Two of London's drug and alcohol treatment charities, Westminster Drug Project (WDP) and the Seventy4 Foundation, have announced that they are merging.

The organisations intend to combine their services to provide a broader selection of addiction services in the capital. WDP’s activities include residential and non-residential rehabilitation and treatment, whereas the Seventy4 Foundation offers daytime and evening addiction counselling services from its headquarters, also located in the borough of Westminster.

Yasmin Batliwala, the chair of WDP who will remain in the role, called the merger “an exciting development for both organisations, that will enhance the diversity and choice of services we offer to individuals and families”.

A spokesman told civilsociety.co.uk that the merger made sense since the two organisations have already been working together for some time, and operate in the same geographical area.

He added that no immediate changes would be made to the combined trustee board, and no redundancies were planned at present.

All services involved with carrying out the merger were undertaken in-house.

WDP recorded an income of £15.6m in its most recent accounts, and the Seventy4 Foundation has a turnover of £308,000. The merged organisation will use the WDP name, although the spokesman said that a future rebrand has not been ruled out.

An estimated 1.6 million people in England have some level of dependence on alcohol and 1.2 million are affected by drug addiction in their families, according to the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse, Public Health England.

Roy Kinnear House joins Choice Support

Elsewhere, the Roy Kinnear Charitable Foundation today joins social care charity Choice Support, initially as a wholly-owned subsidiary.
 
The Foundation manages Roy Kinnear House, which provides accommodation to eight people who all have complex physical and learning disabilities which require significant care and support.