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On May 1 this year I started a daily Recovery Voices blog series, Transforming Pain Into Power, to celebrate the 10-Year Anniversary of North Wales Recovery Communities (NWRC). This resulted in a total of 38 blog posts which comprised stories and other forms of content.

NWRC—and Penrhyn House in particular—gave me a safe, structured environment to begin an understanding the illness from which I was suffering. With the support of the team and the 12-Step Fellowship, I worked the Steps, and something inside me began to shift.

Recently, I had the privilege of attending and presenting at the Scottish Recovery Consortium (SRC) in Perth. Four hundred folk gathering, chatting, networking, discussing, and of course hugging. What is there not to like? There was a real buzz in the air and a palpable sense of lots...

In the second half of my second talk, I highlight the importance of community for healing, and use quotes from NWRC members that highlight some of the key factors that facilitate recovery from addiction. The quotes come from interviews I had with these members for...

We're all very proud of Marcus who was given the honour of closing the year long celebrations of The National Lottery's 30th birthday celebrations! Flying the flag for recovery, creativity and Eternal in Wales and everywhere! Marcus' extreme 25 years in addiction embodies that even the most hopeless of addicts, along with the right...

'This is the third annual family fun day—Recoverfest  2025—which will be held on Sunday 3rd August at Uttoxeter Racecourse. Recoverfest runs from 12-6pm and is a free entry event which is a joyous celebration uniting recovery services to honour and embrace the gifts of recovery. This vibrant event features an array of activities designed to...

Through Archway Recovery, we are seeing lives transformed in front of our eyes. People are not only getting well—they are staying well. We’ve seen individuals rebuild families, restore health, regain access to their...

NWRC gave me something I hadn’t experienced before: a sense of belonging. I was surrounded by people who understood, who didn’t judge me. For the first time ever, I felt safe enough to be honest. I told the truth about how I drank, how I felt—all the stuff I had hidden out of fear...

'Knowing the Score is a hard-hitting podcast series developed by Eternal Media in partnership with young people from New Meddwl Ymlaen—Mind Our Future, Wrexham. Created in response to the poor-quality drug education I received in school—a forgettable talk from a middle-aged woman pulling plastic drug models from a fishing tackle box—I wanted to offer...' Marcus Fair

Summaries of 35 blog posts which convey the magic happening at North Wales Recovery Communities, describing how the initiative developed, what it involves, impact on the wider community, and involving a number of recovery stories. Transforming Pain Into Power.

'Ten years ago, James and the NWRC team had an ambitious vision. Since then, they have turned that vision into a reality for many, many people. Long may they continue. Congratulations NWRC...’ Simon Shaw, Former Assistant Chief Constable, North Wales Police

But the key to change, honestly, is that you have a healing environment that’s filled with people who see you. Who make you feel that you belong. Because what they then allow you to do, is that when you are in need of a regulatory interaction where somebody just is present...

They are helping fix a treatment system that has struggled to solve its revolving door issues. They illustrate to society that even those who have been the ‘worst’ can become among the best. And, critically, they provide the space that ultimately enables individuals to ‘stay off’.

I have a brand new life! I am a proper mother again. I have plenty of good friends. I run, I play rugby, I love reading,  I just enjoy my life. I now facilitate the MOIMR group in which I started. I have my job as a carer back, and I would love to become a Mental Health Nurse. That is my aspiration for the future.

I'm happy if I've showed up for people, supported people, and done half the things I set out to do each day. Some people describe the Fellowship as a cult that brainwashes people. I have realised that my brain needed washing of all its bad habits. I now have people who rely on me. I have consistent relationships with friends and family.