I’m back home in Perth after a longer than expected trip (29 hours from door-to-door) due to Singapore airlines crew and engineers spotting an error in one of their systems which might have made the plane unsafe to take off from Singapore. We were already on the plane waiting to move off, but were then transferred to another plane. Everything seemed to be done very professionally, so I am grateful to Singapore Airlines.
This all happened on Thursday and I arrived back here that evening. I’ve had three badly interrupted nights of sleep due to jet lag, and my brain is somewhat ‘foggy’ at times. Tested negative for Covid, which was good news. Got back on my spin-bike Saturday morning, which was great fun. It was good to see members of my spin community again.
I had a very rewarding five-week trip to the UK, seeing members of my family again, visiting four inspiring recovery communities, and catching up with some close friends (two of whom I went to school with in Melton Mowbray over 50 years ago).
My visits to North Wales Recovery Communities (NWRC) in Bangor, Eternal Media in Wrexham, BAC O’Connor in Burton-on-Trent, and ARC Fitness in Derry/Londonderry were each very special. The work going on in each of these peer-led recovery communities is amazing and so inspirational! The people I met were fantastic. I was humbled by the reception I received in each community.
I gave a total of nine talks in three of the recovery communities, and was involved in a filmed discussion with three other people that will later be posted as an Eternal Media podcast. I recorded on my phone several interviews I conducted, filmed a few short shares (whilst on a five-hour walk in Snowdonia), and conducted a focus group (alongside Wulf Livingston) with members of Penrhyn House about what facilitated their recovery at NWRC. I even participated in An Evening with David Clark at NWRC’s excellent restaurant Bwyd Da Bangor, during which Marcus Fair of Eternal Media filmed my two talks. You can read about each of my visits by linking to the individual posts outlined in our website’s blog.
I would like to take this opportunity of thanking: Wulf and Melanie Livingston for putting me up, or putting up with me, for a week in their home in Tregarth, North Wales; James Deakin (NWRC), Kendra Gray and Vanessa White (BAC O’Connor), and Gary Rutherford (ARC Fitness) for organising my visits to their recovery communities and providing hotel accommodation; and Marcus Fair (Eternal Media) for hosting my visit to the Bunker, organising the podcast discussion, and filming me giving my talks at Bwyd Da Bangor.
I am also grateful to all the staff and community members I met in each of the places I visited, and during the Sober Snowdonia walk. I so enjoyed my visits and our discussions. And the wonderful food at Bwyd Da Bangor and Langan’s Team Rooms, and the restaurants to which I was taken. And the Shaking and Dancing at NWRC!
For those of you who were involved in the interviews, shares and the focus group, please bear with me whilst I prepare the material. I need to catch up with some things here before I start working on that material. I am very grateful for your participation. I will be writing about each of the communities I visited in future blog posts.
I’ll leave you with a short film I took with my phone at An Evening with David Clark in Bwyd Da Bangor.
