BACKGROUND VISION & HISTORY OF BAC-IN

Sohan Sahota – founding member of BAC-IN came to Nottingham in 1995 seeking recovery. He was fortunate enough to leave behind a life of decadence, a life of living in the shadows, a dehumanising existence that often leads to a profound deterioration in basic human behaviours, values and standards.

Sohan had seen many of his close friends die tragically through the damage that can result from drug/alcohol abuse and through the associated lifestyles which accompany this soul-less and destructive path.

During 1995 as a result of his addiction Sohan became very ill and was desperate for help. He was admitted into a detox clinic for five weeks and this was followed by seven months of treatment in a rehabilitation centre.

Throughout Sohan’s journey in treatment he encountered difficulties and challenges that profoundly affected his personal well being and rehabilitation needs. The support he received was inadequate and failed to treat the complex psychological, cultural and spiritual problems which had resulted as a consequence of his long history of poly substance misuse. He felt unsupported, alone and isolated during his early years in recovery both in residential care as well as within the mainstream services in the community.

Sohan’s personal struggle and the struggle he witnessed of those he was supporting in recovery became the inspiration and the driving vision which lead to the creation of an alternative service. A service that would acknowledge and support the unmet needs of the African/Caribbean, South Asian and Dual Heritage communities.

Since the mid 1990’s, Sohan had been providing cultural and psychological support for individuals and families. In October 2003, Sohan had brought together all individuals he had been supporting, who had a desire to recover from active addiction and a wish to help each other in a therapeutic self help group setting. Sohan along with Gladstone Hibbert and Manjit Johal would co-facilitate these self help groups and they would also be involved in the ongoing development of what was to become BAC-IN (Black & Asian cultural Identification of Narcotics).

This voluntary self-help support group would provide help for individuals/families with abstinence based recovery from mind altering substances such as alcohol, illicit and prescribed drugs as well as considering their cultural, traditional, religious, social, transpersonal, mystical and spiritual values as important components of their recovery and self transformation.

Individuals from these communities were not accessing mainstream services or completing treatment. The main reasons behind this were the absence of cultural empathy; lack of cultural identification, stigma, shame, confidentiality, issues with trust and the under representation of culturally appropriate help to address their drug/alcohol and related psychological problems.

The vision behind BAC-IN’s ethos and philosophy to self-rehabilitation recognises that the illness of addiction wounds many aspects of the unique person; BAC-IN’s recovery programme is purposefully designed to treat these aspects of the person and to bring him or her to a new life and a new way of being.

As well as treating substance misuse other issues such as internalised racism ostracism, oppression, discrimination, exploitation, prejudice, trauma, anxiety, abuse, depression, feelings of not fitting in, not belonging, issue's with cultural/racial identity, spirituality, shame, cultural displacement, family pressures or other personal disadvantages would also need to be supported in the overall recovery of most individuals.

The active principles of BAC-IN encourage its service users to take responsibility for their own path to sobriety, to self-empowerment and to a commitment towards a meaningful and productive life. Self-honesty, willingness to change, openness to take creative suggestions are also key in developing a solid recovery foundation. The Bac-in programme shows its service users that they can achieve freedom from addiction, a life beyond limitations and become useful members within their communities.

For the past 14 years as a recovering individual Sohan’s life has been committed to helping others from similar backgrounds to achieve sobriety, self-empowerment and more purposeful ways of living.

From background to present

In the present moment BAC-IN has 10 full members of staff and currently working with new initiatives developing specialist training, education and consultancy as well as cultivating joint working partnerships with other organisations in this field.