who would like to know what is behind a person’s answer of ‘I am fine’, when asked ‘how are you?’. From a very young age I discovered that I had a fascination for human stories and this fascination has remained strong to this day. However, my passion for psychology did not come until I became a parent myself and struggled to find my way through the parenthood realm. In my search for bettering myself as a parent I began to search for answers to my question of ‘what makes people tick’ and sadly quite often these answers were rather negative. For example, previous trauma could be the root cause for an individual who finds relationships difficult despite desperately needing and wanting them. My journey as a parent and a counsellor has evolved from needing to know why and how things happens to an individual, to what can be done about it and how I can help this individual through this?
Since I first posed these questions, many years have passed, however these questions still sit alongside many others. I am often asked ‘how I am managing to do what I do…listen to people’s problem’. The hardest thing for me is not having to listen to people’s issues. The hardest thing for me is having to deal with the fear that I’m not doing enough, or my work doesn’t create the change clients deserve, or having to sit with the knowledge that the system doesn’t support my clients’ needs.
I see my role at FASS as a privilege - for me it is a privilege to be a counsellor and work with people who put their trust in me.”
Congratulations Natasha!
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