About Us

In 1985, Mary and Roy Brash invested their life savings in purchasing the former ‘Nelson Inn’ near Stroud in Gloucestershire to establish one of the UK’s first abstinence-based residential treatment centres.

The Trust began life as a supportive shared residence for people recovering from alcohol addiction. Over a period of a few short years, it developed into a residential treatment centre providing a comprehensive programme of care and support for people looking for recovery from drug and alcohol addiction.

Over time, with the generous support of donors and grant-giving trusts, we have developed residential treatment as part of an integrated service with education and training, family work and supported resettlement housing.

In 2004 we developed a specialist residential service for women who have experienced trauma or abuse, which is often masked with substance dependency. Women can now undertake a residential programme in safe, supportive and trauma-informed settings with an all-female staff team.

In 2010 we opened our first Women’s Centre in Gloucester, which provides a “one-stop-shop” approach to the wide range of problems faced by women in the Criminal Justice System: Gloucester Women’s Centre in 2013 we were recognised by the Howard League for Penal Reform when we received an award for the best community service for women and opened our second Women’s Centre in Swindon, which serves women and their families throughout Swindon and Wiltshire.

Today the Nelson Trust has a national and international reputation as a centre of excellence in the treatment of addiction. Our belief in the capacity for individual change and sustainable recovery based on lifelong abstinence is an approach, which was once seen as radical but is today accepted as the most effective evidence-based treatment for people with entrenched and complex substance misuse problems. We provide services for more than 1200 clients each year from all over Britain and beyond, and together with our work in the local communities across Gloucestershire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Avon and Somerset.