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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...

By 2010, I was full of passion and enthusiasm, and wanting to set up a recovery group outside the treatment system. At the first Recovery Academy conference in Glasgow, I was totally inspired by Mark Gilman and his ideas, particularly around recovery, and the need for...

Yet, progress was made. A small nucleus of recovery-orientated folk began to inhabit the space. The proverbial acorn took root, sprouted, and began to turn into a small tree. Ten years on, NWRC has grown beyond recognition from the first few months. Progress has been...

Ironically, it is recovery communities like NWRC that understand how to help people overcome such problems, and are helping people find connection: to other people, to their environment, and to themselves. They are not just doing that in their own recovery community, but also...

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, you can do that. When you’re in need of somebody...

I will add a blog post focused on NWRC in some way or other on every day of May.... Most of the posts will be one page summaries of various chapters from the book, including summaries of Recovery Stories chapters, I have written. Wulf and Sarah will also be contributing...