The Recovery Voices project brings together three kindred spirits who believe strongly in facilitating and promoting the work of recovering people and their friends of recovery, as well as the development of peer-led recovery communities. The initiative is based on the core values of authenticity, belonging, connection, courage, creativity, empathy, empowerment, safety and trust.
Our core team comprises recovery advocates David Clark, formerly of Gower, South Wales, and now living in Perth, Western Australia, and Wulf Livingston from Tregarth in North Wales. David and Wulf first met in 2000 when David was conducting a national evaluation of projects supported by the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Fund in Wales, and Wulf was managing CAIS drug and alcohol services across North Wales. David was new to the recovery field, and was inspired by Wulf’s knowledge, passion, and caring nature for people who were struggling.
After communicating periodically over a number of years, Wulf and David started to make more regular contact a couple of years ago. They realised they still had common interests and a shared passion for recovery and social justice issues. David visited Wulf in North Wales last year and was introduced to Penryhn House and Bwydd da Bangor, core elements of North Wales Recovery Communities (NWRC). This visit greatly enthused David and it wasn’t long before he and Wulf agreed to develop the present project, one which would involve regular communications across the world.
David and Wulf’s enthusiasm and passion are shared by the project’s other core team member, website developer Ash Whitney of Wired Up Wales, who lives in Neath, South Wales. Ash was a natural choice to help build the Recovery Voices website, since he has developed various websites for David over the past 23 years.
Wulf and David approached an initial group of friends working in the field—James Deakin, Huseyin Djemil, Wendy Dossett, Marcus Fair and David McCartney—and asked them if they would participate in online interviews as part of the initial development of the project. After a good deal of film editing, content generation and discussions between the three team members, the Recovery Stories website was launched on 25 September 2023.
The Team
David Clark's career has included neuroscience, recovery advocacy, and the promotion of Indigenous healing practices. He has been a storyteller, educator, researcher, and community developer. David’s is passionate about promoting the work of recovering people and their friends. He is a Professor Emeritus of Psychology.
Wulf Livingston has had a lifelong relationship with alcohol and other drugs. This relationship has come through personal use, familial and social contexts, working in hospitality, as a social work practitioner and latterly as a researcher. He is currently Professor of Alcohol Studies at Wrexham University in North Wales.
Ash Whitney of Wired up Wales is an experienced web developer based in Wales (UK) specialising in WordPress development. Ash has 19 years web development experience and a client base that includes customers from small business, government, publishing, charity, community organisations, academic and health sectors.