Waythrough launches 10-year strategy to save one million lives and enhance one million more
Read about our bold 10-year programme of change to redesign models of support and care around people's real lives.
One of the UK’s largest charities has today unveiled ‘The Way Ahead’, an ambitious programme of change with the goal of “saving a million lives and enhancing a million more” by breaking down the barriers that prevent people from accessing the support they need.
Waythrough will invest at least £10m in new ways of working to connect and improve services for people with drug and alcohol and mental health issues.
The national charity supports more than 130,000 people each year across 260 services in England. Its new strategy commits to transforming how support is designed, delivered and connected for people experiencing mental ill health, substance use issues and related challenges – and changing the system where it doesn’t work.
At its heart is a commitment to tackle fragmentation across health, care and community systems, so people can access joined-up support rather than being passed between disconnected services. It will test new approaches, working in places alongside people with lived experience, commissioners and community partners to redesign new models of support and care around people’s real lives.
Waythrough is also asking other mental health and drug and alcohol support providers to join its mission and support grassroots organisations, communities and people to develop new models of support.
Paul Townsley, Chief Executive Officer at Waythrough, said: “The people we serve believe we can do more to break down the barriers they experience when they need us most, and so do I. During the 30 years I have worked in this sector across our diverse communities, I have seen the significant issues people face getting the quality, wraparound services they deserve for drug, alcohol and mental health issues. The time for action is now – people’s lives should not be at risk because of system failures.
“We’re under no illusion about what’s required to achieve our goal of saving a million lives and enhancing a million more. But we believe we have the collective political will and community support to achieve generational change. We want to develop new service models with our partners, commissioners and the people we support. To do this, Waythrough will provide sustained investment to make those connected pathways a reality by 2036.
“Fragmentation of support is not inevitable and can be corrected. I’m incredibly proud to be leading Waythrough into the next decade as we transform our services to build a system of seamless support around the people who need it.”
‘The Way Ahead’ was informed by the voices of people supported by Waythrough, including members of its Life Experience Council, who set the strategic questions for the strategy to respond to.
Jay Lyon, a member of Waythrough’s Life Experience Council, said: “I’ve been working with the Life Experience Council for two years, and it’s great to see our voices coming through in the strategy. When meeting with the leadership team, you wouldn’t know who is on the council and who the CEO is. It is an equal platform and everyone had an appetite for change. The most important thing for me was about creating equal access to joined-up services.
“From my own experience, as soon as you get referred to an alcohol service, the mental health service will say, ‘that’s it – we’ll speak to you when you’re six months sober’. But mental health is so important and a massive part of why people use drugs and alcohol – to manage difficult feelings and thoughts. I know I’m not an isolated case, so I’m excited to see this as a central theme in ‘The Way Ahead’.”
The strategy comes at a time of record drug-related deaths and increasing waits for mental health support, especially for under 18s.
Many people experience multiple interconnected challenges, including mental ill health, substance use, poverty, housing insecurity, loneliness and social exclusion – and a system not built to meet them as a whole. This creates barriers and poorer outcomes. Data from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) shows that 74% of adults starting substance use treatment said they had a mental health treatment need.
Waythrough is aiming to reach its goal of saving a million lives and enhancing a million more by 2036, with people seeking support no longer hitting dead ends, accessing the right help at the right time, and going on to live a life they value.