Lothian and Edinburgh Abstinence Programme (LEAP) is on the lookout for a new home following a Church of Scotland decision to terminate the lease of Malta House, LEAP’s base since it was set up five years ago.
Dr David McCartney, Clinical Lead of LEAP, said: “We can confirm that our landlord, The Church of Scotland, has informed us it is ending the lease of Malta House and that we require to move out by the end of January 2013.
We would like to reassure patients, their families, staff and partners that LEAP will continue to provide treatment to patients with substance dependence problems.
We are sad at the prospect of leaving Malta House as many people have started their recovery from addiction here and it has met our needs very well. We are now exploring with our partners all of our possible options.”
Funded by NHS Lothian and three local Alcohol Drug Partnerships, LEAP has been a real success story since it was launched in September 2007. Operated in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council, Access to Industry (Transition) and the Serenity Café, LEAP has helped people with alcohol and drug dependencies to transform their lives through a three-month treatment and rehabilitation residential programme. In March this year, Community Safety Minister Roseanna Cunningham (below) visited the Stockbridge-based project to join in celebrations to mark the programme’s 250th ‘graduation’.
In a statement, a Church of Scotland spokesperson explained that the decision not to renew LEAP’s Malta House lease had been ‘difficult’ and was due to financial pressures on the church’s own social care budget.
“We originally leased Malta House to Scottish Ministers, acting on behalf of the NHS Lothian LEAP project, in 2007 for a 2 year period. This was subsequently extended to 2010, when it was renewed. At that point Scottish Ministers accepted the renewed lease of Malta House on the full understanding that the building would be sold when it was deemed that the market conditions were right, and to that end there were break points included in the lease. In June this year, in terms of that lease, we gave six months’ notice of our intention to terminate the lease from January 2013.
“We are pleased that we have been able to support LEAP for many years through the lease of premises at Malta House. However, we simply cannot afford to continue that support, given the financial pressures which we face in relation to our own vital services to people in need throughout Scotland. We recognise the good work that LEAP has been doing and we have a great deal of sympathy for the situation they now find themselves in. We have been trying to find them alternative accommodation in another Church building but have been unable to identify one that meets their needs. CrossReach (the Church of Scotland’s Social Care Council) would dearly love to continue supporting LEAP but find ourselves simply unable to do so. We will continue to be as helpful and flexible as possible in managing this unhappy situation.”
The spokesperson added that no final decision about the sale of Malta House has been made, but that the option to sell is ‘actively being pursued.’
A group of concerned neighbours and supporters are mustering support to keep Malta House available to LEAP – visit http://www.facebook.com/SaveMaltaHouseForLeap for more information.
There is an on-line petition to sign and add comments at:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/save-malta-house-for-leap/
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