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West Glamorgan Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Limited
The alcohol and drug advice centre was initially founded and established
in 1979 as the "Alcohol Advice Centre", staffed by the
director Alan Douglas and part time secretary Margaret Morris. It
was financed by the Welsh Office and Health Authority funds. However
a great deal of work took place four years prior to this date in
order to stimulate the interest and involvement of various groups.
Initial discussions and meetings took place in 1975.
Treatment Philosophy and Method
The treatment is based on the Minnesota
Model of therapy with additional emphasis on Glassers concept of
"reality therapy". Both philosophy and method are inextricably
linked with the based premise of Alcoholics Anonymous. The Centre
dealt with both alcohol and drugs problems and in the early days
worked only with abstinence orientated approach based on AA and
the Minnesota Model. However as you will see throughout the WGCADA
web site - the service has been expanding in the past few years
to include a whole range of differing models. The traditional abstinence
based model of addiction remains the underlying philosophy of WGCADA
and abstinence is still clearly the long-term goal. But the Centre
now also deals with people who are not actually addicted but need
help to control their alcohol / drug use and education to make them
aware of the dangers of addiction itself. The aim of abstinence
can also be deferred to allow for harm reduction work and structured
long-term withdrawal programmes if necessary.
Staff training and background and their attitudes and opinions
regarding their work - Early 1980's
Alan Douglas - Director and founder
 Mr
Douglas left school to join the Army in 1944. on leaving the Army
in 1948 he worked for Customs and Excise from 1948 - 1979. During
this time he worked for seven years as "Dangerous Drugs Trainer"
for South Wales and the borders and took an interest in counselling
techniques at the time.
Mr Douglas took an interest in Alcoholism in 1967, when he became
a founder member of Alcoholics Anonymous in Swansea having stopped
drinking himself. Being, as he says in the early stages of his own
recovery. At this time Alan arranged a series of training sessions
concerning alcohol use and counselling skills. By 1973 Alan was
a Trustee of Alcoholics Anonymous and a member of the AA General
Service Board He retained the post until 1979. As an indication
of Alan's interest, a list of various activities is included.
1967 Member of the first AA group in Swansea
1969 Member of the first intergroup AA in South Wales
1968 Founder member of the Cyrenians (Swansea)
1969 Founder member o f Swansea CVS
1969 - 70 Involvement in development of St Leonards House (Hostel
for ex-prisoners) and a pre-release committee.
Founder member of the National Association of Alcohol and Drug
Abuse Counsellors NAADAC
1980 Associate member of institute of Health Education (full member
in 1985)
1983 Founder member of the Federation of Welsh Councils of Alcoholism
General Aim of WGCADA
To enable people to live happy, free and rewarding lives without
the use of mood-altering drugs.
Norman Preddy - From Senior Counsellor to Chief Executive
 Mr
Preddy worked as a miner for the first 10 years of his working life
followed by a period of work for British Rail. He himself had problems
with alcohol and drugs. In 1979 he entered treatment at Broadway
Lodge, a residential rehabilitation centre based on the Minnesota
Method.
Mr Preddy, after two years of recovery, attending AA regularly
and voluntary work with the probation service was asked by Alan
to join the centre to do voluntary work.
Norman's role was full time senior counsellor at the centre, and
as a co-therapist in two groups per week, helping with group activities
and assignments that follow group session. Also saw clients for
individual counselling, initial assessment interviews, home visits,
supported family members. Today Norman is Chief Executive.
WGCADA's 30th Anniversary 2009!
This year celebrates 30 years of successfully delivering services to help individuals affected by substance misuse, their families and the wider communities. Thirty years ago, Dr. Alan Hawkins who was Chairman of the Organisation was writing to firms and industries looking for £7000 to keep the centre running for one year. Today, we have significantly more funding to deliver services and access to the Welsh Assembly Governments Substance Misuse Action Fund Capital Grant to buy and renovate buildings to ensure high standard facilities for our clients and staff. We are extremely grateful to our funders for their support.
During 1979, the year the Centre was established, 51 people were seen. in comparison, during the financial year of 2008/09, WGCADA received nearly 3000 referrals across Swansea, Neath, Port Talbot and Bridgend.
Although there have been many changes over the 30 years that we have been operating, some things have remained. WGCADA was established as the Alcohol Advice Centre and we remain committed to tackling alcohol misuse and its devastating effects. The 12 Step abstinence treatment programme has not been without its controversy. However, we believe in this programme and have witnessed the positive affects it has had on clients and their families. We pride ourselves on being the only 12 Step abstinence provider in South Wales and whilst we welcome the increase in funding for harm reduction focused services, we continue to lobby for more funding for abstinence based treatment.
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