Hansard

Thank you for calling me now, Presiding Officer. It is a pleasure to recognise Fife Alcohol Support Service’s 40 years of work this evening, and I thank David Torrance for securing the debate. I apologise, as I have to leave the chamber early because of a family commitment, but I will look with interest at the Official Report tomorrow, particularly the minister’s response.

For many years, FASS has been a leading provider of counselling and psychotherapy for people in Fife with alcohol-related problems. Following a merger with Fife community drug service in 2015, it also provides a community drug service that offers outreach support in the community for people with drug-related problems.

As well as providing support for people who are struggling with addiction and working with them to address the underlying causes and consequences, FASS supports families and friends who are trying to cope. Too often, people who are struggling with alcohol and substance abuse do not receive much public sympathy. They can be isolated as family networks are damaged by their addiction and it can often take a while before they acknowledge that they have a problem. Organisations such as FASS provide a valuable service to people who are often very vulnerable.

FASS’s ADAPT project is a triage service, which supports those who are struggling with alcohol or substance issues into the best help and treatment that is available in Fife and to change their lives. It also focuses on encouraging rehabilitation, and the expanding curnie clubs, which David Torrance mentioned, help people who are suffering social isolation to find their way back into community life. It is good to hear that the project recently received a big award from the Big Lottery Fund.

Recently I attended FASS’s annual general meeting at the Town House in Kirkcaldy, which was an opportunity to reflect on the past 40 years. Jim Bett, the service manager at FASS, highlighted the importance of the charity’s volunteer counsellors who have been serving the people of Fife for 40 years. During that time, the service has trained 200 volunteer counsellors.

Jim Bett highlighted that more than 23,000 Fifers have approached FASS’s counselling services for help since it began operating. The AGM concluded with a very moving personal experience from a former client who recounted his harrowing journey of drug addiction that had almost resulted in his death and his journey to recovery with the help of the charity’s community drug service. His story highlighted the devastating impact that drug and alcohol abuse has had on so many families, which often results in lifelong issues.

I return to the number of users who have accessed the service. As I said, 23,000 people in Fife have needed help from the service. Those people often identified as vulnerable, with a high percentage of them suffering with poor mental health, which often comes from underlying traumas. I will highlight the pressures that wider mental health services in Fife face in that regard.

Fife health and social care partnership, which works extremely hard, is developing programmes that focus on early intervention, group therapy programmes and additional clinical time. However, the services are stretched, and people have to wait too long for the help that they need. Too often, the voluntary sector is left to pick up the pieces of the NHS’s strained services.

It is clear that a centralised, joined-up approach is needed urgently. A solution might be the addition of a mental health centre in Fife, where those who are suffering with mental health issues could be properly assessed and referred to the appropriate services. Voluntary sector provision is often the correct response but, like the NHS, the sector needs to be provided with funding that reflects its crucial role and makes sure that it can deliver the service to everyone who needs it.

This week, FASS’s focus is promoting safe drinking through the festive season. The service has issued guidelines, with advice on practical steps, to ensure that those who are drinking throughout the party season take the necessary steps to stay safe; that demonstrates its commitment to promoting prevention and awareness.

FASS provides people in Fife with a valuable service, which treats everyone as a valued human being and supports people through difficult times in their lives. I thank FASS for all its work, and I am pleased to see it being recognised in the Parliament.