Kevin Morris is a key part of the inspiring North Wales Recovery Communities (NWRC) which is based in Bangor. I am close to finishing a book about NWRC which will be called Transforming Pain Into Power. In the book, I relate Kevin’s Recovery Story, and also describe his various forms of involvement in NWRC. Here is a section called Kevin’s Personal Reflections. I wrote these and other sections of the book relating to Kevin after a number of Zoom interviews with him.
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Today, Kevin Morris manages the day-to-day running of Penrhyn House, which includes dealing with any issues involving the building, such as the lease, utilities, repairs, and related matters. He also deals with any issues that arise with the residents, staff or visitors; enquiries about accessing help from NWRC and various other matters; interviewing and conducting assessments of people wishing to become a resident, and a variety of other matters.
During the interviews and assessments, he gains a feel for someone’s level of motivation or commitment to change. Over time, Kevin and colleagues have got better at assessing which applicants genuinely want to find long-term recovery, and are willing to put in the work required to get there, resulting in better outcomes at Penrhyn House.
The part of his role which makes the biggest difference involves the time Kevin spends with the House residents, and that part of his job is probably why he works such long days. He could quite easily work from nine until five o’clock, but he generally stays until 20.30 on work days because he loves spending time with the residents, listening to what’s going on, and offering help and support when needed. Those sorts of matters give him a much greater pleasure than all the administration, and the relentless spreadsheets and documents with which he must deal.
Kevin believes that one of the biggest contributions to the success of NWRC is the fact that all the staff at Penrhyn House are in recovery.
‘Through our lived experience, we can build a connection with our residents, and members of the wider community who access NWRC activities, a lot quicker than professional workers do. Lived experience helps the building of trust and feelings of safety more readily, ensuring connection from an early stage of a person’s stay as a resident or attending of meetings.
Our staff know how residents (and our community engagers) are feeling and the expectations they have, the potential obstacles they face on their recovery journey, and how good their future can be. They have been there themselves. Most members of staff in the treatment system who have just studied courses on substance misuse wouldn’t have the same skills and the same empathy, making it harder for them to form a strong therapeutic connection.’ Kevin
As described earlier [in the book], Kevin is a great enthusiast of climbing and the great outdoors. In early 2025, NWRC linked up with Pen y Bryn Outdoor Learning CIC to have their community members engage in climbing and other outdoor activities.
‘Through this collaboration, Pen Y Bryn and NWRC will harness the therapeutic power of the great outdoors to support individuals on their journey to recovery.
Participants from North Wales Recovery Communities will engage in outdoor adventures, including wild swimming, mountain walking, climbing, paddleboarding, caving, mining, kayaking, and canoeing, provided by Pen Y Bryn. These activities provide not only physical benefits, but foster a deep connection with nature, helping the folks who take part find peace and focus as they navigate their recovery journey, which can be a difficult one.’ Pen Y Bryn Outdoor Learning Blog
Pen y Bryn Outdoor Learning have a six-week climbing programme where NWRC members learn to belay, abseil and climb in both indoor and outdoor environments. After six weeks, they are signed off as a competent climber.
In the preliminary stages, some NWRC members are apprehensive or even terrified by the process, but Kevin shares his past experiences and describes what climbing did to help his recovery. He soon notices how people start to share their emotions and feelings, not just with him, but with other community members. The course is helping to bring down barriers and facilitates connection between people.
Kevin believes that most people are scared, or at least wary, of heights. During the climbing course, he saw NWRC members conquering this fear. He emphasised to me that fear is something that keeps people locked in addiction, the fear of change. This is not surprising because many people locked in addiction at least know and understand the world in which they exist. They don’t know what it would be like to be in the world of recovery, a world they’ve never experienced. Kevin believes that scaling back their fear of heights and/or climbing can generalise to losing the fear of change, and of finding recovery.
Climbing is made up of a series of stages, moving from one foothold or one grip to another. One small movement followed by another… and then another. Concentration and focus are needed. In this regard, there is a close analogy with the recovery process. One slight change after another, conquering one challenge after another. Going through this process helps one to build confidence and a sense of achievement. And when you get to the top of a climb, or do something major in one’s new life in recovery, there is an intense sense of achievement.
Many people who are addicted to substances get very anxious and describe having lots of thoughts whirling around in their head. They don’t know how to stop this out-of-control thinking, other than using drugs or alcohol. When you are climbing, you need to be focused and concentrating on what you are doing.
Kevin points out that when you start climbing and become really engaged in the activity, that out-of-control thinking calms down. This is not surprising, because safety must now be your major concern. Kevin describes that climbing gives you a powerful sense of being, and strengthens your connection with nature and with yourself. And the more you have this feeling when climbing, the more it will generalise to other areas of one’s life.
One only has to look at NWRC’s Facebook page and see community members having real fun engaging in the various activities organised by Pen y Bryn Outdoor Learning. The same goes for the walks organised by Rob Havelock of Sober Snowdonia (cf. Chapter 19).
Kevin believes that one of the major challenges facing NWRC and other peer-led recovery communities is that they are often having to fight for funding ‘scraps’. There has been a lack of will in the government to understand what really helps people find long-term recovery, and then support that. There is a short-sightedness of government in relation to seeing the benefits of people with lived experience, and of recovery communities.
If they do see the benefits, then they don’t act. They don’t seem to appreciate, or care, that most people who access treatment relapse after leaving the treatment service. Governments don’t seem to appreciate that most people with an addiction problem who end up in prison, costing society £30-40,000 per annum to house them, end up using or drinking on release. And often end back in prison.
Utilising recovery communities in a proper manner could end up saving the government a great deal of money, in addition to the more important matter of helping people improve their lives.
In the photo above, Kevin (right) is with James Deakin, Founder of NWRC. These two are not only really good friends, but a really powerful combination at getting things done. They are much loved by NWRC community members.