The opening of a high care hostel for problem drinkers

This paper gives a personal and practice based account by one of the Team Leaders of the opening of a high-care hostel for problem drinkers in North London. The hostel, Rugby House, was set up to provide detoxification and assessment facilities for thirteen residents. It was part of the Rugby House Project, an alcohol agency in the voluntary sector. The paper explores the processes involved in setting up a new project; how the new paid employees turn a committee's vision into practice; how a group of individuals become a team; the importance of clarity about boundaries and underlying values and assumptions; the need for openness about negative as well as positive feelings; and the recognition that some of the experiences of staff will resonate with those of the residents for whom giving up drinking is a major life change.