BREAKING THE CYCLE
ANTIDOTE HELPS LGBT PEOPLE OVERCOME PROBLEMATIC DRUG AND ALCOHOL USE
Words: Matthew Todd
TONI HOGG
The woman managing an essential, innovative, life saving service
There is a serious drug problem amongst a significant minority of gay and bisexual men in the UK which, for some, is having devastating consequences. In the face of not much being done about it, a small team of staff and volunteers in a scandalously underfunded London charity called Antidote, the UK’s only LGBT-specific drug and alcohol service, based at London Friend, are at the coalface of the problem. At their helm is a deceptively small woman called Toni Hogg, who comes as close to being a Mother Teresa type figure (she’ll laugh at that) of the gay scene than anyone I can think of.
Offering drop ins, 1 to 1 counselling, group counselling and now weekend mini rehab sessions, all for free, in this time of muddled HIV messages, apps and bareback porn, Antidote have an increasingly hard job but Toni believes it is the tip of the iceberg.