It’s the middle of the night here in Perth, Western Australia. The usual problem when one travels from West to East—your brain doesn’t catch up with your body and you end up waking up at the wrong time. And in my case, not sleeping much anyway. The consolation is that the brain eventually catches up. However, the jet lag disappears at a slower rate when you are my more advanced age! Such is life!!
My partner Linda and I returned to Perth on Wednesday afternoon, after a long, boring flight from London to Singapore, and a shorter and more enjoyable flight onwards. Once again, the Singapore staff on the plane were great. It was so good being home again. Being in our own bed and showering in our own bathroom. And just walking our local streets.
Don’t get me wrong. I had a great time in the UK, and a few hours in Donegal, Ireland, during my visit to Derry in Northern Ireland. However, moving around for nearly seven weeks visiting family and friends, and doing some work, can eventually get tiring.
My trip initially involved catching up with three of my children (and my granddaughter Evelyn) in Reading and Southampton. A week after my arrival I met up with Linda (who left Perth a week later than me) and we headed to Sawbridgeworth in Hertfordshire to meet ‘new’ members of my family. You can read a short version of the Story of my maternal grandfather Frank Higgins (who abandoned my mother before she was born) and his family in my description of a YouTube film clip. Linda left there earlier than me, as she headed off to have a holiday in Ireland and England with a friend.
I travelled to North Wales where I initially stayed with work colleague and close friend Rich Price (see photo below) and his lovely wife Sian in beautiful countryside close to the Conwy Valley. Rich is Founder of the unique grassroots initiative Atebion (Welsh for ‘Solutions’), for which I have been helping, which aims to help people overcome addiction and other forms of adversity in natural community settings, as well as tackle the disconnection in society that is having a negative impact on our social and emotional wellbeing.
On my arrival at Llandudno station, I dropped in to see the new office in the station where Rich and his Atebion colleagues will develop Hub Central, a place where ‘people can come together, build confidence, discover new skills, volunteer, learn, contribute and explore opportunities that may once have felt out of reach. There will also be a small tea room, providing an informal and friendly place to meet, talk, share company and a cuppa.’ More about recent developments at Hub Central, and what Atebion aims to develop, in a forthcoming blog post.
Whilst staying with Rich, we spent time ‘plotting’ our future collaboration and discussing the book about community healing we are writing along with Cormac Russell, leading advocate of Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD). Rich also took a meeting in Colwyn Bay of the Ketamine Group which is run by the House of The Vivienne, the support group set up by Chanel Williams and her family in memory of her brother the late James Lee Williams, better known as The Vivienne. I also went with Rich to Parkland Place Rehab in Old Colwyn where Rich delivered the first part of his EPOC (Eight Principles of Change Programme) to residents.
Rich then dropped me off in Bangor where I spent a very busy two and half days. On the Thursday, I participated in a Moving On In My Recovery (MOIMR) group meeting, led by Vicky Thomas (NWRC Anglesey Coordinator), in Holyhead. On Friday morning, I attended the Service of Remembrance and Hope at St Deiniol’s Cathedral in Bangor, a service ‘In memory for those who have died, and as a symbol of hope for everyone affected by addiction.’ In the afternoon, I gave talks on trauma and healing at Penrhyn House, the residential part of North Wales Recovery Communities, which were filmed by Marcus Fair MBE (Founder of Eternal Media). You can read more about these activities, and my visit to the Ketamine Group in Old Colwyn, in my earlier blog post.
On Saturday evening, I gave a talk in Bwyd Da Bangor at the Launch of my books ‘Transforming Pain Into Power: The Story of North Wales Recovery Communities’ and Facilitating Recovery From Addiction: Celebrating Ten Years of North Wales Recovery Communities, and signed copies of the former book for people who attended the event. You can read more about that evening, including details of other speakers and my other activities that day, in my past blog post.
After the Launch, I headed back to Rich and Sian’s place for a few days, after which I headed to Manchester to join up with Linda for a brief stay with my daughter Annalie and her family. Linda and I also visited my good friend Kevan Martin, a person in long-term recovery and former Founder of NERAF (Northern Engagement into Recovery from Addiction), in the Lake District.
I then flew to Belfast where I was picked up by Gary Rutherford, Founder of ARC Fitness, and we headed to Derry. I spent six days there, interviewing members of this inspiring recovery community for a book I will be writing, and attending the Northern Ireland Recovery Walk in the city. You can read about my Derry visit in this blog post.
After leaving Derry, a non-work period of my UK visit began. I stayed with Annalie, Max and their two children (Ally and Evie) for some days and then visited good friends Tom Wragg (an old schoolmate) and Jill Wells, the Higgins family, and my three children in Southampton, Portsmouth and Reading. Linda joined me during this time.
After a UK visit of 46 days, I returned to Perth. Here, I have been recovering from the trip and reflecting on what will be a busy year ahead of writing and related activities. I’m really looking forward to what promises to be an exciting period.
