I’m back to posting on my Recovery Voices blog after nearly three weeks away. Mind you, I haven’t been away anywhere or even resting full-time at home. Just been busy finishing one of the books I’m writing, as well as helping out on a new initiative that has been developing in North Wales.
As some of you will know, I set out last year to write a book about North Wales Recovery Communities (NWRC), based in Bangor, and Eternal Media, which is located in The Bunker just outside Wrexham. The book was to describe these recovery communities and their wide variety of inspiring initiatives, how they have developed, and include a number of Recovery Stories.
I realised earlier this year that the book was becoming too big and therefore decided to split it into two books. I am now close to finishing the first book, Transforming Pain Into Power: The Story of North Wales Recovery Communities (NWRC), which is still totalling around 135,000 words. I am over halfway through writing the second book about Eternal Media, the title of which I have not decided upon. These books will be self-published later this year.
In addition to these books, I have also prepared what we plan will become a short book based on a series of blog posts to celebrate the ten years of NWRC. You can find the blog posts in NWRC 10-Year Anniversary Celebratory Blog Series.
During my ‘time off’, I have become involved in a new initiative being developed by Rich Price, a person in long-term recovery and a former resident and later staff member of NWRC. This recovery-related initiative is called Atebion, the Welsh word for ‘Solutions’. The Chair of the NWRC charity, Sarah Flynn, originally suggested to Rich that he contact me to see if I would become involved in his initiative. I was so inspired and impressed by what Rich had to say that I didn’t take long to agree to not only participate in the initiative, but also become a director.
I won’t say much about the initiative at this stage, other than the fact that Rich and I have already had more than half a dozen Zoom meetings discussing Atebion’s development, most of which have lasted for 2-3 hours. Yesterday, I joined (via Zoom) the first meeting of a group of Recovery Advocates that Rich brought together in Bangor. We had a fascinating discussion lasting nearly three hours. You’ll be hearing more about Atebion very soon.
So it’s been a busy period for me. I’m now looking forward to the holiday that Linda and I will be taking in the UK during September and October. During that time, we will be staying in Bangor for four days, where I will be giving talks arranged by NWRC and going on a long walk with Sober Snowdonia. We’ll then spend a few days with Rich and his lovely wife Sian in Llansannan, no doubt spending some time working on Atebion business. However, we’ll also be spending a good deal of time exploring the beautiful scenery of North Wales, and even visiting Dolgellau, a town where some of my ancestors lived.
The photo of Linda, my sister Sue, and her husband Gary was taken in Kings Park, overlooking our beautiful city of Perth and the Swan River.