There’s a new place in Inverness where hope walks through the front door every single day.
Nevis House, a newly opened residential rehabilitation service run by CrossReach, is now ready to support people from across the Highlands and Islands as they begin the hard, life-changing journey of recovery from drug and alcohol use.
The £2.4 million development expands the long-standing work already happening at Beechwood House in Inverness, and adds six more residential beds to the local offering, creating space for up to 22 placements each year.
Crucially, Nevis House is designed to serve not just the city, but the many remote and rural communities often left behind, with referrals expected from across the Highlands as well as the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland.
This is care designed with geography in mind.
And for people living hours from the Central Belt, it offers something many have never had before, real access to residential support, without the isolation of leaving their region behind.
The centre was funded through the Scottish Government’s £100 million National Mission to reduce drug deaths, which includes over £38 million specifically aimed at increasing rehab capacity through a targeted Rapid Capacity Programme.
Nevis House is one of just eight national projects to receive this direct investment, and the impact is already clear.
Speaking at the official opening, Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy Maree Todd said:
“Expanding residential rehab capacity is central to our National Mission on drugs and I’m grateful to all those who have worked hard to provide this additional service.”
She added:
“The second round of the Rapid Capacity Programme was designed with the aim of supporting the development of residential rehab services outside the Central Belt, and I’m very pleased to see that this has been achieved with this project.”
Minister Todd noted that in the current year alone, 913 residential rehab placements have been approved with statutory funding, a figure that suggests the government is on track to meet its national target of 1,000 placements by 2026.
CrossReach CEO Viv Dickenson said the opening of Nevis House is not just a milestone, but a message to communities across the north that support is real, and recovery is possible.
“We are delighted that Nevis House has now opened in Inverness,” she said, “and we are grateful to the Scottish Government and to the Alcohol and Drug Partnerships in Highland, Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland that have made this possible.”
She added:
“This centre expands our work and allows for a quicker response when people come forward for help and we know from lived experience that residential rehabilitation is often the next step on that vital journey to recovery and sustained abstinence.”
“This investment will not only save lives,” she said, “it will give people a real chance to rebuild their lives and look forward with hope.”
For those stepping through its doors in the weeks and months to come, Nevis House could be the start of everything.
