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The BBC drama 'Rehab'
is based, in part, on the Ley Community, Oxfordshire's only residential
drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre. It is a powerful drama
that makes uncomfortable, and at times disturbing, viewing. Most
of the incidents that occur in the drama could have happened at
the Ley Community, though not within the two hours covered by the
film! Viewers must remind themselves that this is a drama: every
day life at the Ley Community is surprisingly calm and placid.
Rhona Munro, who wrote the screenplay, spent time
at the Ley Community as a resident whilst researching the film. Subsequently,
the actors met with a number of staff and residents to gain a fuller
understanding of life inside a drug rehabilitation centre. Two ex-Ley
Community residents Spencer Hudson and Paul McCabe,
acted as consultants for the film.
The acting is electrifying. The characters in the
drama are completely believable, and the 'flashbacks' to past experiences
ring true. The underlying theme throughout the drama is the dreadfully
low esteem of the residents that has been reinforced during their
lives, particularly when young, by events frequently outside their
control. Central to their treatment is the forming of relationships
with each other based on trust, openness and honesty. Hence the fury
of those left behind when four residents steal the Community van
and set off on a path to self-destruction.
'Rehab' is not the Ley Community. Certain incidents
that take place in the film would never happen at the Ley Community.
However, it does convey the intense nature of living within a therapeutic
community, the strength of relationships formed, and the painful  issues that residents work through during treatment. For many residents,
prison really is the 'soft option'. Being confronted by their 'demons'
can be a much more painful and difficult challenge than taking time
out within the monotonous prison regime that many have previously
done on numerous occasions in the past.
The drama does not attempt to provide any answers,
and leaves the viewer uncertain as to how the residents in the film
will end up. The Ley Community is much larger than the residential
community in 'Rehab' with up to 60 residents in treatment at any
one time. During 2002, nearly half the residents leaving the programme
did so on successfully completing it. The average length of stay
for all residents leaving the Ley Community during the year was just
under 10 months, and that includes those few residents who left after
only a few days.
The final stage of the Ley Community programme
involves a three-month period when residents are in full-time employment,
obtained in the open Oxford job market, during which period these
senior residents work on a rota alongside staff during the evenings
and at week-ends, and attend two therapy groups a week. All residents
leave the programme in full-time employment, and continue to receive
support from the Ley Community Resettlement Team after they have
moved on.
The Ley Community is extremely proud of the significant
number of ex-residents who have been enabled to go on and make a
new life for themselves, free from addiction. Ex-residents are now
working in a range of jobs and professions, whilst a significant
number are now employed working for voluntary agencies in Oxford
English Churches Housing Group, SMART, the Salvation Army - using
their own experience of recovery to help others in need. |
