Finding Your Path To Recovery
Guidance & Support For a Brighter Future.
A Guiding Hand
Find the local services you need:
These are services we either have used, recommend or work for. If you have any that need adding to the list please let us know.
Documentary
We're fund raising to hopefully make a documentary about lived experience living with abuse, how that can lead to addiction issues and what it takes to overcome both and get your life back. It is possible.
Meet The Founders
Breaking the stigma of addiction and trauma through lived experience and professional expertise. We work within the heart of our communities to create safer conversations and trusted support for those who feel silenced.
Aunee B
Founder & Lead Speaker.
Dilesh Popat
Co-Founder & Lead Trainer.
You're In Good Hands
Here's Where You Can Get Help:
Use this page to find resources that can help you on your addiction recovery journey.
About Brown Girl in a Bottle CIC
Brown Girl in a Bottle is a Community Interest Company founded by Aunee and Dilesh, born from a shared mission to break the silence surrounding trauma and addiction within South Asian communities.Who We Are
We combine lived experience with professional expertise to challenge the stigmas, taboos, and cultural barriers that often prevent individuals from seeking help.Dilesh: With over a decade of experience in substance use and domestic abuse services, Dilesh specializes in building culturally appropriate pathways to recovery. He works closely with faith spaces and community leaders to address the unique challenges faced by diverse communities.Aunee: A lived experience advocate and peer mentor, Aunee holds influential roles with the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD). As a peer researcher and public speaker, she is a leading voice in cultural competency training for the NHS and global organizations.Our Mission
Our goal is to create safer conversations by providing:Support & Signposting: Directly helping individuals and families impacted by trauma and addiction.Education: Delivering specialized workshops and talks to professionals and community members to bridge the gap in understanding.Advocacy: Challenging the ideology that these issues do not exist within our communities.Our Current Project: The Film
We are currently raising funds to complete a powerful documentary film following Aunee’s personal journey through childhood sexual abuse, domestic violence, and addiction into recovery.This film isn't just one person’s story—it is a voice for the millions silenced by cultural constraints. Through the brave perspectives of Aunee, her parents, and her children, we highlight the reality of navigating addiction within the South Asian community and the vital importance of accessible, culturally conscious support.
About Dilesh PopatI’ve spent over a decade working in substance use services, supporting people who’ve been dependent on drugs and alcohol. Over time, my work naturally led me towards communities that are often labelled “hard to reach” – diverse, marginalised groups who are usually the last to be considered and the first to be judged.I’ve led specialist community teams, building trust where there was none and changing how services show up. That work led to a 61% increase in engagement – not because communities suddenly changed, but because the approach did.Before this, I spent around ten years working with children and young people, including safeguarding work and partnership roles with disabled children’s services. That grounding shaped how I work today, people first, systems second.I’m also a coach with lived experience. Five years of my own life were lost to substance use and addiction. Mainly stimulant drugs cocaine, MDMA and whatever helped me escape the feeling of abandonment I didn’t yet have the words for. I don’t hide that. I use it. Not as a badge, but as a bridge.I currently lead national work focused on diverse communities, developing grassroots projects and challenging the lazy narrative that communities are “hard to reach.” They’re not. Services are. My work has been about flipping that thinking and connecting support into spaces where people already feel safe and understood.Alongside this, I’m a lead facilitator delivering a behaviour change programme focused on South Asian men who use domestic abuse. It’s difficult, uncomfortable work, but necessary. Change doesn’t happen by avoiding hard conversations.Brown Girl in a Bottle exists because stories matter. Because silence keeps people stuck and because real change comes when lived experience and professional experience meet – without filters.
Dilesh's Projects:
Dilesh In The Media
