29th April 2021

The past year has been challenging for everyone, and particularly for charities like us who have had to completely transform the way we work to accommodate for new rules and restrictions.  We have all been keen to see what the impact of these changes has been on our services across the year.  

Every quarter we produce reports for one of our funders, Hertfordshire County Council, who we won the tender to deliver the Drugs and Alcohol Community Rehabilitation Service from in 2018 which accounts for around half of our income. These reports also give us insight into how successful our services are and give us important feedback from our clients. 

We’d like to share the results of these reports with you, our supporters, so you can see how our services have performed and continued to grow over the past year despite the impact of the pandemic. 

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Over the past year... 

We have received an incredible 1,704 enquiries into our services with 100% of them hearing back from us within just 48 hours of their initial referral or contact with us. This means our team ensures that every single person who calls is being given what they need, whether that’s someone coming in for an assessment, being referred on or just being given more information about who we are and what we do.  

We’ve helped 433 people across our hubs, with 61 in our new virtual Hertfordshire Hub which is continuing to grow, allowing more and more people in need across the county to access us without concern for issues like travel costs. 

From January to March this year we’ve also seen amazing graduation rates across the groups. With 75% for Disordered Eating and Family and Carers, 80% for drugs and 88% of those who came in for alcohol addiction. We are so proud of all of our clients who graduate and so pleased that we’ve been able to continue to support them to this stage despite the impact of the pandemic.  

These are very encouraging statistics that just go to show what an impact we have as a charity. But we know that there is much more to us than just numbers, this report also gave us new client stories which show the true impact The Living Room can have on someone’s life: 

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‘The Living Room had changed my life and me. Through focusing on myself I have been able to get out of debt, get clean and sober, put on healthy weight in the gym and obtain my licence back, a complete 180! However, the most important thing I have received is getting me back, an improved version of myself. A young man who is calm but assertive. Can create boundaries that serve me and be present in my life. The journey isn't over and there is still work to be done but today I get to wake up happy, to know that what I see in the mirror, I am proud of! I never chose my addiction but I did choose my recovery.’

- Client Story from Drugs group 

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 ‘I will always be indebted to The Living Room for helping me reclaim my life and turning what seemed like an impossible and tragic situation into a reason to thrive again. My relationships with my children, family and friends and career have all benefited from the changes I have made in recovery as has my emotional and physical health and well-being - the future looks bright - such a turnaround from a year ago.’

 - Client Story from Family & Carers 

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 ‘So grateful to the living room the counsellors who facilitate it, without it, I would of just been another statistic, and today I’m not, I can be me and give back what I've so freely given, today I’m living not just existing - I’m a survivor all thanks to the support I've had from the living room, crèche, the counsellors, fellowships. I feel so lucky to have been given this opportunity and to be able to work through my traumas, whilst learning how to live a healthy life - so thank you who ever funds this magical place.’

- Client Story from Alcohol group 

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We’d like to thank all the staff who worked so hard to produce this report, it’s important to put into perspective all that goes on over the course of a year and reports like this let us do just that. We appreciate everyone who works or volunteers at The Living Room, from the clinical team to administration. Without everyone working together, statistics and stories like these wouldn’t be produced. 

To our supporters and funders, we’d like to say another thank you. We want you to see what your time spent volunteering, or money given as donations or grants allows us to do for our community. We couldn’t do it without you. 

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