About

What is OSHI?

The OSHI Project is an innovative initiative that provides immediate help to those who ask for it. It is peer led and driven by personal experience. It creates connections between those who Want Help and those are in a position to Give Help. Furthermore, OSHI exists as a holistic recovery community and provides every opportunity for anyone to start to enjoy life and begin to heal, body, mind and soul through immersion in an on-going programme of recovery and personal healing.

What is the problem?

Our society is under immense pressure amidst an ever increasing wave of alcohol/drug related illness and death which is stretching the NHS as well as traditional alcohol and drug services to their limit. Neither the NHS nor traditional services are capable of tackling this increasingly alarming health crisis alone and traditional methods are failing to stem the increase in liver disease/illness/death.

The problem has been exasperated due to Covid-19 pandemic/subsequent lockdowns which have created an entirely new cadre of alcohol/drug dependent service users as well as re-introduced many patients who had previously managed to find a way back to healthy living, now actively drinking/abusing substances again to cope with lockdown/covid. It is estimated that 10% of all NHS Patients are currently alcohol dependant with nearly 40% of all paramedic/ambulance time being used on alcohol related incidents/call outs.

What can we do ?

There is no unified approach/integrated healthcare solution to this problem and the existing pathway was failing to meet the challenge pre-covid and is now at a critical stage. Existing pathways produce very low chances of success at great expense to the NHS and tax payer alike while an already desperate situation grows worse.

There is a clear un-met need to create a new dynamic/flexible system that connects desperately sick patients with immediate one to one support and community integration/social intervention leading to a holistic recovery model, which is exactly what OSHI has been providing over the past 12 months.

OSHI is set up in
3 key stages.

Stage 1

Stage 1 ensures there are relevant recovery coaches/mentors ready, willing and able to offer support and provide immediate same day support (wherever that may be, including those still receiving treatment in hospital). The coach will then provide on-going support 24 hours a day from that point on and being there to listen, talk and share their personal experiences of how they have found personal recovery.

Stage 2

The coach will guide their mentee/the person they are supporting on their personal recovery journey, be it attending mutual aid meetings, online help groups, volunteering or taking part in an array of holistic activities that will stimulate mind, body and soul.

Stage 3

At this point; OSHI will not discharge its friends and will instead encourage them to give back to the community, even if that means just being available to help out in a one of the community chat rooms (whatsapp) as well asking them to provide genuine feed-back so that the OSHI team can develop a deeper understanding of what challenges are facing people and then learn how we can better serve the community's needs going forward.

Mission Statement:

“The OSHI Project is an innovative initiative that provides immediate help to those who ask for it. It is peer led and driven by personal experience. It creates connections between those who Want Help and those are in a position to Give Help. Furthermore, OSHI exists as a holistic recovery
community and provides every opportunity for anyone to start to enjoy life and begin to heal, body, mind
and soul through immersion in an on-going programme of recovery and personal healing.

Developing strong community links whereby each mentor will personally guide their client based upon their individual strengths. Offering holistic support and regular contact. Empowering each client along the way, enabling them to grow and become part of the organisation and give back to others.

Changing the face of our social issues, and turning a corner in using powerful influence to concentrate on solutions and recovery focus. Positive marketing through Faces of recovery. Working towards a completely different way of working with clients and allowing them to grow and live life in recovery.

To be a conduit for a proven way to succeed in recovery through regular one to one engagement and community integration – changing approach to living life well.– to monitor, review, evaluate to adapt to continuously meet the needs of the service users “.