As some of you know, I visited my friends at ARC Fitness in Derry/Londonderry in September. I had a great time with this wonderful group of people. I conducted about a dozen interviews for a book I’m writing about ARC, and also attended the Recovery Walk NI in Derry on 26 September. Another special occasion chalked up amongst my life’s recovery events that I have attended.
What I wanted to write about in this blog post is the fact that ARC Founder and CEO Gary Rutherford and his team have won a number of Awards in the last couple of months.
In September, it was announced that Gary was UTV Northern Ireland’s Pride of Britain Award winner. You can see a video clip of Gary being told that he had won the Award by a UTV representative on ARC’s Facebook page (12 September 2026). From the film clip, you can see that all the ARC team knew Gary had won the Award, but he was taken by surprise. Gary became the Northern Ireland representative at the main Pride of Britain Awards in London. The photo alongside shows Gary and his lovely wife Sarah Rutherford at the Awards night.
You can see a clip of the Award’s co-host Carol Vorderman talking about Gary and ARC on ARC’s 23rd of October Facebook post.
At the Social Enterprise Northern Ireland Awards held in late October, Gary and his team won two Awards. Firstly, ARC Fitness was one of two winners of the Community Based Social Enterprise Award. ‘Their dedication to strengthening communities and creating lasting local impact has made them worthy winners of this year’s award.’ Secondly, Gary was Winner in the ‘Leader of the Year’ Category. Two wins in one night, how awesome is that! You can see photos on the ARC Fitness Facebook page.
Finally, Gary received an Honorary Award at North West Regional College’s 2026 Higher Education & Access Graduation Ceremony. ‘Gary, Founder and CEO of ARC Fitness, has transformed countless lives through addiction recovery support, using fitness, community and hope to help people rebuild their futures.’
We done Gary and all the team at ARC Fitness. You are very special.
And that is not all that ARC has been up to in then last couple of months, other than their day-to-day support for people trying to overcome addiction and related problems. Firstly, they organised their Recovery in Motion Conference at the Millennium Forum in Derry/Londonderry on the 9th of September. You can see three films of the speakers at this conference, totalling four hours, via these links:
And finally, ARC Fitness organised the annual Recovery Walk Norther Ireland in Derry/Londonderry on 26th of September.
PS. Well worth checking ARC’s Facebook post today! An awesome film clip from their Conference in September. A Celebration!