A “recovery flat” has opened at the University of Birmingham, where students with different addictions live together to help them complete their studies.
It’s part of a program developed at the university to try to help students stay addiction-free.
The Vale is a huge student village close to the campus in Edgbaston.
It is home to thousands of students, and a six-room unit has been set up in one of the large apartment blocks.
Yusuf, a mature student who has been eight years in recovery, is the peer manager. He describes the role as a bit like a big brother to the others, but he also has to enforce the rules of the flat share.
That means no drink and no drugs. This type of accommodation is common in American colleges but is said to be the first in the UK.
The Birmingham recreation flat is for men only and it is hoped that a second flat will be made available for female students next academic year.
Though you might expect it to be tucked away in an obscure corner of campus, it’s in the heart of an area where student parties are common. The idea is that the students can still experience university life and withdraw at the same time.
After dealing with his own drug problems, Yusuf returned to full-time study and participates in the Better Than Well project, which currently has about 50 students.
“This is a safe place, a safe apartment that is dry, obviously there is no drinking or partying here. It’s a stable and supportive environment for students accessing BTW,” he said.
The man whose idea it is is Dr. Ed Day, a consulting psychiatrist, the university’s clinical instructor in addiction psychiatry and the government’s National Recovery Champion.
“When you see the results, you see the students you’ve kept in their degree, you’ve helped them not just drop out, you’ve helped them succeed and graduate and get their qualifications, that is very likely we changed the course of their entire lives,” he explained.
Better Than Well was set up with support from the University and financial support from a benefactor, but that funding will expire at the end of this year so discussions are taking place to try and secure the future of the programme.
One of the main problems students face with addiction is admitting it. That’s because of the stigma attached and the fear that if they go public, especially with a drug problem, they will be forced to go.
UK universities have a zero-tolerance policy on drugs, but the policy will be reviewed by a task force due to report in the spring or summer.
dr Day says he would statistically expect about 1,800 students at the University of Birmingham to have some type of addiction.
He is pleased that within a short period of time around 50 have agreed to participate in his program, but knows that many more could be reached if they are willing to seek help.
About a third of the program has drug problems, he says, a third have problems caused by alcohol, and another third have behavioral addictions like gambling.
Some also have problems caused by more than one.
Luke Trainor, the program manager, was a mature student at the university when Better Than Well began.
His heroin addiction had resulted in him losing everything, including his family and home.
Now clean, he has rebuilt his life and family relationships, including with his sister; Labor MP for Birmingham Yardley Jess Phillips.
He helps the students as a mentor and hosts events held by the group each week. He says the people who have supported them “have been able to graduate, they have been able to get into the careers they really wanted, and they have solid social structures around them.”
Two graduates who took part in the program last year were particularly successful.
One made it into the prestigious public service fast-track program, another was accepted into an acting school in Los Angeles after about to drop out of university.
Two other universities, both in the North East of England, have also started similar addiction recovery programmes.
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