SMART staff celebrate Diwali

A great spread of vegetarian food

SMART celebrate the festival of light with friends

Thursday 4th November 2010

On Thursday 4^th November 2010, SMART staff along with service users and friends from other services celebrated Diwali by opening their doors to anyone from the local area to come and enjoy a lunch of traditional Indian food, cooked by SMART staff.

Diwali also known as the "festival of lights", is an important five-day festival in Hinduism. For Hindus, Diwali is one of the most important festivals of the year and celebrants wear new clothes and share sweets and snacks with family members and friends. The messages of Diwali: new beginnings and the importance of friends and family are also important messages to SMART and the event welcomed over 40 service users and colleagues through the doors, to enjoy a huge spread of vegetarian foods.

SMART is located at New Hope, a dedicated building for all substance misuse agencies working in Bracknell.  From there our experienced team provide a range of services for the Bracknell community including:

• Help for individuals whose lives have become unmanageable through their use of drugs through a range of support services for those wishing to make changes.
• Specific services for problematic drug and alcohol users caught up in the criminal justice system  a recent report found that for every pound spent on these services the wider community saves four pounds.
• A wider range of group support sessions including alcohol awareness and relapse prevention and specific groups for women and also families and friends.

SMART's Chief Executive Darren Worthington says "Our aim is to provide support to anyone in Bracknell who feels they need help by providing a range of innovative services that support the individual throughout their journey towards a life that's free of drug and alcohol use"

Anyone interested in finding out more about how SMART can help them can:

• Call the SMART in Bracknell on 01344 312360
• Visit www.smartcjs.org.uk and click on 'Services'
• Drop-in to SMART to talk to a worker, without an appointment on Tuesdays (5.00pm - 7.30pm) or Fridays (10.00am - 12.30pm) at SMART, New Hope, 92 Broadway, Bracknell, Berkshire RG12 1AR.