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COMMUNITY
EARLY IN 2014
, a team of representatives
from city-wide services, as well as volunteers,
service users, peer mentors and members from
local recovery centre The Space, got together to
plan for an event that would showcase the
wealth of creative and musical talent in
addiction and recovery, and increase the
visibility of Leeds’ growing recovery community.
The event was free of charge, family-
friendly and accessible to people at all stages
of recovery. Held in a licensed venue often
used for music events, we wanted a safe, drug
and alcohol-free environment that felt very
much like a gig.
The show spanned four hours of constant
entertainment to a crowd made up of service
users, staff, supporters and families. The Leeds
recovery community is continuing to grow
both in terms of numbers and visibility, and
supporters and acts came from cities all over
the North East and Yorkshire.
Twelve acts, all in recovery, took part in the
show, which included a monologue, recovery
shares, singers, a DJ and a band – and all
served to inspire and encourage the audience.
With the event costing around £350 to
stage, and more than 300 people coming
through the doors on the day, Recovery Jam
cost just over £1 per head to produce –
making it a successful part of a wider
movement to make Leeds an increasingly
recovery-friendly city.
Christina Cornberg is an aftercare
practitioner at Multiple Choice aftercare service
PumP
uP the
jam
Christina Cornberg
recalls how the Recovery Jam event
brought together workers, volunteers and clients from
Leeds’ recovery community in a massive collaborative effort
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
16 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| February 2015
Pics from top:
team Recovery Jam – staff,
service users, volunteers
and mentors from across
Leeds and West Yorks; Andy
Darby (vocals) and Shaun
Anderson, Long John and
Multiple Choice peer mentor
Paul McArdle.