Recovery on the Horizon
In a town where many people deal with multiple complex challenges, Horizon is a service that understands the intersections of many of them. The council-funded programme offers support to Blackpool residents around drugs and alcohol, sexual health and within the LGBTQ+ community.
I visited Renaissance UK, a local substance misuse and sexual health charity, delivering support since 1986 and one of the partner services that delivers the Horizon project in Blackpool, to meet with the dedicated team of professionals working hard to improve the lives of people in Blackpool.
At the Renaissance UK head offices on Dickson Road hub, I was shown one of 11 needle exchanges in Blackpool where injecting drug users can access clean equipment as part of Horizon’s commitment to harm reduction. Research shows that these services don’t increase illegal drug use or crime, but they play an important role in reducing the transmission of viral hepatitis, HIV and other infections.
On World Aids Day 2023 Renaissance UK signed the UN’s Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS. The declaration's goal is to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 through a joined-up approach between global, national and regional leaders and organisations. Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Amina J Mohammed has noted that, to end AIDS, we need to end the intersecting injustices that drive new HIV infections and prevent people from accessing services. In Blackpool, a high prevalence area for HIV, where 342 people aged 15-59 diagnosed with it in 2023, Renaissance UK and the Horizon partnership is a vital part of that mission.
HIV support worker Jane was on hand during my visit to demonstrate the rapid HIV testing they carry out on site. This finger prick test gave results within 60 seconds, meaning no excruciating wait for results. She and sexual health manager Anthony explained to me that while much work has been done to raise awareness and increase testing among the LGBTQ+ community, they are witnessing the fastest rising infection rate among heterosexual women. Women, they explained, are not routinely offered HIV tests when visiting sexual health clinics and they are often overlooked in HIV prevention and testing efforts.
I know the government is committed to ensuring equality and equity of access to HIV prevention and treatment for all. It has recently commissioned officials for advice on how to progress the development of a new HIV Action Plan, which it aims to publish by summer 2025. This will include seeking advice from community and voluntary sector partners, such as Renaissance UK and the Horizon partnership, on how best to engage and consider the specific needs of under-served and at-risk communities.
While anyone who has unprotected sex can be at risk of contracting HIV, and anyone is welcome to visit Horizon for a rapid test, one demographic that is at high risk are sex workers. Charleen is Horizon’s dedicated sex work support worker. Through years of dedicated work she has built a strong relationship of trust with sex workers in Blackpool and she regularly visits parlours and the streets where they are known to work.
Over the last year Charleen has supported more than 100 women to access Horizon’s drug, alcohol and sexual health services, promoting PrEP as an effective preventative medication to reduce HIV transmission, and helping them access counselling services, also offered by Horizon.
Opiates are currently flooding the streets of Blackpool where we have the highest rate of drug-related deaths in the country. Horizon offers training on administering Naloxon – a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose – and has engaged with some 950 opiate users in Blackpool in the past year and hundreds more alcoholics.
Increasingly, staff at Horizon are focusing on recreational drug use too, engaging with youth services to encourage behavioural change and peer support. Ketamine is one of the most prevalent street drugs and its use is rising rapidly. NHS drug and alcohol services data show that the number of people seeking treatment for ketamine addiction doubled between 2019 and 2023, from 1,140 to 2,211.
Ketamine is cheap and easily accessible, and experts have also suggested that the situation is potentially fuelled by people unable to access mental health services self-medicating. It’s easy to see how, in a place like Blackpool that has been one of the hardest hit by the cost-of-living and mental health crises, the drug has proliferated. But ketamine is highly addictive and has serious side effects including anxiety, depression and PTSD as well as ‘ketamine bladder syndrome’. At its most extreme, young people in Blackpool are facing spending their entire adulthood with a urostomy bag. I raised this issue in Parliament following my meeting with Horizon.
Shelley, chief operating director at Renaissance UK, described the prevalence of drug and alcohol dependence in the LGBTQ+ community, which is well represented in Blackpool. Substance misuse is often used as a coping mechanism for the emotional toll of grappling with sexuality or gender identity, particularly in unsupportive environments. Many people in the LGBTQ+ community are sadly familiar with feelings of isolation, discrimination or bullying. This government has a clear plan to fix the broken system to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health. We also want people to be confident in accessing high quality mental health support when they need it. Horizon aims to not only provide support for those members of the community who need to access treatment or support with addiction, but increasingly focuses on prevention.
LGBTQ+ community development lead at Horizon, Vicki, has worked hard to establish and facilitate a number of peer support groups for the LGBTQ+ community. The Horizon partnership is a shining example of how joining the dots between multiple complex challenges is hugely beneficial to communities.
The service moves seamlessly between mental health, sexual health, drugs and alcohol misuse and there is an embedded understanding of how each one impacts individual communities. There is a deep sense of empathy that runs throughout the service, in no small part due to staff’s lived experience. The result is a welcoming and inclusive space free of judgement. I can’t imagine anyone who walks through Renaissance UK and Horizon’s doors for support could regret doing so.
I’m proud that these services exist in my constituency and I am keen to support them. It’s vital that these services are properly funded in the long term and it’s equally important that the voices of the staff and service users from the likes of Renaissance UK and the Horizon partnership reach senior ministers. I am determined that the policies of this government will be formed with the lives of people in Blackpool in mind.
Horizon services
Drugs and alcohol support
Call 01253 205157, email horizonreferrals@calico.org.uk or use this self referral form for:
The Lighthouse, (Alcohol Servies) Ground Floor, 102 Dickson Rd, Blackpool, FY1 2BU
Winstone House (Drug Services) 199 Church Street, Blackpool, FY1 3TG
Free person-centred and CBT counselling.
Needle exchange.
Opioid substitution therapy.
Access to Naloxone and information on overdose
Rapid access prescriptions, including anti-craving medications.
Medical support during your detox and rehab.
Support for family members or partners affected by a loved one’s alcohol or drug use.
Information and support on controlling ‘leisure’ drugs or addiction to prescription painkillers.
Harm Reduction and Sexual Health Services
Renaissance UK - First Floor - 102 Dickson Road, BLACKPOOL, FY1 2BU
To speak to a sexual health practitioner call 01253 311431, email enquiries@ren-uk.com for:
Sex worker support.
Screening and access to treatment for Hep C, HIV and syphilis.
Specialist well-being and one to one support for those living with and affected by HIV.
Support to access to contraception.
Flexible one to one support.
Information, advice and guidance
Access to advice and guidance around safe and positive relationships with others.
LGBTQ+ support
Talk to a friendly and professional expert by calling 01253 311431, or email LGBTAdvice@Ren-UK.com for:
General health and wellbeing support
Group work programmes
Counselling services and web-based support around sexuality and gender identity
Targeted sexual health clinics
Safer sex packs
Contraception
60 second rapid HIV testing
Education and training
Peer support networks:
Or get in touch to find out more about Horizon’s friendly support groups:
Blackpool Allies group – A social and support group for anyone from the LGBTQ+ Community, over 16, and their allies – Twice a month on a Tuesday Evening
Lancs Lads – A social and support group for trans male/masc and masculine non binary people, 16+ – Monthly on a Tuesday Evening
Lancs Lasses – A social and support group for trans female and feminine non-binary people, 16+ – Monthly on a Tuesday Evening
The LGBTQ+ Forum – A dedicated forum for LGBTQ+ professionals identifying as or working with the LGBTQ+ communities in Blackpool, aiming to bring about change in the community and ensure LGBTQ+ people and communities are considered with all decisions in the town. – Held Monthly on a Tuesday -
For any more information on the above groups or the LGBTQ+ Forum, please email LGBTAdvice@Ren-UK.com or call 01253 311431 for more information.
