Blackpool Recovery Hub celebrates a year of positive change as resort announced as first Inclusive Recovery City in the North West

Press Release

Tuesday 22 September 2026

Blackpool Recovery Hub marked National Recovery Month with an extra special event on Tuesday 22 September to help highlight the hugely positive impact the service has had on the whole community since first opening its doors in 2025.

It was also the perfect opportunity to announce Blackpool as the first location in the North West to sign up to the Inclusive Recovery Cities Charter!

Blackpool Recovery Hub opened on Church St in May 2025 as a welcoming, non-judgemental space for people recovering from alcohol, drug and gambling addictions; and offers a wide range of holistic recovery services and community re-integration programmes to help build fulfilling futures.

The dedicated drop-in facility chose National Online Recovery Day (22 Sep), which sits within the UK’s National Recovery Month, to help shine an important spotlight on the people, stories and support behind its pioneering service; and brought together recovery professionals, community organisations, local partners and people with lived experience who regularly visit the Hub, to celebrate how recovery is happening across Blackpool.

For some, The Hub has been a place to find support and much-needed advice on everything from housing and health to employment and community reconnection.

For others, it’s a place to make friends, learn new skills, regain confidence or simply have somewhere safe to go with no appointment or referral needed.

Everyone is welcome and is assessed on a case by case basis by Hub Manager Brian Simpson and his experienced team, but they must be seeking recovery or already in active recovery. Brian’s professional career has been shaped by more than 25 years of personal experience of alcohol and drug addiction. This lived experience, combined with his education, volunteering and professional background, gives him a unique perspective on recovery and means he understands first-hand the difficulties of addiction, the impact of setbacks and the challenges involved in navigating support services.

For Dave S, Julie, Peter, Richard, Cy and Dave C, Brian and the Hub have been a lifeline to a brighter future they couldn’t have imagined a year ago. Regular attendee Dave S battled drugs and crime for more than 30 years before becoming involved with the Hub when it first opened and is now a part time employee at Empowerment Charity. He says: “There are a lot of good people here and we all help each other.”

For Julie, who spent more than 24 years addicted to drugs, life had become consumed by chaos, fear and isolation. She says: “I was made to feel welcome at the Hub from the very beginning and now I am accessing a computer course, looking at volunteering opportunities and getting help with making a home.”

After leaving prison, Peter felt “deeply overwhelmed” returning to community life, but support from Hub staff soon helped him regain his confidence, believe in himself and take qualifications as he continued his quest to help others. He is now employed by the Lived Experience Team and has his own client base.

For Richard, who had 13 hospital admissions in just two years due to alcohol and drug abuse and could only leave his home at night to avoid people, the Hub has been “life-saving”. He now volunteers on the coffee bar and runs the Hub’s weekly movie nights.

Cy describes the Hub as his “grounding place” after struggling to find somewhere he felt understood. Counselling groups have played an important role in his recovery from drink and drug addiction and, now more than six years clean, he says the Hub has been “a lifeline during difficult moments, always offering support guidance and connections.”

And for Dave C, who spent most of his life trapped in a cycle of addiction and prison, simply stepping through the Hub’s doors out of curiosity led to finding “a safe space that gave him room to breathe.” With support from staff and peers, he has rebuilt important family connections, taken part in healthy activities and training courses, and now volunteers at the Hub to help others do the same.

Stories like these demonstrate the very real difference that easily accessible, community-based recovery support can make, showing that recovery is not simply about overcoming addiction, but about rebuilding lives, relationships, confidence and a real sense of belonging.

During Tuesday’s event, visitors saw just some of the many activities and support available at the Hub, including yoga, meditation, counselling, art classes and educational courses; highlighting the different pathways people can take as they work towards long-lasting recovery.

Blackpool Recovery Hub is delivered through a unique collaborative partnership between Horizon; Jobs, Friends and Houses; Blackpool Coastal Housing and Empowerment Charity; bringing together expertise in treatment services, peer support, lived experience, housing and community development.

This joined-up approach, alongside the voices and experiences of people in recovery, is helping to shape Blackpool’s future as an Inclusive Recovery City.

The Inclusive Recovery Cities movement brings together grassroots recovery organisations, local leadership and specialist treatment providers to promote visible recovery, challenge stigma and discrimination, and champion the different pathways people can take towards recovery.

Blackpool is now the first setting in the North West to sign the Inclusive Recovery Cities Charter - joining the UK’s 17 current locations of Middlesbrough, Sheffield, Leeds, York, Nottingham, Newcastle, Mansfield, Birmingham, Portsmouth, Redcar, Darlington, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Bradford, Lewisham, Dundee and Sunderland.

Leading expert in recovery and addiction, Professor David Best, helped develop the Inclusive Recovery Cities concept and attended Tuesday’s event, along with Empowerment Charity CEO, Mike Crowther, to celebrate Blackpool’s new status.

Professor Best said: “It is my great pleasure to welcome Blackpool as an Inclusive Recovery City and to be a part of this achievement. The team at Empowerment and their partners h

ave long been at the forefront of recovery innovation and impact in the UK, and it is fitting that their ground-breaking work and their commitment to community engagement are acknowledged in this way.

“Blackpool has been a leading innovator in recovery and community building for many years and IRC status will further strengthen that growth and commitment to build recovery, engage community and generate cohesion and active civic participation.”

The Recovery Hub is a key part of Blackpool’s Inclusive Recovery City journey, with the town now developing the UK’s first Recovery Strategy, which is led by the Public Health team at Blackpool Council in partnership with people with lived experience, communities and organisations working across the recovery sector.

Laura Braithwaite, Strategic Lead: Changing Futures and Recovery at Public Health, Blackpool Council, said the Hub has become an important part of the town’s recovery community: “The launch of the Blackpool Recovery Hub marked a significant milestone in their journey and represents a major step forward for recovery in the town.

“Blackpool is now undertaking an exciting and ambitious piece of work to co-produce its very first Recovery Strategy. Our vision is to strengthen Blackpool as a recovery-oriented community; one that challenges outdated narratives, celebrates success, and demonstrates that people do recover in Blackpool and that recovery is thriving.”

Councillor Matthew Thomas, Cabinet Member for Communities and Wellbeing at Blackpool Council, added: “The success of Blackpool Recovery Hub over the past year shows the incredible difference that can be made when organisations, communities and people with lived experience come together with a shared purpose.

“The stories we have heard today are a powerful reminder that recovery is about much more than overcoming addiction. It is about restoring hope, strengthening relationships and helping people realise their full potential. As Blackpool becomes the first Inclusive Recovery City in the North West, we have an opportunity to lead by example, challenge stigma and celebrate recovery in all its forms. We are committed to ensuring that everyone seeking recovery knows they will find understanding, support and a community that believes in them every step of the way.”

Credit: Martin Bostock Photography on all images used.

For further information on Blackpool Recovery Hub please visit www.blackpoolrecoveryhub.co.uk, call 07483172384 or drop in at 258 Church Street, Blackpool, FY1 3TE. No appointment is necessary.