ARCH Initiatives is a registered charity that provides a range of services across Merseyside, Halton, Warrington and Cheshire for people affected by drugs and alcohol.

Our aim is to provide high quality services that are designed to improve the quality of life for those who are affected by all types of substance misuse. The services provided by ARCH range from open access services that serve as a first point of contact for those seeking assistance with addiction problems, through structured day care, counselling, family services, criminal justice services, training schemes and aftercare. The agency has a 14-bedded Residential Treatment Centre based in Birkenhead that offers detoxification or stabilisation for both drugs and alcohol. This unit is open for referrals from throughout the country.



To provide substance misuse services which support people to take control of their lives



To listen and understand our client group.
To treat all clients in a non-judgemental and supporting manner.
To work in a collaborative and open manner.
To make our services accessible to all who need them.
To make our services responsive to the needs of the client



ARCH Initiatives grew out of the community that it continues to serve. In 1983, one mother on the Woodchurch Estate in Birkenhead brought together a number of concerned parents on Wirral whose children were using drugs. Joan Keogh and her Parents Against Drug Abuse (PADA) petitioned the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral to act to control drugs coming into Wirral and to develop services for those individuals who were already using drugs. The Local Authority responded by establishing a number of new community-based initiatives, two of which were a street agency and a residential rehabilitation unit: these became ARCH Initiatives.

The fledgling street Agency offered a walk-in service whereby service users and their families could access a worker immediately for advice, information and referral to other services. That open access service was supported by an appointments-based counselling service that offered both individual and group interventions. These community-based services were linked to a residential rehabilitation unit.

In more recent years rapid growth has enabled the Agency to develop new avenues for service delivery and to expand the service into new geographic areas. The greatest growth for ARCH has been in its criminal justice services, particularly Arrest Referral, prison work, Bail Support Schemes and latterly the Criminal Justice Intervention Programme (CJIP), now the Drug Intervention Programme (DIP).



A voluntary Management Committee with a diverse range of skills, knowledge and experience provides a strategic overview of ARCH Initiatives, and monitors the efficiency and effectiveness of Agency activity. The Management Committee is comprised of committed individuals from the statutory, voluntary and community sectors, chosen for the expertise they have in their field and their usefulness in supporting the Agency in the wider community. Operational matters are delegated to the Chief Executive and the Executive Management Team.



The strength of ARCH lies in the inclusive nature of its decision-making process. From the volunteers who comprise the Management Committee to the people who use Agency services - all are involved at some level in the operation of the Agency. In addition, ARCH continues to explore new ways to involve all stakeholders in a meaningful way in making decisions about the forward direction of the Agency.

ARCH management has always been clear that the organization existed to meet the needs of its service user group, and that the people who use Agency services had a right to be involved in making decisions that affected their lives. Thus, ARCH has had a Service User Group and a Service User Representative on the Management Committee since the 1980's, and service users are represented on other internal forums, such as the Diversity Group and some interview panels.

The staff team is a vital element of the decision-making process. Staff have a representative on the Management Committee and ARCH Initiatives has an Agency Consultative Committee, a Training Group, a Health & Safety Group and a Diversity Group: all made up of staff from the different teams within the organization.

ARCH management feels that the wide variety of input into the decision-making process within the Agency has allowed ARCH to successfully meet its objectives and become the robust organization it is today.



ARCH has embraced the principles of the National Drugs Strategy and actively works together with the Drug & Alcohol Action Teams in all the areas in which ARCH delivers services to ensure that services are in line with Models of Care, and that QuADS standards and DANOS competencies are implemented within the organization.

Copyright © 2004 ARCH Initiatives. All rights reserved.