The ninth and last of our Recovery Voices is Gary Rutherford, Founder of ARC Fitness in Derry/Londonderry in Norther Ireland. ARC is an amazing recovery community which helps people with substance use problems through physical activity, professional support, and community. I had the most inspiring and enjoyable of visits to ARC in May this year. I have selected Gary Rutherford’s TEDx Talk as my favourite blog post.
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In a blog post last week, I wrote about my visit four months ago to the ARC Fitness recovery community in Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland. I also mentioned that ARC was holding a ‘Recovery in Motion’ conference today. To celebrate the latter event, I wanted to highlight the TEDx talk that Gary Rutherford, Founder of ARC Fitness, gave in Donegal earlier this year. It is well worth watching! Here are some excerpts:
‘So I wanted to create something special that not only supported people struggling with addiction and their families to get well and enter recovery. I wanted them to thrive and succeed in a life that’s possible when you engage in the process.
Over five years on, we have supported hundreds of families and individuals access support and reclaim their lives. All of our programs are rooted in physical activity, because just like a well-built house needs a foundation, for me I believe successful recovery needs an emotional, physical and nutritional foundation for it to be successful. You see we need this firm foundation before we can start unpacking years of trauma and years of pain. And you see the values that we have are simple. Non-judgment, compassion, empathy and hope….’
‘… You see, I have seen people enter recovery, run marathons, complete triathlons, get their kids back from care, return to education, return to employment, and go out there and gain professional accreditations. To you know what? To help and support other people in pain.
You see, that is the lens in which I view people who struggle with addiction, and it is a lens of hope, and it is a lens of possibility… I’ll tell you what people struggling with addiction are not. They are not hopeless. They are not worthless. They are much more than that. Some of the kindest, strongest, empathetic and impressive people that I have met in my life have overcome addiction. They are much more than the sum of their problems. So as a society we need to stop judging people on the issues that are in their lives and that they’re facing and look at it through a different lens and a bigger picture. That’s really important.’
Please spend some time viewing Gary’s talk. I found it en emotional experience, particularly the little film shown at the end.
ARC Fitness are truly something special!’
Reframing Addiction: Shifting the Lens Towards Hope
Join us for a groundbreaking TEDx talk that challenges the stigma surrounding addiction and offers a fresh perspective rooted in hope. Gary Rutherford explores the transformative power of reframing addiction as a journey of resilience, growth, and recovery. Gary Rutherford is a registered Mental Health Nurse professional and addiction therapist. In 2019 he launched ARC Fitness, a Derry / L’Derry based non-profit organisation supporting individuals impacted by addiction and substance use through physical activity, professional support, and community. Gary is also a person in long term recovery from substance abuse, something that drives him to advocate and provide hope for others.
Gary’s unique approach towards supporting individuals get and stay on the road to recovery has been highly commended. Gary’s work has been recognised by the Royal College of Nursing, awarding him ‘RCN Nurse of the Year’ 2022. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. 19 April 2024
My other two favourite blog posts relating to Gary Rutherford are: