I spent an interesting early evening last Friday here in Perth, Western Australia, when I joined members of North Wales Recovery Communities (NWRC) at their Community Meeting & Breakfast (I didn’t get any) at Penrhyn House in Bangor… via Zoom. I was able to see and hear guest speaker Marcus Fair, Founder of Eternal Media, tell his Recovery Story, and then heard discussion about coming events and other news at NWRC.
A camera had been set up so that I could see community members seated around a long table and along the wall of the room. I wasn’t sure initially that community members and their guest speaker could see me. And I didn’t know who else was attending via Zoom. However, I discovered later on that they could see me, when I was asked if I would introduce myself and say a few things about what I have been doing over the years. I hadn’t expected to be asked anything, but ‘rambled on’ about a number of things relating to my career.
It was really great to be ‘present’ at an NWRC meeting, and hear Marcus tell his Recovery Story, even though it was a virtual experience. In just over six weeks, I’ll be doing the ‘real thing’ when I visit NWRC for some days. I’m heading to the UK on 18 April and taking the train from Reading to North Wales on Monday 22 April, where I will be staying with Wulf Livingston and his lovely wife Melanie. I’m visiting Eternal Media in Wrexham the following day and will then spend some days visiting NWRC… and will be joining one of the walks! The schedule of my visit will be worked out shortly with James Deakin. I’m really looking forward to these visits.
It was great to hear Marcus tell his Recovery Story. Please don’t forget that you can see on his People (Archive) page a collection of 14 films (and written summaries) that I edited from his interview with Wulf in July 2023.
During his talk, Marcus also told us about two new Eternal Media forthcoming developments. First, a podcast series with family members affected by a loved one’s substance use problems, and a new project involving the local prison and members of NWRC. More of that later. For now, I can strongly recommend the Recovery Hub podcast series, hosted by Caitlin, that Eternal Media have previously launched.
I’ll finish this post by thanking members of NWRC and Marcus for allowing me to ‘be there’ last Friday. Looking forward to seeing you all.
And I need to add a footnote and photo. A huge congratulations to Alexandra Magson, a Duty Officer at NWRC, for her recent fifth Recovery Birthday. Well done, Alex. You a great inspiration.
