Our Aims
The five core aims at the centre of the AFINet philosophy are:
- To disseminate internationally a non-pathological, family member-centred model of the circumstances and needs of family members affected by their relatives’ addictions.
- To promote research about the experiences of family members affected by their relatives’ addictions around the world.
- To promote good, evidence-based prevention and treatment practice relevant to the needs of affected family members.
- To advocate with policy makers, including international organisations and national governments, for greater awareness of the circumstances and needs of family members affected by their relatives’ addictions and for better services for them.
- To raise awareness at a global level of the needs of families affected by addiction.
‘Who Cares’ is a powerful poem about Affected Family Members, written by Christine Hollywood, a poet, freelance writer and teacher who lives in Sussex, England. You can read the poem here.
Christine’s award-winning poetry collection, Fragile Islands, giving voice to the hidden experience of girls, women and mothers, was published by Indigo Dreams Publishing in 2024. After discussion with Jim Orford, she wrote Who Cares to reflect the neglect and stigma so often experienced by family members closely associated with their loved ones’ struggles with addiction.
With her permission, Jim recited the poem in his opening presentation at the AFINet annual conference in Quebec in May 2025, where he reports that the poem was very well received and appreciated. Christine has kindly given her permission for Who Cares to appear on the AFINet website.
Make A Donation
As a charitable organisation, we rely on donations to keep going. If you would like to make a donation, please add in your amount you want to donate in the box below where it says 20. This amount is in pounds so please adjust to take account of any conversions from your currency. Please be aware that Paypal takes about 5% of your fees so if you want AFINet to receive the full amount, please increase your amount- all is appreciated.
