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October 2012 |
drinkanddrugsnews
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Community |
Voices of Recovery
community development and Andy Perkins led a workshop in tools for building
recovery orientated community capacity.
The translation of objective rhetoric to operational commissioning was
highlighted as challenging, but not impossible, and delegates reported greater
confidence in their operational practice with the broadening of their knowledge
base. With this in mind we look towards the future role of the academy – we’re in
the process of extending our board directorship and look forward to the variety of
experience, knowledge and skills this will bring to the Recovery Academy table.
We will continue to produce bulletins and plan for our conference in 2013,
which addresses the challenges of ‘what now’ – how do people take the rhetoric
and make operational change that makes a difference? We want to support
people demonstrating viable and visible actions – whatever system of treatment
and community they are in – because significant change is only going to come
from consensus and flexibility, where treatment compliments a range of
opportunity and support garnered from the community.
We will be using the skills and knowledge of our directors and wider networks
to identify and report areas of good practice, and support where we can the
development of the evidence base. We would strongly encourage anyone who is
interested in the principles, ethos and philosophy of the Recovery Academy to get
in touch with us.
Grace Ball is a Recovery Academy director and treasurer.
Please contact Grace or Linda Swift on recovery.academy@hotmail.co.uk for further
information, or if you want to become part of the Recovery Academy wider network
‘These are turbulent times in
the addiction field, with some
ill-conceived government
initiatives and outspoken
comments from some
recovery advocates leaving
many inmainstream addiction
treatment feeling resentful
and even distrustful of the
“new recovery agenda”.’
SEPTEMBER SAWA LOT OF RECOVERY ACTIVITY.
There were recovery walks in Trafford, Ireland,
Weston-super-Mare, a recovery festival in
Leeds, rather a lot of recovery-themed
conferences and, of course, the big one – the
fourth UK Recovery Walk in Brighton on 29
September. We’re going to see a lot more
community-led recovery activity in 2013 so I
thought it would be good to hear from Brian
Morgan, my fellow UKRF director and UK
Recovery Walk planning group member on the
‘abundance’ and assets that are starting to
become more visible in communities:
‘We decided to hold the UK Recovery Walk for 2012 in Brighton and Hove
because of the emerging strength of recovery communities in the South
East. I had started to develop a network in the region, affiliated to the UKRF,
and there was lots of energy and enthusiasm for recovery evident in the
Brighton area. Brighton is well known for its proliferation of community
activists, its liberal mindedness, and, more negatively, for being the ‘drug
death capital of the UK’ – a perfect place therefore, we felt, to use Asset
Based Community Development (ABCD) approaches to deliver the walk,
rather than have an ‘outside agency’ deliver it for us. We wanted to focus on
Brighton’s strengths rather than its weaknesses, and one of its major
strengths is its people in recovery.
‘In August 2011 I met with a small group of people who had come
together to learn how SMART groups were facilitated. We met at the local
MIND offices, which set the tone because after that we rarely set foot inside
traditional substance misuse settings again. I talked about the previous UK
walks and then we got right into it, doing a ‘hearts, hands and heads’
exercise to map out our individual passions, strengths and skills. We left the
room aware that we had the ability to deliver this UK event and that
together we could do this – either because we had the assets or we knew
somebody else who had them within the community.
‘We went on to map associations within the community, starting to
make the ‘abundance’ visible, and identified the institutional assets that
could be accessed in the local area. This was our way of beginning to explore
the ‘recovery capital’ that we had as individuals – both what we had as a
group and what was out there in the community.
This ABCD approach is a process that takes time. But the group got it and
got it quickly. I’ve found that most people in recovery communities do – the
lights go on! This isn’t always the case with agencies. They are often slower
on the uptake. There’s a bit of suspicion, a little condescension perhaps.
Systems creak. But we did it.
‘The Recovery Walk took place last week – planned, organised and
delivered by a core of people who are all in recovery, dreamed and lived. This
group stuck together for over a year and made it happen. They showed the
world a bit of the ‘abundance’ that’s out there in communities and did it by
embracing asset-based approaches grounded in notions of ‘belonging’
within communities. Roll on 2013.’
Alistair Sinclair and Brian Morgan are UK Recovery Foundation (UKRF)
directors. www.ukrf.org.uk
VOICES OF RECOVERY
VITAL CORE
Harnessing the passions, strengths and skills of
individuals shows the power of community-led
recovery, says
Alistair Sinclair