HADA what really happened?

I am writing this now as I have had time to come to terms with what happened and because the Harrogate Advertiser led the good people of Harrogate to believe that the organisation had been saved.

Granted, if you read the article, it will tell you which services were taken on by other providers and which were redundant, but most people only saw the headline "Drug service saved"

So I thought I would write about my time at HADA (Harrogate Alcohol & Drug Agency).

I came to HADA on 30th November 2009 after spending two years working in Easington (County Durham) as a DIP Worker (Drug Intervention Programme).

HADA had lost the adult drug contract the year before to CRI, a national drug charity. This was obviously still a sore point amongst Andrew (CEO) and the remaining staff. I could also see the size that HADA as an organisation once were, by the amount of space left by losing that contract.

I spent the first day getting to know the staff, HC had only started 3 weeks before me as the gambling worker, KL on reception, ED and CB the adult alcohol workers, GB was a young persons worker, she was about to leave HADA to travel to Israel for 6 months. TDF was HR & Finance manager, she was also going to a new job and announced she would be leaving at Christmas. CC would be starting after Christmas and he will be doing Alcohol Treatment Requirement or ATR. Later KF would join as Young Persons Alcohol Worker

I was able to settle in very quickly and received my first referral on the 1st December. word must have got around that someone was now in post because before schools closed for Christmas they were phoning and asking me to come in and do talks in assemblies and to classes around staying safe over the holidays.

I was thriving and the young persons service was growing quickly and my reputation seemed to grow with it. over the first few months of a new job you begin to notice the cracks, we as a team were very strong but things did not seem right within the management structure. the staff had their fears, why did we have such a large building for such a small team, in fact we leased two buildings and one was stood empty. Why had they just renewed the lease? why was Andrew looking for premises in Bradford and how could we possibly afford this? On top of this Andrew now had to take on the role of HR & Finance as he and the chairman of the management committee told us they would not be appointing anyone to replace TDF.

Andrew was a very proud northerner, the word delegation was never used but the strain was starting to show on his face. How could any human being take on that much work and after loosing such a valuable contract.

We began to see less and less of Andrew, at first he would pop in and be out within an hour leaving KL to do the wages alone.

Because of our fears, we began collecting evidence against Andrew to show the Board that he was neglecting HADA and the staff.

The evidence built up over the next few months, the staff began having regular evening meetings in order to gather information and put it together, ready to present to the management committee. We were determined to save HADA, we knew we had a great staff moral and we were all very passionate about our work and that we worked for a local charity.

In April 2010 Andrew began to call in sick, his phone calls would be left on the answer phone at 9pm, 2am and 7am, was this because he was avoiding having to speak to staff?

By May he was issued an ultimatum by the management committee to produce a sick note, I believe these did eventually arrive.

Our evidence was mounting, we came to the decision that we would copy this large ring binder folder bursting with evidence 7 times, one for each member of the committee. each member was contacted and asked to collect their copy as it was too large to post. these were collected but not with any urgency.

over the last couple of months the staff had many meetings with the chairman to explain our fears, each time we had been re-assured that "when Andrew returns" HADA would be back on track.

at 9am on 16th June 2010 we had another meeting with the chairman, we expected him to tell us what the committee had decided to do about the grievance we had submitted, instead he told us that we would not be getting paid this cumming Friday.

Bombshell!

"What?"

"We have been advised that no money be paid out, at all, including wages"

"By who"

"our financial adviser"

We gathered together as a team, mainly to try and make sense of it but also to decide what we do now. Do we go home? should we still be seeing clients? are we in a fit state to help others to understand their issues when we are consumed with our own.

I decided that I would cancel the three clients I had booked in for that day, others followed. So what do we do now? go home? We were well within our rights to walk out and lock the door behind us but that would be a defeat, we loved this agency, after all we had been running it since April. We stayed, not knowing if or when we would get paid.

The following day we came back into work, still trying to find reason, I was more angry today than yesterday. We sat in Reception and shared stories of how our other half's took the news, it was very clear that we all had supportive partners. My wife had been very understanding, even when I told her I will still be making the 50+ round trip to Harrogate from Bedale, to a job which could not pay me but also to a place where people came for help and to a bunch of friends who also needed support like I needed their support.

Over the next 7 days we came up with all kinds of conspiracy theories. the most sensible one was, maybe HADA could not pay the HMRC, in which case they could not possibly pay us as that would break all kinds of tax laws. Maybe HADA was going bust, but then why would they not pay us? the next meeting was arranged for June 23rd at 9am, we would no doubt find out then.

I remember saying that I would refuse to sit down until they told us it was good news, because if it was bad news I would be going, I could not take another week like this.

Wednesday 23rd June 2010. As I walked in the meeting room of 47 East Parade, I began to shake, I'm not saying this for dramatic effect, I was scared, my heart was racing I had to sit down.

it began,

"Thank you all for the last week"

"the management committee met last night, and it is with regret that we have informed BWC to take HADA into voluntary liquidation"

A stunning silence around the room, I could see eyes filling with water, all our efforts, the grievance, the time put into it with the vision that 'we' could save HADA. it was all too late.

A faceless man in a suit dished out information and answered questions.

We would be paid only half of our monthly wage, the other half we must claim through the insolvency.

Andrew is redundant with immediate effect, at which point HC gave a round of applause. the faceless man went on to say, this was because he was of no use to HADA now but HADA needed the staff to assist with closing the agency down over the next 7 days. We did have the option to walk out there and then, but again we stayed.

I contacted my clients to let them know, but I did say that as soon as a service is up and running again I would be in touch if it was still me.

We spent the next 7 days packing, speaking to those who commissioned our services, I looked set to be one of the lucky ones, My commissioner was already on the case to find another provider and assured me that I was very much a part of the contract she was offering for tender.

I was determined that another provider be found ASAP. I contacted people I knew from previous employments to let them know that this service and others would be looking for providers.

It was said that the PCT would most likely take on the adult alcohol service and that the young persons service would follow them.

Tuesday 29th June. PCT bosses came and spoke to CB and ED but no one else. I contacted my commissioner to ask what was happening. I was to go to TRAX (Connections) and be based there as of Thursday.

On Wednesday 30th June I was told that the PCT had not got in touch so my commissioner had gone to CODA (Craven Organisation for Drug & Alcohol).

At about 16:30 the faceless man locked the door behind us, we spent the evening at KL home having a BBQ and remembering the fun times and listen to those who had been at HADA for years tell stories of past staff.

I am now employed by CODA who are all great and share my passion for the work I do, I'm based at TRAX in Harrogate, again the people are very friendly and nice, but I don't laugh as much as we did at HADA, those around me now are colleagues but not friends, I miss that so much.

As for the others, ED and CB are currently based at the hospital. Their service will go out to tender in March 2011, maybe we'll end up back together? CC got one days work with the ATR through the probation service, HC has gone self employed in a bid to win the gambling contract herself, there might be the possibility of some work for KL.

KF started maternity leave early, and I wish her all the best of luck with her new family.

As for Andrew? I really don't know, I have not seen him since April. I hope he finds peace and success but that it is far away from any service which hopes to help others. and that he does not have control over their budgets or financial affairs. I sometimes wonder if the child support agency ever found him? they phoned HADA enough times.

Take care

Mike

Here we go!

This is my first blog......so far so good.
A blog is something I have thought about doing in the past, today I fell into it by default.

My name as it says at the top, is Mike, a 28 year old man working in Harrogate, I support people under the age of 18, who have become involved in drugs.

that last word in the context I have written it in may have triggered some kind of emotional response with in you and possibly without you knowing. when I tell people what I do for a living, I occasionally get some hostility, especially when I worked with adults. comments like "why do you want to help those people? don't they get enough?" "smack heads" "Scumbags"

Your absolutely right to ask that question and here's my answer..........

Those people, are exactly that......People, Human Beings.
I will never accept, defend or try to justify the crimes some people commit........Never.
Picture a drug user in your head....what do you see?
I bet you see a man and not a woman! am I right?
ok this man is stood infront of you, how old is he?
late 20's early 30's right again?
ok, so there is a 31 year old man infront of you, what is the first queation you would ask him and why?
I would ask him where he came from? people are not popped out as 31 year old drug users. the person before you began as a baby, just like you. but what happened to them why did they choose a different path to you? I do what I do because I want to know why this person went wrong and where it happened.

I have met some very interesting people, people with more intelligence than me (not hard to achieve) others with fantastic abilities.
The drug is nothing more than a coping mechanism, have you ever been stuck in a rut with no motivation, then someone (parent/boss/friend) gives you a huge kick up the backside?
imagine not having anyone to give you that kick?

To say they all come from poor backgrounds is very wrong, but one that the media enjoy pushing on people.
To say they all steal and would hurt old people is also wrong.

Look at the worst criminals in recent history, Ian Huntley, not a drug user, Ian Brady, not an addict. the world is full of bad people not all of them are addicts.
I believe for every bad person there are two very good people and one person who wants to be bad but has reasons not to be.

Drugs are illegal but i will blog/rant about this later. a whole other argument.

I guess what I want the world to understand is, people are not born bad, this leads me to believe that people are not bad, but some times we do bad things. in the case of 'drugs' a bad decision can lead to a lifetime of bad choices.

Take care
mike