A 'refreshing' approach to drug and alcohol addiction recovery is saving lives across Scotland – and it’s right on our doorstep in Ayrshire.
River Garden Auchincruive, on the outskirts of Ayr, is a three-year residential programme which swaps traditional rehabilitation therapy for communal support and hands-on work, including horticulture, woodwork and cooking.
River Garden’s social enterprise café and their open-gates policy also allow residents to interact with the general public and heal broken family relationships via frequent visits.
The centre, which has capacity for 56 men and women, is very closely modelled on rehab communities in Italy and the long established Basta community in Sweden, where River Garden operations manager Mikael Heddelin spent five years of his life overcoming his own drug addiction.
Mikael, who was using drugs for over 20 years and has been sober for 14 years, said: “We understood that you can’t take one model and put it into another country because of cultural differences etc.
“We wanted to make something which was suited for the Scottish population.
“A lot of people are confused by the concept – how can you get sober by working?
“We try to explain that therapy in Scotland is the same in Sweden – you put six guys around a table and say, ‘tell me how you feel’. They’re quite hesitant to open up and talk.
“But when we’re out here weeding in the allotments or planting or in the wood shed, you get that trust and interaction.”
River Garden’s person-centred approach has already proved to be a success with residents graduating, living independently and working away in their chosen fields.
Mikael said: “We’ve produced a tree surgeon, two recovery workers, a gas engineer, a chef – not everyone comes out the same way.
“We want to give people a chance to have a different life when they come out in terms of quality thinking, jobs, driver's licence, good social connections on the outside as well as the inside, and healed family relationships.
"As we know, that’s very important because the whole family suffers.
“That comes with time. You can’t solve a long-term problem with a short-term solution. People need time.”
River Garden relies on fundraisers and donations to continue helping people through recovery, like Kilmarnock pals Lorenzo D’Andrea, 59, and Tom Adam, 61, who travelled 1,500 kilometres across Italy in a three-wheeled Piaggio Ape to give back to the charity for the help they gave to Lorenzo’s son, Seb.
Seb, 35, struggled with his drug addiction for years before joining River Garden. He is now living independently in his own home, training to be a gas engineer and ultimately enjoying a life free from drugs.
An emotional cheque presentation last week saw Lorenzo’s wife and Seb’s mum Ali, 56, hand over £4746.85 to River Garden and thank them for changing her son’s life.
“The people both in Scotland and Italy took this charity trip to their hearts," she said.
“I’ll never be able to thank River Garden enough for giving me my son back.”
Radio presenter Chantal McFeely, of Monkton, is taking on a wild sea swim for River Garden in memory of her teenage sons’ father Robin.
Robin sadly passed away in December 2020 due to struggling with his mental health and addiction issues.
Chantal will swim two lengths from Holy Isle to Lamlash in Arran on Sunday, September 11.
She said: “I feel had Robin come here he might still be, but because he’s not I want to try make a difference and make sure people don’t go through what he went through.
“That’s still my motivation. I know he would’ve loved it, just being here in nature and everything else.”
For recovery stories, to donate or vacancies, visit https://www.rivergarden.scot/
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