*Please note our current freelance bursary has come to an end. We will update this page with further information if/when our funding is renewed. If you would like to attend Music Support’s Addiction and Recovery Awareness workshop, you can do so at a fee of £125 per person.
Our next workshops will be taking place on 2nd July, 23rd July and 20th August from 10am – 2pn on Zoom.
Please contact learning@musicsupport.org for further information and available dates.*

Thanks to funding from industry partners, we are proud to offer a number of FREE places to freelance production workers to attend Music Support’s Addiction & Recovery Workshop. This engaging four-hour session (delivered on Zoom) is ideal for anyone who is interested in understanding more about addiction and feeling more confident about helping others.

To be eligible for the bursary you must be self-employed, working full time in a freelance capacity (ideally for a minimum of five years) as crew/production personnel (which could range from Rigging and Catering to Production Assistant and Tour Manager and everything in between) or in a touring role (having worked on at least one tour). You must also work in the UK music and live events industries

If you work within the UK music industry but do not meet this criteria, you can attend the workshop at a cost of £125 per delegate. Please contact learning@musicsupport.org if you have any questions and/or to register to join us.

Click here for available dates and to apply.

Click here for testimonials from those who have completed the workshop.

Click here for workshop assets to share with your peers who work in music and live events.

Addiction and Recovery Workshop Information

This four-hour training workshop will give participants an introduction to the topic of addiction and recovery.

By the end of the course learners will be able to:

Define what addiction and recovery is.
Understand factors that perpetuate the cycle of addiction and those that support recovery.
Feel more confident about recognising the signs and symptoms of addiction.
Feel more confident about starting conversations aimed at guiding an individual towards recovery.

What to expect

Learning takes place in group context online or in person.

The session will be a mix of mini-lectures, group discussion, and case-studies facilitated by an experienced trainer and addiction counsellor.

We limit numbers to 12 people per course so that the instructor can keep people safe and supported while they learn.

Session aims and objectives

Delegates will:

Explore societal attitudes and stigma associated with addiction.
Learn about basic neuroscience of addiction and how substances ‘hijack’ the brain.
Understand how different drugs work and link this to withdrawal needs.
Learn the difference between substance abuse, dependence, and addiction, how to intervene and various treatment options available for guiding an individual towards recovery.
Understand the recovery process and the core issues that an addicted individual is managing in recovery.
Learn about the process of relapse and the phenomenon of cross addiction and learn effective ways of supporting someone in recovery.

Everyone who completes the course gets:

A manual and workbook to refer to whenever you need it (pdf content)
A certificate of attendance to say you have completed Addiction and Recovery Workshop with Music Support.

Who is the workshop for?

Anyone working in any area of music and/or live events who is interested in understanding more about addiction, recovery and feel more confident about helping others.

This workshop is ideal for anyone who has already completed Mental Health First Aider (2-day) but is also accessible to learners who do not have that prior training or knowledge about mental health.

Workshop Dates

The workshop (delivered on Zoom) will be available from 10am – 2pm on the following dates:

2nd July, 23rd July, 20th August 2025

(further dates TBA)

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Music Support's Matt Thomas said of the course:

“Raising awareness about the mostly misunderstood condition of addiction and paths to recovery from it have always been high on Music Support’s agenda, so the creation and launch of this course is a massive milestone. The fact that the course was requested and is being funded by the touring industry shows that attitudes are finally beginning to change. Huge thanks to the funders in particular and to Music Support’s amazing staff for writing and delivering this potentially life-changing service.”

Thank you to The BRIT Trust, Backup Tech, TPG, We Need Crew, Hipgnosis, Massive Attack and Rock-It Global for your initial funding that enabled more than 300 music industry peers to attend the workshop.

Thank you also to Backup Tech and Stagehand for your recent funding to keep the workshop running free of charge to freelance production workers.