CADAS named social enterprise of year

Leigh Williams CADAS CEO receives the Social Enterprise Award.

A Cumbrian charity has been given an award for its work.

Cumbria Addictions: Advice and Solutions, known as CADAS, supports people with addiction and was named Social Enterprise of the Year at the Cumbria Social Enterprise Awards.

It won the accolade for the growth it has made over the last few years – nearly doubling turnover since 2017 – with some of this activity down to its entrepreneurial work supporting businesses under the brand CADAS At Work, which offers businesses advice and expertise around addiction.

Services include training and policy management, alongside supporting colleagues who may be struggling with a dependency. Sales from CADAS At Work help ensure the core charity can continue to offer free support to Cumbrian communities and individuals.

Leigh Williams, CEO of CADAS, said: “It’s an amazing achievement to be picked as the winner from such a strong shortlist of other amazing social enterprises.

“We are delighted that the work we are doing to support local businesses manage substance use in the workplace is more recognised as its impact on employee wellbeing and employer’s financial bottom lines make a huge difference to our local communities.

“This is a brilliant recognition of how far CADAS has come in the last couple of years with our CADAS At Work service and the general support we provide to the Cumbrian community on issues relating to addiction – in particular drugs, alcohol and gambling.

“This year, we have consulted and improved a large manufacturing organisation’s policies and procedures, we’ve delivered training to frontline staff and apprentices and helped raise awareness of the drugs and alcohol in the workplace.

“We are also highlighting the importance of drug and alcohol testing at work – especially in safety critical roles – as we train people how to keep themselves safe and their colleagues.”

CADAS At Work delivered over 230 one-to-one support sessions within a large organisation in Cumbria over the past year and next year is planning to launch an additional element to this service – Change.

Leigh added: “Whilst CADAS At Work sees the employer cover the cost of support for an employee, we recognise that some organisations can’t afford this or are already playing for wellbeing support which doesn’t include much alcohol and drug support.

“We also recognise some people want to pay for this service themselves, which is what Change enables people to do, making it easier for employees who are struggling with an addiction and are at risk of jeopardising their employment, to access bespoke support.”