Funding cuts forcing drug rehabilitation centres to close

They are services for desperate people, services that save lives. Yet despite the Prime Minister’s pledge to end austerity, cuts in local authority funding mean places like residential rehabilitation centres can’t stay financially viable.

The Recovery Group UK estimates that over the last two years, some 14 drug and alcohol centres have shut and another 15 have slashed their capacity.

Anja Popp has been to Bristol where the city’s last residential rehab is about to close its doors – after 35 years of helping addicts across England and Wales.