A unique addiction recovery unit in Ayrshire is seeking permission to expand its offering - so it can help more people who turn to them.
River Garden Auchincruive utilises communal support and hands-on work to transform the lives of those crippled by addiction.
And now they hope to help even more people in the grip of addiction by adding three new shared residential accommodation units.
The centre, which has current capacity for 56 men and women, is very closely modelled on rehab communities in Italy and the long established Basta community in Sweden, where River Garden operations manager, Mikael Heddelin, spent five years of his life overcoming his own drug addiction.
Now Mr Heddelin is behind proposals to expand River Garden and his application is listed as ‘pending consideration’ on the South Ayrshire Council online planning portal.
River Garden Auchincruive is a three-year residential programme which swaps traditional rehabilitation therapy for communal support and hands-on work, including horticulture, woodwork and cooking.
River Garden’s social enterprise café and their open-gates policy also allow residents to interact with the general public and heal broken family relationships via frequent visits.
An extract from their design statement said: “As we now look to scale up and grow we require both capital and revenue funding support to realise the potential of the Auchincruive site, as a place where residents can benefit from a sustainable recovery programme and harness their talents and creativity to develop great social enterprises.
“River Garden is a wonderful community asset and the proposed developments will be transformational in the lives of our residents and in the regeneration of this wonderful site.”
The statement also goes on to say: “The building plans provide sleeping accommodation for residents together with shower and bathing facilities and a laundry within each building.
“The bedrooms are predominately double which is part of the recovery model of peer support and ensuring residents are not alone within the first 1-2 years of their recovery.
“The building configuration forms a courtyard which is separate from the public areas of the site and ensures a safe, serene and secure space for residents to relax in.”
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