Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs (SFAD)

Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs is a national charity that supports anyone concerned about someone else’s alcohol or drug use in Scotland. We give information and advice to many people and help them with confidence, communication, general wellbeing, and we link them into local support. We also help people recognise and understand the importance of looking after themselves.

When we say family, we mean who you see as your family. It could be your spouse, your parent, your sibling, your partner, your friends, your friend’s family, your colleagues, your neighbours, and anyone we may have missed.

We were created in 2003 by families themselves who came together to support each other and campaign for recognition. We’ve grown a lot since then!

We support people through our helpline, bereavement support service, Telehealth (National one-to-one support), and our family support services in Aberdeenshire, East Dunbartonshire, Forth Valley, Inverclyde, Fife and South Lanarkshire (in collaboration with a peer led family support charity). We also deliver workforce development through our training courses, communications and campaigning work, our young person’s project ‘Routes’ in East and West Dunbartonshire, and wider community development including our Connecting Families programme.

We are one of the Scottish Government’s Nationally Commissioned Organisations (NCOs) for alcohol and drugs and are recognised as Scotland’s leading charity for families affected by alcohol and drugs.