Founded in 1996 by a group of Mums who were all experiencing the pain and heartbreak of a loved one’s addiction, this courageous group of ladies decided to offer each other support when they realised there was nowhere else to access help. This group gradually grew in numbers, and with a lot of hard work, grant funding, and dedicated volunteers, the service grew from a single peer support group, to having a crisis support line, to having a paid member of staff, and now into the service it is today, a registered charity supporting over 200 families per month throughout the districts of Nottinghamshire; Mansfield, Ashfield, Bassetlaw, Newark & Sherwood, and County South. The Hetty’s service offers a variety of support methods, and structured psychosocial interventions, delivered by our experienced family recovery workers and volunteers, to ensure that every client has the best chance of recovering from the effects of their loved one’s addiction and returning to their everyday life. Each intervention provides the tools needed for families to reduce isolation, increase confidence, set appropriate boundaries, become more knowledgeable about the cycle of addiction, and work through any feelings of guilt, shame and anger. The service also works closely with ‘Change, Grow, Live – New Directions’, the drug and alcohol treatment service for Nottinghamshire, to provide a ‘whole family’ approach, encouraging substance users to enter and/or maintain treatment and repair family relationships and communication.

Hetty’s receive no government funding to run the service, relying totally on grants, donations, and self-sustaining activities such as running a charity shop and the social enterprise company; The Humane Touch.