Introduction
In 2004, Croydon Drug and Alcohol Action Team (Croydon DAAT) established a framework for service user involvement/participation across its adult substance misuse treatment and support system. The aim was to promote greater citizen involvement in the planning and delivery of treatment and support for adults with substance misuse problems, through the creation of a network of service user representatives (SUReps) linked to the different adult substance misuse services, statutory and non-statutory.
SUReps – paid for their time by Croydon DAAT – would facilitate user involvement in service planning and delivery, and would promote a strong user voice within the planning and support network through a variety of means, including a Service User Representation Group (SURG), Service User Council, service user surveys, focus groups, and ongoing participation in local planning mechanisms.
In December 2007, in response to the fact of there being limited peer support and “aftercare” opportunities in the local substance misuse treatment and support system, service users – with the support of the DAAT service user involvement coordinator – decided to establish a Peer Led User Group, known locally as PLUG. PLUG aimed to provide a safe, supportive, peer environment for people with drug and/or alcohol problems, and would also offer of a range of social activities for PLUG members and their families/supporters.
PLUG
Since its first session – attended by 6 people – the group has gone from strength to strength, and over 280 people have attended PLUG meetings since its inception. There are now 20-30 attendees at each weekly meeting, in addition to which there is a monthly social evening for PLUG members and their families.
PLUG has taken out a group gym membership subscription, and PLUG members themselves organise a range of different social and leisure activities and outings. Two Christmas parties have been organised, complete with Santa and raffles.
PLUG is now an integral part of the local treatment and support system, and its activities are included in local guides to support and services. Guest speakers from a wide range of agencies (eg Job Centre Plus, Supporting People Team,
1

Croydon Community Drug Agency) are invited to meetings where appropriate, to publicise new developments or services in the community, and/or invite
PLUG contributions to help shape new initiatives.
PLUG now plays an increasingly active role in providing information and signposting members towards different support services and learning/training opportunities, and a number of people have gone on to participate on NVQ and other courses they might otherwise not have known about.
PLUG members and SUReps have been actively involved in the development and shaping of the local substance misuse personalisation programme, under which personal budgets for community integration are now being piloted, prior to a further personal budgets pilot for people’s whole treatment and recovery journeys, due to commence in summer 2010 under the Department of Health’s national personal health budgets pilot.
PLUG members have attended a wide range of training opportunities to help them in their developing roles, including training provided by Croydon
Voluntary Action on writing bids for funding, and how to facilitate meetings.
Impact on lives
PLUG provides an invaluable support mechanism for those using its services, and its members are enthusiastic about the positive difference PLUG has made to their lives:-
“PLUG has built up my confidence and helped with meeting and talking to people. It has kept me motivated to stay off drugs, and the social club has helped me with my relationship with my son.”
PLUG member
“PLUG came at the right moment, when I was really struggling, and it helped me to stay off alcohol.”
PLUG member
“Staying plugged in has meant my whole life has been recharged!”
PLUG member
PLUG members’ families also value the support PLUG offers, both directly and indirectly:-
“Since my Dad has been going to PLUG he seems a lot happier and has been a lot busier helping other people. It has been boom that he has been able to take
2

me on days out with them ten pin bowling, to the science museum and all that.
We seem to be doing a lot more things with other people that we’ve never done in the past. We’ve even got my brother out of the house to go to the social club and PLUG Christmas party, even though it’s a trot to get him off the xbox. It has helped to get us goin out together as a family.”
PLUG member’s son, aged 13
“PLUG has been of help to me mainly via the social club, where I have met a lot of people in a similar position as myself, whom I did not even know were out there. Those evenings help to break the pattern of feeling alone and the only person in my situation. I have made friends of PLUG members and even babysat for a member. Through my sister-in-law and Stepping Up (an education, training and employment provider) I have nearly completed an NVQ level 2 in child care and am looking at the possibility of going on to do the level
3, something I may not have even considered had it not been for PLUG. PLUG has also helped the family unit by helping my husband remain abstinent and focused with his involvement in PLUG/PLUS and as a SURep.”
Attender of PLUG social club, and wife of PLUG member
PLUG as a community interest company
Despite the evident value of PLUG contributions to local community life, PLUG members became increasingly aware of limitations arising from the fact of it not being a legal entity. For despite modest funding from the Croydon DAAT, not having organisational or company status meant it was unable to apply for other funds from potentially significant sources of revenue, such as the Big Lottery
Fund, or local grant-giving mechanisms. This was frustrating for PLUG members who wanted the group’s role to develop further into areas such as helping peers to prepare for and obtain paid or unpaid employment.
In early 2009, PLUG members began to explore options with the aim of establishing PLUG as a community interest company. With some support and advice from Croydon Voluntary Action (CVA), a successful application was made to Companies House, and a community interest company was established in September 2009 in the name of the Peer Led User Service, with the following aims and objectives:-
 to act as a peer support group to people with substance misuse problems
 to provide mentor training to its members, to enable them to become positive role models for their communities
 to support the development of positive parenting skills, through the provision of appropriate learning opportunities
3

 to provide an outreach service in the local community with a particular emphasis on helping homeless people and others at risk of social exclusion to get their lives back on track
 to provide a peer escort service to help ensure people attend their probation and Court appointments
 to provide a range of training and development opportunities relating to future employment, counselling, advocacy and facilitation, to equip members with the skills needed to enter mainstream employment and deliver a range of other benefits to the local community and the PLUG network.
Three PLUG members are now directors of the Peer Led User Service, and the company now has its own management committee, bank account and website.
All these developments have come about through individuals giving generously of their time and commitment on a purely voluntary basis, and as a result of the vision, motivation and tenacity of PLUG members.
In addition to the direct benefits arising for PLUG members and their families from the growing range of practical and emotional support services provided or signposted by PLUG, the benefits for PLUG members of helping to develop
PLUG and the community interest company have been considerable, and include:-
 increased sense of empowerment, choice and control, by taking full responsibility for shaping PLUG’s developing role and the future vision for the community interest company
 improved self-esteem and confidence from taking on new responsibilities, and finding practical solutions to obstacles and barriers to success
 improved self-esteem and confidence, as a result of being entrusted by others to handle money and make all the practical arrangements needed to keep PLUG and the community interest company running smoothly
 increased personal and collective satisfaction and fulfilment, from seeing the growing benefits PLUG delivers to its members, their families, and the local community
 improved skills and knowledge in organisational and related (eg website) development.
Challenges
In terms of specific obstacles and barriers to success, the most significant challenge for its most active members in developing PLUG and the community interest company has been the very steep nature of the learning curve, particularly for certain aspects of the development process, and the amount of
4

time needing to be invested in the work. For although the process of becoming a community interest company was not seen in itself as particularly onerous, the volume of work involved in the broader set-up and day-to-day running of PLUG and the community interest company has been high, and has relied almost entirely on the goodwill and voluntary inputs of PLUG members. One small example is the website development and maintenance process, which has relied almost exclusively on the skills of one PLUG member, and his willingness to remain engaged with this aspect of the work over time.
The most major challenge for the future is that of securing sufficient funds to enable the ongoing running and development of the organisation, and the achievement of its full range of aims and objectives. One PLUG member involved heavily in this aspect of the work has found it difficult to identify suitable funding streams, given that many come with very specific “labels” or
“tags”, narrowing their possible use, and limiting the number of applications that can be made. The same commentator has observed that opportunities to bid for funding often come at very short notice and with tight deadlines, sometimes at moments when the group lacks the human resource/capacity to complete the bids on time, or does not have immediate or timely access to expert advice needed to maximise the robustness of each application and promote the likelihood of success. Funding systems are seen as sometimes being too bureaucratic and inflexible, and not well-suited or particularly accessible to small, developing organisations such as PLUG.
Commissioning and service development
PLUG’s members are extensively involved in local commissioning and service development activities, some examples of which include involvement in:-
 recruiting the DAAT service involvement coordinator
 selecting providers for a local commissioning framework/“preferred provider” list
 designing and implementing an annual service user consultation via questionnaires
 helping to re-shape the structure and content of a local third sector structured day programme
 helping to shape the direction and content of the local substance misuse personalisation programme
 helping to shape the content of service specifications for DAAT tenders, and helping to select providers in competitive procurement processes
 contributing to local needs assessments in a variety of ways
 helping to shape the delivery of a low threshold prescribing service in a local third sector agency.
5

Co-production
PLUG makes a very positive and significant contribution to genuine coproduction between citizens, commissioners and service providers in Croydon’s substance misuse treatment and support system, and it is hoped that PLUG members will participate as citizen treatment mentors in the planned personal budgets pilot for people’s whole treatment and recovery journeys due to start in summer 2010.
There is much high praise for PLUG and its achievements from commissioners and service managers from the local treatment and support system:-
“PLUG has added significant value to Croydon’s treatment and support system, as it offers something different. PLUG has worked with commissioners in giving views about treatment and services from the user perspective, which has been very helpful indeed.”
Commissioner, Croydon Drug and Alcohol Action Team (Croydon DAAT)
“A safe and friendly space that is independent from mainstream treatment provision, where service users support one another, enjoy activities and social events. A valued and important support network within the borough.”
Service manager, Croydon Community Drug Agency
“Since its inception, PLUG has worked very constructively with services to help, encourage and advocate for service users. It has provided an invaluable route from being a passive recipient of services through to empowerment and involvement with the wider community. The presence of service user representatives in our activities has been a great help in developing and delivering high quality services, and the gym scheme run by PLUG has been particularly popular and very effective in engaging new members.”
Borough lead for addictions, Croydon
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
In terms of advice to others thinking of going down a similar route, one of the directors of the community interest company has pointed out the vital importance of having strong backing and support from local commissioners.
But his summary advice is very simple and clear. “Just try it, and keep plugging away.”
April 2010
6

7