Forward hosts its first ever virtual open day!

Open days at our services are one of the key ways Forward can showcase, first-hand, the fantastic work being done by our colleagues on the frontline.

But like many aspects of life in the past six months, the coronavirus pandemic has impacted our ability to continue running these in the same way we used to do.

Undeterred, our events team set about finding new, creative ways to make these events happen virtually.

This culminated with our very first virtual open day, which took place at our residential rehabilitation facility The Bridges in Hull (via Zoom, of course!)

The day, which was hosted by our Divisional Director of Substance Misuse Services Jason Moore, took place on Thursday 24th September. It was a great success, attended by over 20 people. The event included a virtual tour of the facility (filmed on a smartphone!) hosted by Barry, one of our Peer Mentors, as well as a deeply moving ‘share’ from Anthony who has been helped by The Bridges, and a live ‘Q&A’ session with current clients and The Bridges Service Manager Jess Bailey.

Says Anthony: “Every time I’ve got out of prison before, on every occasion, I’ve been back using drugs within one or two days. But not when I went to The Bridges. I truly believe they have given me my life back. If Jess or the team ever phone’s me asking for a help to support The Bridges – whether it’s fishing or doing one of these talks – I will absolutely do it, because I believe they’ve saved my life. Thank you Forward Trust and thank you Hull.”

Thank you to everyone who attended, and mostly importantly to our fantastic staff and clients at The Bridges.

If you are interested in learning more about this event or our work, please email communications@forwardtrust.org.uk.