Our Response to the Tragic News of The Late Actor's Passing
The sad news of the passing of Matthew Perry (29th October) has rightly sparked a wave of tributes praising the enormous talent of this actor who became globally recognised for his genius portrayal of the character Chandler Bing in the hit sitcom, Friends.
The late actor had well-documented issues of addiction throughout his career, notably with alcohol and drugs.
Although this is not linked to the circumstances of his passing, addiction is put firmly in the spotlight and highlights the intense struggles of all those going through it – regardless of fame, status and wealth.
This Addiction Awareness Week 2023 (28th October – 4th November), we are working harder than ever to help call for addiction to be treated as a serious mental health condition - and for increased access to treatment, support and care so that recovery can be possible for everyone.
Our work this year involved partners from like-minded organisations – The Forward Trust, Faces and Voices Of Recovery UK, Nacoa, Music Support, Visible Recovery, Kaleidoscope Project, Amy Winehouse Foundation, Phoenix Futures and Steps 2 Recovery.
We hope that you will get involved in helping us help others get the support they need, by working together to reduce stigma that surrounds it - to build compassion and understanding to enable people to ask for the help they so desperately need.
Anyone can be affected by addiction and everyone deserves the help they need to overcome it. Anyone ready to ask for help should be listened to with empathy and understanding and have the opportunity to access the specialist support they need.
As a fitting ending to this piece, Matthew, a true advocate for compassion and empathy for those suffering from addiction, wrote his own fitting epitath...
"I've had a lot of ups and downs in my life. I'm still working through it personally, but the best thing about me is that if an alcoholic or drug addict comes up to me and says, 'Will you help me?' I will always say, 'Yes, I know how to do that. I will do that for you, even if I can't always do it for myself.' So I do that, whenever I can. In groups, or one on one. And I created the Perry House in Malibu, a sober- living facility for men. I also wrote my play The End of Longing, which is a personal message to the world, an exaggerated form of me as a drunk. I had something important to say to people like me, and to people who love people like me.When I die, I know people will talk about Friends, Friends, Friends. And I'm glad of that, happy I've done some solid work as an actor, as well as given people multiple chances to make fun of my struggles on the world wide web...but when I die, as far as my so-called accomplishments go, it would be nice if Friends were listed far behind the things I did to try to help other people. I know it won't happen, but it would be nice.”
Matthew Langford Perry (August 19, 1969 - October 28, 2023)
