A NEW addiction treatment programme is coming to Winchester.

Help Me Stop Winchester provides intensive addiction treatment and is a fraction of the cost of residential rehab.

It is open to adults of all ages: this includes working people, parents and carers who have been blocked from residential services, due to cost, parenting, or other life responsibilities.

Help Me Stop Winchester is opening in association with local homelessness charity, Trinity Winchester, to address the wide gap between the few in Hampshire who can afford expensive residential rehab, and the few who access statutory drug and alcohol treatment.

In terms of alcohol addiction, Public Health England estimates there are 11,248 alcohol dependent adults in Hampshire. Of these people, 2,419 are adults living with children. In 2019/20, just 302 adults living with children in Hampshire were receiving alcohol treatment – 88 per cent unmet treatment need amongst this group.

Now, thousands more adults across Hampshire, who need help with their addiction immediately, have an accessible treatment choice. People don’t need to step away from their life for weeks or months on end.

Known as ‘Dayhab’, Help Me Stop Winchester is a non-residential service. People live at home during their treatment process, removing prohibitive costs of accommodation, 24/7 staffing and in-house catering.

Chief Executive Officer of Help Me Stop, Tim Smith, said: “We founded Help Me Stop in 2019 to open up the highest quality addiction treatment to many thousands more people. We have two successful treatment centres in London, and we pioneered intensive Online Rehab in the UK, opening our online service on the first day of lockdown in 2020. Now in partnership with Trinity Winchester, we’re looking forward to extending our face-to-face Dayhab services to Hampshire.”

Steve Brine, MP for Winchester and Chandler’s Ford, said: “As soon as I heard about Help Me Stop’s programme for treating alcohol and drug addiction, I got it. Absolutely, I see how this new approach works. I am very excited about the prospect of bringing Help Me Stop to Winchester, working with the best in the business in our area, Trinity. They will be a formidable partnership.”

Chief Executive Officer of Trinity Winchester, Sue Mckenna, said: “We are delighted and excited to welcome Help Me Stop to our Winchester hub. Having worked with many people over the years who are experiencing long-term addiction, we are confident Help Me Stop will be the catalyst to support them to make real and meaningful changes in their lives, towards a better future.”

Help Me Stop Winchester is based at Trinity Winchester. The service is open now for confidential alcohol and drug addiction assessments. Call 01962 217 090 to speak in confidence to a specialist addiction treatment advisor or visit the Help Me Stop Winchester page. They begin treating clients in May 2022.