Featured member : HURT

HURT was established in 2002 by the current Co-ordinator Sadie O’Reilly after the tragic death of her only son Tony to drug misuse. Having tried unsuccessfully to get support for Tony and her own family without avail, Sadie recognising the gap in services and founded the charity Have Your Tomorrows (HURT) to offer intervention, advice and a Listening Ear to families in similar circumstances with a loved one affected by addiction issues.

They currently have 14 people delivering services from their main base in Clarendon Street, Derry and from the outreach centre in Barrack Street, Strabane. The charity's main activities are:

• Therapeutic intervention for individuals and family members impacted by addiction.
• Family focussed intervention.
• Specialist child therapy utilising a Sand Play environment.
• Delivery of Holistic treatments as part of Care Plan (Auricular acupuncture, Complementary therapies, Counselling.)
• Preventative education programmes including Open College Network, Train the Trainer, Addiction Awareness, Parents Information Session.
• Co-hosting information with the Community Pharmacist on Over the Counter and Prescription misuse.
• Accredited Lifeskills programmes in schools.
• Training for carer’s on safe administration of medication.
• Smart Recovery peer support for addiction recovery and current substance users.

HURT delivered front line support and services to 374 individuals and family members in last year. They have delivered substance misuse information sessions to thousands of young people in primary and secondary schools, colleges and community groups – providing drug awareness and resilience skills. HURT also work with community groups and the North West College both in Derry and Limavady delivering up to date Drug awareness programmes to students and older people.

They provide an art class for clients attending the centre, which has recently been expanded to the wider community. The charity have also provided clients with the opportunity to avail of Yoga and meditation classes as part of our holistic recovery program.

HURT Youth Forum have been together for 4 years and have produced and participated in a drug awareness DVD ‘The real truth about Alcohol, Cannabis and Drugs' which addresses issues of substance misuse. The Youth Forum participated in creating another DVD venture addressing the issues surrounding Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Hidden Harm entitled 'Understanding the impact of alcohol on the family'.

In October 2014 HURT launched a book called ‘Remember Me’, containing illustrations and personal stories by families that lost their children through addiction and suicide. They have recently been involved in the recording of a song about living with addiction and reaching out to get help, which was written and produced by friends and those involved with the organisation.

Contact HURT:

HURT website: hurtni.org.uk
Contact the team on 028 7136 9696.
Get in touch via Twitter

"The support and advice from NICVA over the past number of years has been invaluable in enhancing our capabilities as managers and in developing the charity.

Through programmes delivered by NICVA, HURT staff volunteers and board members have all availed of training relevant to their roles in the charity. We have particularly benefited from bespoke training to allow us to develop our social enterprise and to allow us to plan for the long term strategic future of the organisation".
Dessie Kyle, Centre Manager of HURT