Purpose

The service will address a gap in sustained, community-based recovery support beyond formal treatment for people in Wigan whose offending is closely linked to substance use.

Early work on the Whole System Approach and Wigan pilot, informed by the Reducing Reoffending Lead and Lived Experience Team, identified this gap. The proposal will strengthen local provision by linking justice pathways, treatment services, recovery communities and wider VCSE support for this group.

Rebuild with Hope, our current wellbeing provider in Wigan, is a registered charity founded in 2021. It supports people leaving custody through mentoring, employment opportunities and wraparound support to ease their return to their communities.

The grant will fund two Recovery Community Development Worker posts to strengthen community-based recovery support through the following areas of activity:
• Building recovery capital: Help individuals develop stability, routine, confidence, social connections, purpose and a sense of belonging.
• Connecting justice, treatment and recovery: The Recovery Community Development Workers will work across the Whole System Approach to Diversion, local treatment services, Rebuild with Hope, the GMIRS Wellbeing Hub and wider VCSE support.
• Maintaining engagement and continuity: Recognising that recovery is not linear, the service will offer flexible support to engage and re-engage individuals during crisis, relapse, custody, probation contact and post-treatment aftercare.
• Tackling wider drivers of reoffending: Practical wraparound support will address social isolation, financial and housing instability, limited meaningful activity and barriers to peer networks.
• Informing future services: The proposal will test an adaptive, recovery-focused model that complements existing provision and generates learning for future commissioning and system development.

Expected outcomes are stronger engagement in treatment, recovery and aftercare; better retention at key transitions; fewer relapse cycles and less substance-related reoffending; improved wellbeing, housing and financial stability; stronger links to recovery communities; and progression into volunteering, training and employment.

Decision

To approve the acceptance and allocation of NHS England funding totalling £138,000 (£69,000 per annum) for the two-year period from 1 November 2026 to 31 October 2028 to support the development and delivery of a Drug and Alcohol Community Recovery Support service in Wigan. The funded will be awarded via grant to Rebuild With Hope.

The funding will be used to establish two Recovery Community Development Worker posts, hosted by Rebuild with Hope, our current wellbeing provider in Wigan, and aligned with local drug and alcohol treatment services, the Whole System Approach to Diversion for prolific offenders, and the GMIRS Wellbeing Hub.

The proposal will strengthen recovery, stability and desistance outcomes for justice-involved individuals whose offending is closely linked to substance use, while generating learning to inform future local and Greater Manchester system development.