Trying to stay alive in a town tormented by drugs, alcohol and suicide

Blackpool has the highest rate of deaths linked to alcohol, drug abuse and suicide in England. BBC News met a team of former addicts trying to turn around the lives of people in the town. Paul Earnshaw is about to start a detox course, followed by what could be up to six months of rehab. Sitting on a sofa in the Blackpool offices of the charity Empowerment, Paul is reflecting on where he has ended up.

He says: “I don#39;t want to be picking a can up every single day, walking around the streets” Blackpool is a town plagued by too many preventable fatalities linked to alcohol, drug abuse and suicide. A study of deaths recorded at coroners#39; courts across England suggests 46,200 people lost their lives in this way between 2019 and 2021. In Blackpool the rate is 83. 8 for every 100,000 deaths.

In the UK, the rate of drug-related deaths is 14. 5 per cent. In the U. S.

it is less than 1 per cent, according to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The National Suicide prevention Lifeline can be reached on 1-800-273-8255. Having some hope from someone like me, who hadn#39;t been to college and wasn’t educated - and I knew that they#38;d walked in the steps that I#40;d walk in - they was talking my language. You either went to prison - you got locked up - or you died.

And it#34;s that hope of, #39;“how have you done it? Blackpool has a higher rate of these deaths than anywhere else in England. Being from the north, being white, male and working class, working in a manual job, having a lower level of education are risk factors. Report author Christine Camacho says these factors combine to become more than the sum of their parts.

Empowerment charity works in and around Blackpool. Offers housing, healthcare and support for the homeless. Helps with anti-overdose drug Naloxone, which has saved Steven’s life more than once. The charity also provides clothing and essential toiletries.

Kate - not her real name - is now in her 30s, and started drink and drugs at a very young age. For a while she was in rehab but dropped out and last autumn, she found herself pregnant, homeless and still in the grip of her addiction. Support workers also build relationships of trust with people whose lives have descended into chaos. Kate and Paul were both at risk of becoming statistics, but with the help of the Empowerment team they are beginning the long and difficult road to recovery.

A spokesperson from the Department of Health and Social Care said the government was committed to narrowing the gap in healthy life expectancy by 2030.

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