Guernsey alcohol addiction service rebrands due to financial pressures

  • Kate Prout has been speaking to those who rely on the services


An organisation that helps Guernsey residents with alcohol addiction is being forced to rebrand and widen its services in order to survive.

The Guernsey Alcohol Advisory Centre (GAAC) has helped hundreds of addicts get sober for more than fifty years.

But now the service, which also has a residential home for seven people who have an alcohol addiction, has lost its States funding.

It is rebranding as the Guernsey Addiction Advisory Service (GAAS) and widening its services in order to survive.

Despite initially receiving a £70,000 grant from the States, the funding was eventually allocated elsewhere following a tendering process.

The organisation has had David Newman at its helm for more than thirty years.

On the people who use the services, he said: "We are talking people who have lost everything through alcohol. Often they turn up here with all their belongings in a black bag.

"The idea is they live alcohol free and rebuild their lives. Often they've lived chaotic lives, in and out of hospital, the court system, psychiatric wards, St Julian's. A whole range of issues and we provide them that stability and security to get on with their lives."

An islander who wanted to remain anonymous told ITV News that his life would be completely different without the organisation's help.

He said it keeps him from relapsing and that it has allowed him to make new friends, and "not just pub friends."