Our Medway hub, also known as RIVER (Responsive, Inspirational, Visible, Empowering and Recovery-Oriented), is delivered alongside our partners Open Road and helps people that have issues with drugs and/or alcohol and want to make a positive change to their life.
We also support the family, friends and significant others of people who are worried about their loved one's substance use.
Alongside running our main hub in Gillingham, we also offer daily provision in Chatham and satellite services in Rochester.
Our support is tailored to each person’s needs, so it will look slightly different for everyone. When people first get in touch, we’ll do an assessment with them to understand their needs so we can devise the most appropriate support for them.
We offer a range of interventions, including:
One-to-one support.
A ‘Community Rehabilitation Day Programme’ for people who want structured support to become abstinent whilst living in their community.
Group programmes.
Harm minimisation, including health checks, testing for blood-borne viruses, and provision of naloxone.
Needle exchange service.
Medication assisted treatment.
Referrals to rehab centres and detox provision.
A recovery service provided by our partners Open Road.
Peer support.
Family support.
Referrals to other services.
Our services are for people who:
Are aged 18+.
Live in the Medway area.
Have issues with drugs and/or alcohol or are impacted by the drug/alcohol use of a loved one.
If you are worried about your own drug and/or alcohol use, please complete our self-referral form.
If you are a health professional or practitioner and concerned about someone else’s drug and/or alcohol use, please complete our professional referral form.
If you work in the criminal justice system and are concerned about someone else’s drug and/or alcohol use, please complete the criminal justice referral form.
If you have any questions about the referral form or process, please get in touch using the details below.
If you’d like to learn more about our Medway service, please email medway@forwardtrust.org.uk or call us on 0300 123 1560 during opening hours.
Our current opening hours are as follows:
Mondays: 10am – 12:30pm and 5pm – 8pm.
Tuesdays: 10am – 5pm.
Wednesdays: 10am – 5pm.
Thursdays: 10am – 8pm.
Fridays: 10am – 5pm.
Saturdays: Closed.
Sundays: Closed.
Please note that we are closed every day from 1pm - 2pm for lunch.
These opening hours are subject to change – do get in touch if you have any questions and check online before visiting.
During our opening hours, you can find us at: 4 Kingsley House, 37-39 Balmoral Road, Gillingham, ME7 4NT.
