Year end round-up

The production team discusses how we first came up with the idea for the programme and how we would like to develop it in the future.

The high points have been those times when a new area of research has been pinpointed - such as the awareness of same-sex relationships amongst people entering retirement homes and what provisions are made for them - or to what extent staff may be aware of  the family lives of residents.

We include clips from a selection of broadcasts from this year - ending with several very heartening sound bites from survivors of domestic abuse.
As well as a few appropriate songs, we include the two songs sung live by Simma in the November edition of No Excuse. Simma plays regularly in various venues around Newcastle and Gateshead - to see what he's up to go to http://www.simmaworld.com/

Amongst the subjects we plan to cover in 2012 are Teenage Runaways, Homelessness, Eating Disorders, Safe Sex and Online Gambling.

PODCAST

No Excuse for Alcohol Abuse

For the November edition of No Excuse the 'experts' were three former heavy drinkers and the partner of a man whose drinking had led to his premature death. We heard an interview with NECA - the North East Council on Addictions outlining the services they provide.

Each drinker had had a different reason for drinking - whether it was escaping difficult experiences, or simply enjoying the drink and its effects more than was good for them.In each case they had faced pivotal moments when they realized the seriousness of their drinking problems - either the effect it was having on family, or on their own physical health. All three have remained sober for differing lengths of time from one year to 15 years - and all intend to remain that way.

One of our guests was Simma, a local singer/songwriter who makes no secret of the fact that he used to be a heavy drinker until his doctor pointed out that his liver was in a terrible state. He gave us two live songs during the programme.

Here we list a variety of places in the area which offer help to problem drinkers:

Obviously - your first port of call should be your GP - the NHS has a huge amount of experience in working with problem drinkers. The rate of alcoholism at present is so high that there are not enough donor organs available for people needing a liver transplant.

NECA  http://www.neca.co.uk/
 Derwent Point, Clasper Way, Swalwell, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE16 3BE
 info@neca.co.uk   tel: 0191 414 6446

The Cyrenians, Oaktrees, 1a Walker Terrace, Gateshead NE8 1EB
Telephone: 0191 477 2205

Tyneside Residential Service, Phoenix Futures, Westoe Drive, South Shields NE33 3EW
Telephone: 0191 425 5548

Help for carers of problem drinkers:

Gateshead Family Support
11 Regent Terrace, Gateshead, NE8 1LU

NECA / Jigsaw, Cookson House, Suite 19, River Drive, South Shields, NE33 1TL
southtyne@necca.co.uk   tel: 0191 456 9999

CASA, Jackson House, Suite 207, Jackson Street, Gateshead NE8 1ED
casa@talktalkbusiness.net   tel: 0191 447 6488

PODCAST