Free NHS drug and alcohol treatment, specialist help for young people and families, recovery support and private residential rehab options for people in Islington.
If you are looking for help with drinking or drug use in Islington — for yourself or someone close to you — there is more than one place to begin. Better Lives provides free adult treatment in the borough, young people have a separate specialist service, and there is additional support for families, people sleeping rough, people in recovery and some groups whose circumstances need a more tailored route.
Residential treatment provides a different setting where someone needs more structure, closer medical support or time away from the routines and environment connected with their alcohol or drug use. Abbington House provides private residential treatment at its centre in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. It does not operate a clinic or satellite service in Islington.
This guide explains the local routes first, then where travelling to Abbington House may fit if residential care is being considered.
Better Lives is Islington’s main drug and alcohol service for adults aged 18 and over. It is free and confidential and is delivered by North London NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with Waythrough.
People can refer themselves. Better Lives also accepts referrals from family members, friends and professionals, and Islington Council describes the service as a route for people who want to reduce or stop their alcohol or drug use.
Support can include:
Telephone: 020 3317 6650
Service hours:
Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 9.30am–5pm
Tuesday: 9.30am–7pm
Thursday: 9.30am–1pm and 3.30pm–6pm
Drop-in assessments:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday: 10am–3.30pm
Thursday: 10am–12 noon
Telephone: 020 3317 6099
Service hours:
Monday: 9.30am–8pm
Tuesday to Friday: 9.30am–5pm
Drop-in assessments:
Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 9.30am–3.30pm
Tuesday and Thursday: 1pm–3.30pm
Telephone: 020 3317 7277
Hours: Monday to Friday, 9.30am–5pm.
If the published drop-in times do not work, Better Lives says other arrangements can be made. That is worth asking about rather than assuming treatment is inaccessible because one site or time does not fit.
Young people’s drug and alcohol support is separate from the adult Better Lives pathway. Islington’s specialist service provides free and confidential counselling and substance-use support for people aged 12 to 21.
Support can extend up to age 25 for some young people, including those in local authority care and people with mild learning disabilities or special educational needs. The service is available to young people who live, work or study in Islington, or have an Islington GP.
Support is built around the individual rather than a standard programme. A worker can meet the young person, understand what is happening, develop a plan with them and continue reviewing it as things change. Meetings may take place at the service, school or college, a youth hub or, in some circumstances, at home.
Mobile: 07702 657402
Email: ycsmas@islington.gov.uk
Abbington House is an adult residential service. For someone under 18, Islington’s young people’s service is the appropriate first route rather than Abbington’s admissions team.
Someone else’s drinking or drug use can affect the whole household, including people who are not using anything themselves. Better Lives has a dedicated Family Service for relatives, partners, friends and carers affected by another person’s substance use.
The service can provide emotional, practical and therapeutic support, including help where parental substance use is affecting children. Family members do not have to wait until the person they are worried about is ready for treatment before asking for help themselves.
Telephone: 020 3317 7437
Islington Council also makes clear that someone can ask for advice about a person they are worried about, even before making a treatment referral. Consent is needed before referring another person into treatment.
Better Lives is the main treatment route, but it is not the only local support worth knowing about.
Islington Council lists several ways of staying connected after or alongside treatment. Better Lives runs recovery activities including women’s afternoons, gardening, photography and art-based groups. Eagles Recovery Project is a lived-experience recovery organisation in Islington, while Way Forward provides peer support through online and in-person groups and activities.
Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous and other mutual-aid groups also run across London and can sit alongside formal treatment.
Inroads supports people who are sleeping rough or vulnerably housed. Islington Council describes it as a 12-week service that can help someone prepare for treatment and then connect with ongoing support through Better Lives.
Support When It Matters (SWIM) provides specialist support for adults of Black African, Caribbean or mixed-heritage backgrounds who are in contact with the criminal-justice system and want to reduce or stop their alcohol or drug use.
Telephone: 07463 243146
Islington Council publishes a borough-wide list of pharmacies providing naloxone. Naloxone can temporarily reverse an opioid overdose and is worth having available where heroin or other opioids are being used.
Community treatment works well for many people. Residential rehab provides a different level and setting of support rather than an automatically better form of treatment.
It may be worth considering where:
Publicly funded residential treatment can also be considered through Better Lives. Islington Council explicitly says the service can help residents access residential rehabilitation and inpatient detoxification where assessment shows that this level of care is needed.
Our residential rehab page explains how treatment works at Abbington House, including assessment, detox where clinically appropriate, therapy, family support, daily structure and aftercare planning.
Our alcohol rehab guide explains the main alcohol-treatment routes available in the UK.
Our drug rehab guide explains how treatment can differ by substance, including illicit drugs, prescription medication and mixed substance use.
Abbington House provides CQC-regulated private residential treatment at its centre at 23 Hitchin Road in Stevenage for alcohol addiction, illicit and prescription drug addiction, and co-occurring mental-health difficulties.
Abbington House does not operate a clinic, consultation room or satellite treatment service in Islington. Residential treatment takes place in Stevenage.
For somebody whose alcohol or drug use has become tied to the same places, routines, relationships or easy access around them, treatment outside the borough can create useful distance without taking London completely out of reach.
Treatment brings assessment, medically supervised detox where clinically appropriate, therapy, daily structure, family support and preparation for life after treatment into one residential stay. Suitability and length of stay are assessed individually.
Not every situation requires residential treatment, and not every person is suitable for admission to Abbington House. The first conversation and assessment are used to understand the complete situation rather than force it into a residential pathway.
Islington has a particularly useful rail connection towards Stevenage because Finsbury Park is at the north of the borough and has frequent direct Great Northern and Thameslink services.
The fastest direct trains from Finsbury Park to Stevenage take around 19 minutes, while the average journey is closer to half an hour. The full journey from home will depend on where in Islington it begins — someone travelling from Angel or Clerkenwell still has to reach Finsbury Park or another suitable main-line station first.
King’s Cross, immediately south-west of the borough boundary, provides another direct route to Stevenage and may be the more practical starting point from parts of south Islington.
Train times and stopping patterns change. Check the route for the day of travel rather than treating the fastest advertised rail time as the journey from home.
Driving means travelling north through London before joining the A1 and A1(M). Road times vary sharply with traffic, so rail may be simpler for some people while a family member driving may suit others. The admissions team can help think through arrival arrangements, but the route should be checked before setting out.
Family involvement does not depend on travelling to Stevenage every week. Abbington House provides a structured weekly family group online, allowing partners, parents, siblings and adult children in Islington to take part from home.
In-person contact may also form part of treatment where appropriate and agreed with the treatment team. The direct rail links from Finsbury Park and King’s Cross can make same-day travel practical for some families, but arrangements are planned around the resident’s needs rather than treated as ordinary visiting hours.
You do not need to decide between Better Lives and residential treatment before speaking to somebody.
You can explain what has been happening, what has already been tried, whether withdrawal or prescribed medication may be involved, whether mental-health difficulties are also part of the picture and what support is available at home.
The purpose of the first conversation with Abbington House is to decide whether the centre may be an appropriate option. Where Better Lives, Islington’s young people’s service, a GP, hospital care or another specialist route appears more suitable, the team will say so and, where possible, explain where else to seek help.
If community treatment sounds like the better starting point, contact Better Lives on 020 3317 6099 or use its online self-referral form.
