Foundation for Change

Foundation for Change

At a glance

Causes

  • Education
  • Mental health
  • Substance misuse
  • Training / employment support

Other details

Organisation type: 
Charity
Geographical remit: 
Local

Objectives

Foundation for Change is an independent, London-based charity founded in 2014. We harness the transformative power of learning to enable people in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction to create better futures for themselves and others.

We run courses that embed the Foundation for Change Approach – our practice-based methodology that offers a fresh and much-needed perspective acknowledging the relationship between a person’s substance use and their experiences of social inequality and trauma. By participating in our courses, individuals develop more accurate and compassionate understandings of their life experiences, reducing the feelings of shame and stigma that keep people feeling excluded.

We aim to transform how addiction and other responses to social inequality are addressed at an individual and systemic level. By developing a more nuanced and sophisticated understanding of these responses, we aim to create a society where individuals are seen as people, not their problems.

Activities

We see the building of self-esteem and self-awareness as necessary foundations on which change happens. Through carefully structured courses that draw primarily on theory from psychology, philosophy and feminism, we aim to raise awareness of the root causes of substance use and encourage people to make sense of their life experiences in relation to the world around them. This focus is built on the idea that with self-esteem as the foundation of one’s life, recovery, social inclusion, integration, and a sense of purpose fall into place organically. Using applied learning or praxis, people develop the tools to build confidence and connect to their sense of value, worth and agency on an ongoing basis.

Our approach, called the FfC Approach, uses education as a transformative tool. We help people shift their identity from being "adult survivors in recovery" to simply being adults. We also encourage them to develop a positive attitude towards learning, even if they previously believed they were unable to learn. While we recognize the link between adverse childhood experiences and trauma, we take a broader view that includes incidents related to structural inequalities such as racism, discrimination, and poverty.

We offer courses that last between 5 and 8 weeks, drawing primarily on psychology, philosophy, and feminist theory. These courses are designed to help people understand the root causes of their behaviors, foster positive change, and break the cycle of trauma for future generations. Our approach to learning is innovative and practical, allowing participants to gain personal insight while learning about the world they live in. By applying what they learn to their own experiences and sharing their insights in a group setting, participants can make theories come alive and realize that they are not alone.

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