Getting help
Some of the most effective addiction help in the UK is free: meetings tonight, helplines now, and NHS support. No referral needed.
If you are looking for help with drinking, drugs, gambling or another addiction, and money is part of the worry, start here: some of the most effective help in this country costs nothing at all. Not reduced, not means-tested, not free-for-six-weeks. Free.
Nobody planning to charge you is behind any of it either. The meetings are run by people in recovery themselves, the helplines are answered by volunteers who have been where you are, and the NHS services are yours already. This page lays out what each one is and how to reach it today.
Last updated: 23 September 2026.
The largest network of addiction support in the UK costs nothing: AA, NA, Cocaine Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous, SMART Recovery and more than a dozen other fellowships run thousands of meetings every week, in person and online. There are no fees, no membership, no referral and no waiting list. You could search now and be sitting in one tonight.
The catch people expect never arrives. Some groups pass a basket for voluntary contributions toward the room hire, and putting nothing in is normal and fine. Nobody checks who you are, nobody signs you up to anything, and you can listen without saying a word. If you want to know what a first meeting is actually like before you go, we have a page that walks you through it.
If you are not even sure yet whether what is happening counts as a problem, that is a common place to start from. Our short self-checks for drinking, drugs and gambling are private, free, and use the same questions health professionals use.
Every major fellowship runs a free helpline, and the person picking up is usually in recovery themselves, so you will not have to explain what a bad night feels like. Samaritans answer 116 123 at any hour, about anything, and it costs nothing from any phone. The full list of recovery helplines, with their hours, is on our support page.
Every part of the UK has a local drug and alcohol service, free to use, and in most areas you can refer yourself without going anywhere near a GP first. They offer one-to-one support with a keyworker, group programmes, and medical help with stopping safely.
That last part matters more than people realise. If you are drinking heavily every day, stopping suddenly on your own can be dangerous, and a GP or local service can help you come off safely. Asking for that is not a queue-jump or a fuss; it is exactly what the service is for.
Mostly no. Residential rehab is usually paid for privately. Funded places do exist through your local council, and you apply through your local drug and alcohol service rather than to a rehab directly. Everything else on this page costs nothing: meetings, helplines and NHS drug and alcohol support, with no funding application and no waiting list.
You can find your nearest free local drug and alcohol service by postcode on FRANK, which lists services in England and links to the equivalent finders for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This site does not list or recommend rehabs.
Most people who get well never go to rehab. The rooms are full of people who recovered through free meetings, a local service and time, and who never spent a penny on treatment. Not being able to afford rehab does not put recovery out of reach, and it does not put you at the back of any queue. You could be in a meeting tonight.
Residential rehab is a different kind of help: you live in, usually for some weeks, with structured treatment. It is one route into recovery, and the right one for some people, but it is not the entry ticket. Meetings are not a substitute for medical care, and if you need help stopping safely that comes first, but many people have built an entire recovery on free support alone.
Through their local drug and alcohol service. They assess you, and if residential treatment looks like the right fit they can apply to the council for funding. It is rarely quick and places are limited, so most services will expect you to be working with them in the community first. That support is free and starts sooner.
Your GP is another door into the same conversation. Neither route costs anything to ask about.
Free alcohol treatment exists in every part of the UK, but most of it happens in the community rather than in a residential rehab. Your local drug and alcohol service is free, usually takes self-referrals, and can plan a safe way to stop with medical support behind it. Council-funded residential places exist and are applied for through that same service. AA and SMART Recovery meetings are free tonight and need no referral at all.
The medical part is not a formality. The NHS says it can be very dangerous to stop drinking suddenly if you are dependent on alcohol, and that if withdrawal symptoms start you should get medical help before trying to stop. That is why the free route begins with a GP or the local service, who can arrange a supervised reduction. Drinkline is on 0300 123 1110 in England and 0800 7314 314 in Scotland.
Yes, and again most of it is community-based rather than residential. Every area has a free drug and alcohol service you can contact yourself, offering a keyworker, group work and medical help where it is needed. Funded residential rehab is arranged through that service after an assessment. NA, Cocaine Anonymous and SMART Recovery meetings are free, need no referral, and run tonight in person and online.
Where you live changes the door, not the price. In England, FRANK's postcode finder lists your local service and the FRANK helpline is 0300 123 6600. In Wales, DAN 24/7 is free and bilingual on 0808 808 2234, day or night. In Scotland, services run through local Alcohol and Drug Partnerships. Northern Ireland's routes sit with the rest on our support page.
Shorter than most people fear for community treatment. Longer and less certain for funded residential rehab.
The official figures for England, from OHID's adult substance misuse treatment statistics for 2024 to 2025, show that 99% of people starting treatment did so within three weeks of referral. The same figures show 99% of treatment was community-based and 2% residential. That is the shape of the system rather than a queue you are stuck at the back of.
Meetings have no wait at all. There is one on tonight.
No. Meetings, fellowship helplines and NHS community treatment have no means test and no threshold to clear. Being worried is enough, and nobody will ask you to prove how bad it has got.
Council funding for residential rehab is decided on an assessment of what would actually help you, made with your local service. It is not decided on your income or on whether you claim anything.
Medically supervised detox is free through NHS and council-funded services, arranged after an assessment. For many people it is supervised by their local service or their GP, with prescribed medication and regular check-ins rather than a hospital stay. Inpatient beds exist for people who need closer care.
What is never safe is stopping heavy daily drinking suddenly and on your own, which the NHS warns can be dangerous. This site will not suggest detoxing without medical help, and no page here should be read as a way to do it alone.
Rehab is a paid or funded programme of treatment, usually residential, for a set number of weeks. Meetings are free, run by people in recovery themselves, and carry on for as long as you want them, which for some people is the rest of their lives and for others is a winter.
They were never rivals. Most rehabs send people to meetings on the way out, and many people who never see the inside of a rehab recover with meetings and a local service. If you are weighing it up, do I need rehab? gives the honest version rather than the sales one.
Yes, a lot of it. Recovery meetings (AA, NA, GA, SMART and many others) are always free, fellowship helplines are free, and NHS drug and alcohol services are free, usually with self-referral. You can be in a meeting tonight without spending anything or asking anyone's permission.
Really free, and there is no catch. The fellowships are self-supporting through voluntary contributions, so a basket may be passed for room hire, and giving nothing is completely normal. No fees, no membership, no records.
Yes. Meetings need no referral at all, helplines answer to anyone, and most local drug and alcohol services let you refer yourself. Your GP is a good door, but not the only one.
Yes. Gamblers Anonymous meetings are free and run across the UK, in person and online, and Gam-Anon supports partners and family. If you are wondering whether your gambling has become a problem, our free self-check uses the same questions professionals use.
Then take the medical route first, and let meetings run alongside. Stopping heavy daily drinking suddenly can be dangerous, so speak to your GP or self-refer to your free local drug and alcohol service about coming off safely.
No. Nobody at a meeting, on a helpline, or at a local service asks for proof. Being worried is reason enough, and plenty of people turn up just to listen and work out what they think.
Residential rehab is usually paid for privately, though councils do fund some places. You apply through your local drug and alcohol service rather than to a rehab directly, and places are limited. Recovery meetings, fellowship helplines and NHS drug and alcohol services are free to everyone, with no funding application at all.
Start with what is free and available today. Most people who get well never go to rehab: meetings cost nothing and need no referral, your local NHS drug and alcohol service is free and usually takes self-referrals, and fellowship helplines answer now. Not being able to afford rehab does not put recovery out of reach.
NHS-funded residential rehab exists but is limited, and it is arranged through your local drug and alcohol service after an assessment rather than booked directly. NHS community treatment, which is free and usually takes self-referrals, is much easier to reach and is where most people start.
Free alcohol treatment is available across the UK through your local drug and alcohol service, which usually takes self-referrals and can arrange a safe, medically supported way to stop. Council-funded residential rehab exists but is limited and goes through that service. AA and SMART Recovery meetings are free and need no referral.
Every part of the UK has a free local drug and alcohol service you can contact yourself. In England, FRANK's postcode finder lists it. Funded residential rehab is arranged through that service after an assessment. NA, Cocaine Anonymous and SMART Recovery meetings are free and run in person and online.
Yes. Each nation runs free local drug and alcohol services, reached through a GP, a self-referral or a national helpline. DAN 24/7 covers Wales on 0808 808 2234, and Scotland's services run through local Alcohol and Drug Partnerships. Recovery meetings are free in all four nations.
In England in 2024 to 2025, 99% of people who started treatment did so within three weeks of referral, according to OHID. Funded residential rehab takes longer and no national waiting time is published for it. Meetings have no waiting list at all.
Medically supervised detox is free through NHS and council-funded services, arranged after an assessment. It is often supervised by your local service or GP with prescribed medication rather than a hospital stay. Stopping heavy daily drinking suddenly on your own can be dangerous, so it needs medical help.
No. Meetings, fellowship helplines and NHS community treatment have no means test and no threshold. Council funding for residential rehab is decided on an assessment of what would help you, not on your income or whether you claim benefits.