the horizon, produced by service users in the East Midlands, in partnership with
the NTA who facilitated its production. This recovery tool was written by service
users for service users giving help and ideas to the reader, as they embark on
their recovery journey with the character Ed/Edwina for company. This informal
and incisive booklet can help make the difference for those who are daunted by
all the aspects of lifestyle changes in recovery.
*****
Another important aspect of the day was the official launch of the new East
Midlands Recovery Forum (EMRF), previously the East Midlands Service User
Forum, which is now run independently by ex service users to promote the
recovery agenda using recovery champions from the different counties in the
East Midlands region. Chaired by an ex service user, the forum is independent,
has its own aims and principles, and is always looking for new members and
the views of those using services on what needs to be changed in the ever
shifting recovery arena.
While all this was going on, the music group was outside in the sunshine
jamming along for all the visitors to chill out to, helping make a relaxed informal
atmosphere for guests to mingle and network. The day showed how the recovery
community in Leicester is buzzing with activity, while welcoming the rest of the
region to join in and celebrate all the great work that is being done throughout
the East Midlands.
QoL and the CREME organising committee would like to thank its members,
board and staff, the exhibitors for their support, and all the visitors to the event,
who we hope found the day as worthwhile and inspiring as we certainly did.
Vince Williams is chair of the East Midlands Recovery Forum (EMFR).
Find more information about Quality of Life by liking their Facebook page or
calling 0116 2389977. For more information about the EMRF, contact Vince
Williams at emrfnet@gmail.com or follow @emrfnet on Twitter
Community|
Voices of recovery
August 2012 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| 21
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
THE FOURTH UK RECOVERY WALK
will take
place this year in Brighton on 29 September.
The first one was in Liverpool in 2009, followed
by Glasgow in 2010 and Cardiff in 2011. This
year’s walk (organised and delivered by people
from the local recovery community) has
adopted ‘creativity’ as its theme and will
welcome all those who want to celebrate and
promote recovery in their communities. It’s
taken a lot of commitment and work. Here’s
Pete Davies, this year’s event manager:
‘The journey towards the fourth UK recovery walk 2012 began for the
organising committee in August 2011 when we, all of us individuals in
recovery, were invited to a meeting to discuss Brighton hosting the walk.
None of us had heard of the concept of bringing recovery out into the open,
making it public, making it visible. So it was with curiosity that some of us
travelled to Cardiff for the 2011 UK recovery walk where we witnessed the
passion and power of the recovery community out on the streets,
celebrating individual and collective recovery.
‘Inspired we set to work, constituting ourselves as a community interest
group, seeking political allies within the council, assigning roles and
beginning the process of delivering an event that would reflect the joy,
hope and solidarity we had experienced in Cardiff. Meeting in cafés and
rooms within services, building on our strengths and assets, we contacted
the 'powers that be’ – the events department, police, highways etc.
‘Initially we encountered a slightly dismissive attitude from some of the
cogs within the bureaucratic machine. After jumping through the many
hoops presented to us (including being given a two-hour deadline to
resubmit a revised document on a Friday afternoon) we were told in February
that we couldn’t hold the walk this year… bad move on their part! We got
stuck in and the politicians who had shown us enthusiastic support back in
September were contacted, as well as heads of local services, and within days
there was a change of heart. ‘No’ is a not a word that is commonly
understood by people who have survived addiction and alcoholism!
‘And here we are, within touching distance of 29 September. As
individuals we have grown, as a team we have become stronger. We now
demand, and have earned, at least some begrudging respect from ‘the
powers that be’. We are being recognised as an independent organisation,
unaligned with any service, which can deliver coherent and thorough plans,
risk assessments, communication strategies and programmes of service
user empowerment. We have brought the word ‘recovery’ to the wider
community in Brighton and we believe this will help build on the legacy of
this year’s recovery walk.
‘So, on 29 September thousands will gather next to the sea and walk
with hope and pride through a city that has topped tables for drug deaths
and alcohol-related admissions to hospitals for years. We will be walking to
a festival – a celebration of recovery where friends old and new will share
music, food, laughter and joy. It’s been quite a journey. We have made the
path by walking it.’
www.ukrf.org.uk
www.recoverywalk2012.org.uk
Alistair Sinclair is director of the UK Recovery Federation (UKRF)
VOICES OF RECOVERY
CREATIVE FORCE
Organisers of this year’s recovery walk wouldn’t
take no for an answer, says Alistair Sinclair