Section 18A PBO · South Africa · Est. 13 November 2008

An African solution to a global mental health crisis.

We train people with lived experience to become recovery coaches — then deploy them to improve treatment outcomes worldwide. Ubuntu Addiction Community Trust is a registered Public Benefit Organisation, and this is where funders, corporate CSI/CSR partners, and the public can see how that work is run and what it returns.

17 Yrs
Registered PBO, since 2008
7 Nations
SA · UK · NL · Uganda · Zambia · Canada · Australia
$7
Social return per $1 invested*
CPD
Certified training body
The Model

Three pillars. One outcome.

We take people with lived experience of addiction and transform them into credentialled recovery professionals — then measure the impact in hard numbers.

01
Pillar One

Train

The CLERO framework — College of Lived Experience Recovery. A CPD-accredited pathway that turns personal recovery into professional practice, built on the Ubuntu philosophy.

02
Pillar Two

Empower

Trained LEROs — Lived Experience Recovery Organisations — deployed into communities, workplaces, and programmes, aligned with the UK Harm to Hope strategy.

03
Pillar Three

Treat

The Foundation Clinic — a licensed, insurance-covered residential treatment facility in Johannesburg, using a biopsychosocial model with medical detox.

The Evidence

Recovery capital. The return on investment.

Every dollar, pound, or rand invested in recovery does more than change a life — it reduces the burden on criminal justice, health systems, and social services, measurably.

Criminal Justice

$4

saved on the criminal justice system for every $1 invested in recovery capital.

Health System

$3

saved on the health system for every $1 invested in recovery capital.

Total Return

$7

total social return on every $1 invested — the case for funding recovery.

*Source: US Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs and Health — Facing Addiction in America, 2016.

“I am because we are.”

The Ubuntu philosophy at the heart of everything U-ACT does. Read more on our About page.

Fund the work that saves seven times what it costs.

U-ACT is a Section 18A registered Public Benefit Organisation. Donations are tax-deductible in South Africa. Corporate partnerships are B-BBEE CSI qualifying.

See how to partner