The Amy Winehouse Foundation and Clarion Housing Group have run Amy's Place, a women-only recovery house in east London, for 10 years, offering two-year stays and specialist support. Nearly 90 women have been helped through counselling, therapies and a peer-focused community that residents say prevents relapse. Founders and partners praise the small-scale, community model but warn that funding and limited similar provision hinder expansion.
‘I Would've Relapsed Without Amy’s Place’: Inside the Women-Only Rehab That Has Saved Nearly 90 Lives
Amy's Place was launched ten years ago in the singer's memory to help women in east London recover from alcohol and drug addiction [Getty Images]
Hidden in a quiet corner of east London, Amy's Place — a women-only recovery house founded by the Amy Winehouse Foundation in partnership with Clarion Housing Group — has quietly marked its 10th anniversary. Since opening shortly after Amy Winehouse's death in 2011, the house has offered two-year stays and specialist support to young women rebuilding their lives from addiction.
Ciara said there was "such like a likeness" between her and Amy Winehouse and the other girls at the clinic [BBC]
Residents' Stories
Many residents say the house's sense of community and tailored therapies were decisive in preventing relapse. Ciara, 27, who moved into Amy's Place a year ago, described arriving unsure of what to expect but quickly finding a supportive environment.
Amy Winehouse's stepmother, Jane Winehouse, is co-founder and managing trustee of the Amy Winehouse Foundation [BBC]
"It was a community, loads of girls that were similar. It felt like home the minute I came here," she said. "The counselling, the therapies, the activities, the girls here, that's what I needed. That's what made me want to stay clean."
Ez, 25, who has lived at the house for eight weeks, said she could relate to Amy Winehouse's public struggles with sobriety and relapse. After relapsing a few weeks after detoxing, she credits the structure and peer support of the house for helping her stay clean.
Ez said she felt welcomed, safe and comfortable from the start of her stay at Amy's Place [BBC]
"I definitely relate to her getting sober, relapsing, getting sober, relapsing. It's only been since I went to rehab I've actually managed to stay clean," Ez said.
Stella, 21, who has been at the centre for 18 months, described a dramatic turnaround after a serious health scare. She now volunteers with local services and credits Amy's Place with giving her the chance to rebuild relationships and regain a sense of purpose.
Stella said the centre has changed her life for the better [BBC]
What Amy's Place Offers
The house provides up to two years of accommodation combined with a programme of weekly key-work sessions, counselling, group therapies, art therapy, nutrition support and practical activities such as volunteering and skills training. Residents also have access to creative and recreational therapies — one resident is taking piano lessons as part of her recovery plan.
Amy Winehouse and her father Mitch in 2008, the year she won five Grammys [Getty Images]
Legacy, Demand and Challenges
Jane Winehouse, Amy's stepmother and co-founder and managing trustee of the Amy Winehouse Foundation, visits regularly and said she believes Amy would have been proud of the project. The foundation launched the house in the wake of Amy Winehouse's death in July 2011 as a way to turn personal tragedy into practical support for others.
The centre has supported nearly 90 women in its first decade. Claire Miller, group chief executive of Clarion Housing Association, says demand far outstrips supply and that Amy's Place remains one of the only recovery houses in the region specifically for young women.
"It's unique because it is the only provision for young women starting out on that recovery journey from addiction," Miller said. "We could fill this project several times over."
Despite its success, the house faces funding constraints that limit expansion. Jane Winehouse and Clarion officials say more women-centred recovery provision is urgently needed.
In its quiet, small-scale way, Amy's Place has become a living legacy: a practical, day-to-day example of how targeted, women-centred recovery services can change lives.
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