10 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| November 2015
BACK IN JULY 2014
, a group
of individuals accessing
treatment at Haringey’s
alcohol treatment service
decided to get together and
use their personal
experiences to do
something to address the stigma faced by those in
recovery.
They settled on the idea of a magazine to promote
understanding about recovery, and, slowly, a team
began to form, encouraged to use the skills they
already possessed. With the backing of the service
staff, founding member Jac Geraghty
applied for – and ultimately received –
funding for the project.
The Worm
was born, and after much
hard work, an event – which included
music, poetry readings and a film
screening – was held in July at Haringey
Recovery Service to
launch the first
issue. It has
been
distributed by hand to more than 70 locations including
libraries and GP surgeries, both locally and nationally.
Everyone who contributes their time to the
magazine receives Haringey time credits – a
community currency that recognises voluntary support
of other people and services, which can then be spent
at a number of time credit partners. This helps the
team to continue making
The Worm
, as they can use
the time credits to rent meeting spaces or go to the
cinema to review a film for the magazine.
Once the funding for the first issue has been used,
the magazine aims to be self-funding, so the team are
busy contacting local businesses and charities to invite
them to advertise in future editions and keep the
positive message going.
communication
More service user-led ideas at
The Worm
, a new service user-led magazine recently launched in Haringey,
is tackling stigma and promoting a positive image of people in recovery.
Founding member and editor-in-chief
Jac Geraghty talks about how it all began
ONE DAY I HAD AN IDEA FOR A MAGAZINE
– and that idea was realised
by extremely talented people, all of whom are in recovery.
We received funding for one issue from Haringey council’s Bright Sparks
scheme. They gave us nearly £2,000, which allowed us to buy a computer and
print our magazine. With this investment, we will be able to be self-sufficient
in producing our upcoming issues, and the plan is to produce four a year.
We have also been greatly supported by Haringey time credits and Haringey
Recovery Service – a partnership between St Mungo’s Broadway and alcohol
support charity HAGA.
The idea came about during a tea break at
Breaking Ground, part of the HAGA sustainment
programme. It was then realised during the abstinence-
based day programme, and has gone on to be a
phenomenal success.
The plan behind
The Worm
was to hone and build on already established
skills within our recovery programme. To be honest, it started out slowly,
but once word spread we were inundated with ideas and contributions. We
have a Facebook page, Twitter account, blog and, of course, our magazine.
We are actively recruiting new members – from feature writers and
researchers to sales and marketing managers.
I am extremely proud that
The Worm
has grown, and we are now a force of
nature. The magazine is a community, and an extremely strong one at that.
The Worm
stands for Working to Overcome Recovery Misconceptions, and I
think we are living up to that statement.
SPREAD THE WORD – WE ARE
THE WORM
AND WE HAVE ARRIVED!
For more information, visit
or
The Worm
Facebook page,
The
has Turned
