BACKGROUND & HISTORY

BAC-IN started in October 2003 as a self-help support group and was founded by Sohan, Gladstone, and Manjit, and is currently being further developed with the help of David Jammeh.

BAC-IN was formed out of a need for African/Caribbean, South Asian and Dual Heritage people in recovery or seeking recovery from drug and alcohol addiction to have their own forum, which would acknowledge & empower their cultural, traditional, religious and spiritual values.

African/Caribbean, South Asian and Dual Heritage people are not accessing resources or completing therapy, The reasons commonly expressed are the absence of cultural empathy; issues with trust; under representation of culturally appropriate help and the lack of awareness of other available services to address their drug and alcohol problems.

Therefore, the need to form ‘B.A.C-I.N’ was driven by a gap within the existing support services.

The founders of this group have recognised that there is a need for African/Caribbean, South Asian and Dual Heritage people in recovery to have cultural identification, empathic understanding and to share their common cultural concerns and experiences.

In September 2004 BAC-IN project started work in the county of Nottinghamshire for the African/Caribbean and South Asian communities as well as providing support for serving prisoners and also offering after-care in the community.