A new centre to rehabilitate drug addicts in mid-Wales has been officially opened by the Bishop of Swansea and Brecon. The Rt Revd John Davies marked the opening of the Kaleidoscope Centre in Llandrindod Wells with a call for greater understanding of addicts' needs.

Bishop Davies said it was too easy to stigmatise people with drug or alcohol addictions and to blame them for their situation; and that while there may be a small number of people who find themselves in addiction out of choice, there were many more who turn to substance abuse out of despair or because of a failure to cope with the pressures of their lives. "It’s just too easy to caricature those with addictions and to stigmatise them as selfish or stupid," he said. "All too often addiction results from traumatic experiences in life or even an inability to cope with life, an inability which leads some people to seek refuge in addictive substances and behaviours. For those who turn to drugs it can be the first step on a very slippery slope, the end of which can be the ruin of their lives and the lives of those around them."

The Kaleidoscope ministry began in a Baptist Church in Kingston-upon-Thames in south-east England in the 1960s. It now runs a number of centres across England and Wales. It is a major substance misuse service in South Wales, providing support to people with drug and alcohol problems, and enabling them to make positive changes in their lives. At the heart of its work is a respect for the dignity and value of all, and its vision is to provide life enhancing services to people in their communities.

Asking why a bishop should be asked to open the Llandrindod project, Bishop John said: "Just as it’s easy to caricature addicts, so it’s also easy to caricature Christianity and the Gospel which are actually about being good news for people in needs and trying to bring them fullness of life." He added that, because those with addictions sometimes turned to crime to provide the means to feed their addictions, helping them to escape from their addiction was of benefit not only to addicts themselves, but also to the communities where they lived.