Blog

Growing for Change aims to: (1) change the local food economy so that nutritious, organic produce is grown and made available locally, at affordable prices, and (2) help create positive change in the lives of people who have experienced substance use or mental health problems, and (3) challenge the stigma that is experienced by...

I was filled with fear when I entered Penrhyn. I met Saffron Roberts (Saff) and she told me her story. I thought: ‘Hang on a minute, she used to be just like me. Look at the smile on her face, and the way she’s carrying herself and talking.’ I thought I’d try this recovery thing...

Weekly food boxes were supplied containing three microwaveable meals, and various other items so that families could prepare meals. The team was cooking, packing and delivering, generally for six deliveries per day. One of the highlights for the delivery team was...

People who Sarah [Flynn] sees are clearly engaged in the programme from the very first session. ‘The whole MOIMR course and sessions are just so beautifully done, and that is why people keep coming back… and back. Many also want to be MOIMR facilitators.’ NWRC plays an important role in facilitating the roll out of MOIMR across...

In September 2021, Lucke Gabriel, along with his colleagues Marcus Fair (Founder of Eternal Media) and Sam Rowlands filmed NWRC’s 100-mile walk around Anglesey. The walk took place over seven days around the island of Anglesey, located in the north-west of Wales...

Gaining a sense of belonging played a major role in the early stages of my recovery journey. A real game changer for me was the NA programme and the Step work I’ve done. Making my amends to members of my family...

James [Deakin] makes no apologies to Penrhyn residents about the toughness of their challenge. When they return to Penryhn House, he tells them that the expeditions are designed to help them find out about themselves. They are deliberately designed to be hard work...

The story of North Wales Recovery Communities (NWRC) cannot be told without mentioning their association with Eternal Media, the recovery community based in a former nuclear-fallout shelter, The Bunker, on the outskirts of Wrexham. Eternal Media was founded by Marcus Fair, who survived a 25 year addiction to heroin and crack...

James recognises the social costs of addiction and feels strongly that people recovering from addiction need to give back to society. If NWRC members help others, they will help themselves by enhancing their self-esteem, self-worth and self-efficacy. They will also help tackle...

... [James] can see NWRC developing in various stages over time, one of which began in 2017 when he was able to say to Wulf Livingston, who was acting as an external supervisor for him, that ‘We now have eight or nine people in recovery in the house, and I think that there is now enough recovery for it to be self-sustainable.’ 

James set about developing the NWRC Recovery Programme within Penrhyn House, attended by both residents and outside community members, with the aim of creating as many elements as possible that facilitate recovery. Pat Kyle helped James set up weekly AA...

'It still seems like yesterday that I walked through the doors on my first day feeling a little lost and very unsure of myself.  At no point did I ever think I would work alongside the power house Noreen Oliver and I most certainly didn’t see myself running the organisation... '

During this time, I fell in love with climbing, and found solace in the mountains. I climbed all around Europe and further afield. I spent a good deal of time outdoors in Wales connecting with nature, which had a huge positive impact on me. After joining the Board of AGRO, I met...

James told Wulf he wanted to build a genuine recovery community, with the residential part of NWRC to be integrated with the surrounding community. Penrhyn House residents would be allowed to go out into the community, whilst people from the outside community in need of help in overcoming addiction could attend the...

Recovery is something done by the person with a substance use problem, not by a treatment practitioner. Treatment or engagement in mutual aid groups may facilitate recovery, but they do so by catalysing and supporting natural processes of recovery in the individual. A second feature of recovery from a serious substance...