We fund hope.
The ABR Trust helps young adults achieve a life beyond their addiction or dependency problems.
Learn how.
Whether one's addiction is to alcohol, illegal drugs, or over-the-counter medication, our fund aims to remove financial barriers for those who want to stop using, get clean, and lead an abstinent lifestyle.
The ABR Trust is not a quick fix money offer available to anyone and everyone who applies. It is a fund for those who are able, on application, to show that all potential sources have been pursued. We have a rigorous assessment process to ensure that only those who are in dire need are able to access the limited resources of the Trust.
Chip Somers is one of the founders of the Abstinence Based Recovery Trust. He currently works in private practice in Harley Street. In 1997 he founded the charity Focus12, an abstinence based residential rehab in Suffolk. Focus12 has an excellent reputation for reasonably priced detox and residential care. He has been working with addiction and alcohol problems for nearly 30 years.
He initially trained and subsequently worked at the drug rehab, Clouds House, Wiltshire. He went on to co-manage a 23 bedroom residential unit for men recovering from addiction and alcohol problems called Thurston House in London – part of the Chemical Dependency Centre. After 7 years he moved to the Priory Hospital Group as Treatment Director for the Dukes Priory Addiction Treatment Programme in Chelmsford, working with people with addiction, alcohol and eating disorders. Whilst there, he completed a Senior Management course. He has also worked for the Priory Hospital Group in Jersey, Channel Islands and Roehampton, London.
In addition, Chip has run his own private practice and a Family Support Group for Richmond Social Services. Chip has a Diploma in the Residential Care of Adults and Children. He is an occasional lecturer at both Kingston University and the University of East Anglia. He is also a regular speaker for the McLellan Practice taking his expreience to school leavers.
Lisa attained a diploma in counselling and Psychotherapy in 1994. She worked with Homeless charity SPEAR and as part of the drug team at Richmond social services, then as freelance counsellor at the Priory clinic Chelmsford. In 1997 she co-founded Focus12 in Bury St. Edmunds with Chip Somers.
Later Lisa moved into strategic work in the newly formed Drug & Alcohol Action Teams in both London and Suffolk. Her roles in these teams ranged from DAAT Co-ordinator to Commissioner and Project Manager. Lisa then worked in Local Government Adult Services as a Commissioner.
As a Trustee of the ABR TRust she brings expertise and experience of many years working with those with substance misuse problems and their families.
Christian has worked in and around the field of addiction for over 20 years and has a keen interest in facilitating access to abstinence based treatment for people motivated to change. Christian has extensive experience in the evaluation of treatment quality and the assessment of treatment outcomes having worked with a number of leading treatment service providers. Christian’s professional qualification as a Chartered Psychologist along with his experience of NHS contracting at a senior level qualifies him to provide professional input to the Board of Trustees.
Lucy has been a regular member of NA and AA for nearly 17 years. She got clean at Focus 12 in Bury St. Edmunds where her life changed completely and continues to help other young women through the 12 steps of recovery. After completing an MA in Islamic Art and Design she began showing at galleries and exhibitions in London. Working with interior decorators, selling her work in UK, Europe and America. Regularly donating paintings to charity/auctions raising funds for Action On Addiction, Firefly and Wisdom on Nature at Christie's auction house in London. Since 2015, Lucy has been very involved with her local community putting on events at Maxilla Working Men's Club. She also plays a set on her local radio station, Portobello Radio.
Ravi Holy is a Church of England priest who is also a recovering addict and alcoholic. He has been clean and sober since April 1988 and was ordained in 2002 after studying theology at Trinity College, Bristol. His first ministerial post was at St Luke's church in Battersea and during his time there he did an MA at King's College, London. He is now the Rector of the Wye Benefice, a group of eight churches in the Diocese of Canterbury. In 2013, he helped set up the Heal For Life Foundation UK which runs residential self help groups for adult survivors of childhood trauma and abuse. He started training as the co-facilitator of this programme in 2015 and is now the lead facilitator as well as a trustee. In addition to his church and charity work, he is a stand-up comedian who performs regularly on the UK circuit and in Edinburgh. He is also an occasional contributor to Pause For Thought on Radio 2 and has appeared as a guest on Saturday Morning Live on Radio 4 and Sunday Morning Live and other shows on BBC 1. He and his wife Nikki have twins (Arun and Tallulah) and a lurcher called Huxley.
