New chief executive for Bury’s Focus12 rehab charity

The Bury St Edmunds based drug and alcohol rehabilitation charity Focus12 has appointed Lisa Grove as its new chief executive.

Lisa will be taking over from Andy Yacoub who is moving on to become chief executive of Healthwatch Suffolk.

She joins Focus12 from Suffolk County Council where she held various project and change management roles before joining the Fire and Rescue Service in 2008.

Lisa is a passionate supporter of the charity, having been on the board of trustees for the past two years and is also a trustee for the newly established Recovery Hub project in the town.

The West Suffolk Recovery Hub, funded by Public Health Suffolk, will provide volunteer opportunities to individuals in abstinent recovery, providing them with valuable employment skills which can be used to apply for permanent roles.

Lisa says she is looking forward to the challenge and added: “I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead this inspirational organisation as we move forward to the next stage on our journey.

“Focus12 provides an invaluable lifeline to individuals and their families, usually when situations have reached their very worst point and families are in crisis.

“I am extremely proud of our dedicated team of staff, volunteers and trustees and the innovative programme they all work hard to deliver in order to give someone their life back and support the family who are invariably, also affected.

“I have been particularly impressed by the hard work put into ensuring that once abstinence based recovery is achieved, there is ongoing, long term support in the recovery community to sustain this. We are recognised as pioneers in this area.

“In these difficult economic times when funding is challenging, it is more important than ever to protect important services like Focus12, and I look forward to working with stakeholders and the team at Focus12 to ensure we do just that.“

Chair of Trustees of Focus12 Des Smith added: “We are all really pleased to welcome Lisa as our new chief executive – her experience, passion and tenacity will be crucial as we seek to build on the solid foundations laid by both of her predecessors and ensure a sustainable future for Focus12.

“These are challenging times for all charities but we are committed to continuing to evolve to meet the needs of the people we help.”

Further information on Focus 12 is can be found by visiting www.focus12.co.uk or calling 01284 701702.