The Forward Trust provides a range of interventions and programmes across a selection of prisons in England to support prison service users into recovery when they are using substances.
Working in more than 20 prisons across England and Wales, we support people who want help to address issues with their drug or alcohol use.
We provide friendly, non-judgmental support, no matter what our service users have gone through in the past. Many of our staff (over 30%) have lived experience of drug and alcohol issues and/or the criminal justice system, which can enhance the services we provide given their ability to identify and support others in their challenges.
We also know that no two people are the same, which is why we offer a range of different treatment options and access to a range of other services, including family support and employment help.
We offer a range of psychosocial and clinical interventions to help clients address their substance use.
Some substance use interventions we deliver include:
‘Stepping Stones Drug and Alcohol Programme’ - designed to support those people whose alcohol or drug consumption is at harmful or dependent levels, which is a low to medium intensity intervention.
‘Living Safely Drug and Alcohol Workshops’ - a series of workshops exploring the risks associated with drug and alcohol use.
‘Footsteps in Recovery’ - an intensive programme with a tailored approach to helping individuals become drug and alcohol free.
‘Brief Intervention Programme for Alcohol’ (BIPA) - a programme designed to help individuals manage alcohol use or abstinence effectively.
‘The Bridge Programme’ – an intensive and abstinence-based programme focusing on the journey to recovery and long-term treatment.
‘Family Services’ - our family workers sit within treatment teams, helping service users to strengthen relationships with family, friends, and wider social networks.
‘Relationships Matter Programme’ - a series of workshops designed to improve interpersonal relationships and restore healthy communication.
Other services include:
A wide range of standalone workshops and ‘in-cell’ packs aimed at harm minimisation, risk reduction, and relapse prevention.
Wing-based ‘pop-ups’ to raise awareness on different areas of need, including substance use[EW5] , general health and wellbeing topics.
Co-facilitation of fellowship meetings such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA).
Clinical services including opiate substitution therapy (OST) and detoxification.
Individual key working sessions.
Naloxone training.
In some prisons, we offer a wide range of mental wellbeing workshops and Talking Therapy step based treatments. Our team consists of Mental Wellbeing workers, Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners (PWP), Senior Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners (SPWP), and High Intensity Therapists (HIT) who deliver step 1-3 treatments.
We also offer employment services and resettlement and rehousing support in some prisons.
You can check which services each prison runs by exploring the prisons we work in here.
Any prisoner can refer themselves to our services, (‘self-refer’). If a staff member or third party makes a referral, we will assess the service user if they agree to engage. All prisoners are seen as part of their induction into their respective prison.
If you have concerns about a loved one, family member, or friend’s drug or alcohol use and they are currently serving a sentence in a prison where we deliver services, please contact the prison directly by visiting their individual page.
If you have any questions about the services we currently deliver in prisons, please email us at info.forward@forwardtrust.org.uk or call 0203 981 5525.
