Introducing the training team in Essex
Meet Ren and Jo, who are here to explain their roles in delivering training to the drug and alcohol workforce in Essex
Introducing Ren
“Hello everyone.
For those of you that I have not yet met, I wanted to officially introduce myself and update you on the training that I have been delivering across Essex. Its great to be here and to be working with Essex Recovery Foundation in supporting the workforce and wider partners. Jo and I felt it would be good to outline and define both of our roles in more detail so you understand what areas of work we cover… we both have “training” in our job titles, which can get confusing!
I am employed by EPUT and my training remit goes way beyond the usual service boundaries. Put simply, I offer FREE training to any professional who encounters people who use alcohol or other drugs in the course of their work.
This includes workers employed by Essex County Council, Essex Police, Social Care, HM Prisons, Probation, NHS Trusts, Registered Charities, teachers, housing officers, doctors, nurses, police officers – the list goes on!
I am currently offering a range of drug and alcohol training sessions across the county, both online and face-to-face.
Due to the stigmatised nature of alcohol and drug use, many professionals feel de-skilled and sometimes not up to speed with the facts about the drugs they are encountering. That’s why the courses I run go into depth about different drugs and the latest developments in drug use and drug culture. There are general Drug Awareness sessions, sessions on Alcohol, Cannabis, Heroin and Nitazenes and a number of other topics. If you need information or training about the drugs themselves – please do get in touch!
It’s important to note that my remit does not extend to focussing on internal issues which are best resolved through structural changes or line management.
Neither do I lead on Workforce Development, issues relating to the treatment system and structures and inter-agency working – that’s Jo!
So, over to you Jo, to explain your role…
Introducing Jo
Hi everyone,
I want to firstly take this opportunity to thank Ren for all the amazing work he is doing across Essex - his webinars have already reached around 800 people, which is incredible and testament to the informative and engaging sessions he is delivering. We are very grateful to have Ren as part of the training offer in Essex and excited that he will be working with our team of volunteers to include the voices and stories of people with lived experience as part of his face-to-face training offer.
So, what about my role and workforce development?
I have taken an approach which has started with listening to the workforce in order to fully understand what your training and development needs are and also understand how we can best support you in the work you do.
I set up the Workforce Development Group to provide a space for the workforce to:
- voice the many challenges faced in the work you do
- share thoughts and ideas
-actively help shape what ‘workforce development and training’ should look like in Essex
An essential part of my role is to create time and space for you to reflect, learn and come together as one team, so we can work creatively on solving system-wide issues together. This will involve a whole range of offers: training and development opportunities, focus/support groups, project/service development and wellbeing initiatives to name a few!
Our aim is to make the Essex treatment system the best place to work in recovery. We are committed to building a true recovery culture across the treatment system… and, by that, I mean one that is connected, compassionate, honest and brave in its approach to development.
I hope that gives you a flavour of our work, but the best way to fully understand what we are doing is to get involved and come and experience being part of the recovery community - either by joining us at our recovery spaces, walk and talks, or coming along to the workforce development group.
Keep an eye out for workshops, training and wellbeing offers too. They are all there for YOU, because the work you do is so valuable.