ARCHBISHOP Derek 1Vorlock and his Anglican "T Win" tti Liverpool Dr David Shepperd will be travelling to Southampton on Wednesday to lend their support to a rapidly expanding inner city alcohol rehabilitation project.
Bishop Crispian Hollis of Portsmouth will be joining the ecumenical duo at the opening of a new detocification and rehabilitation unit run by the Society of St Dismas. Archbishop Worlock was a cofounder of the Society when he was Bishop of Portsmouth.
The new unit comprises a five-bed detoxification ward where chronic alcoholics go to "dry out", and a ten-bed aftercare section where those on the path to recovery are offered counselling and pra,:t ic:11 support by a trained team of • social %Norkers and helpers.
The Society of St Dismas already HAM a day centre where meals are served to the homeless and alcoholics. and three "dry houses", ss here recovering alcoholics can find shelter and a sympathetic ear whilst seeking to come to terms ss ith the disease.
"Most of the people who come to us for help are brought by the police, who are ill-equipped to deal vs ith the needs to alcoholics." said John Cook, a rained social worker who manages the St Dismas Alcohol Recovery Unit. "Here people have the choice to combat alcoholism, and not just to recover from its more immediate effects".