People in Recovery in Lancashire lead the way to building their own recovery community

‘Inspirational’ and ‘informative’ two words used by people in recovery from Lancashire who attended the visit to the dry bar The Brink in Liverpool recently.

The visit was a joint venture organised between J2R’s BRIC (Building Recovery in Communities) worker Debbie, David Higham from Addaction and Stuart Nevin DRIVE worker in response to feedback from service users that there was little opportunity for groups of people in recovery to join together.  People in recovery want more meeting places to celebrate their new found clean and dry status and to socialise in a safe environment and offer each other support.

It was attended by over 70 people in recovery from across North Lancashire and nearly 100% of those who completed our feedback questionnaire said they would like to become involved in volunteering and make a positive contribution within the community.

Recovery based activities that people would like access to include:

• Recovery walking group
• Fishing group
• Gym club

All of which would provide group support for those in recovery as well as providing them the opportunity to make health improvements use their time constructively and offer each other peer support.

“It was a great day that brought everyone together to share experiences and help plan for the future” said Debbie. “People in recovery will now go forward to take control of their own destiny and I will be there to support them.

The BRIC role aims to help build this recovery community in Lancashire, help to promote volunteer opportunities, promote self esteem and break down any stigmas and enable community inclusion.

“The focus is very much on volunteers now taking the lead with new events and activities already coming up.” Adds Debbie.

“It’s a very exciting time, we have a family picnic in the park in Morecombe in August with over 30 families in recovery meeting together for a fun day out as well as we’re setting up a Recovery online radio station in Morecambe which will be run by people in recovery. We are also helping to support the wider community by being involved in a local beach clean - up at the end of August alongside other local charities.”

If you are in recovery and living in the Lancashire area, please contact us to find out how you can help contribute to the growing team.

Morecambe Office:

Bellfield House, 173 Euston Road, Morecambe, Lancashire LA4 5LQ

Tel: 01524 834 210

Fax: 01524 401 071

Email: lancaster@j2r.co.uk

Fleetwood Office:

162 Dock Street, Fleetwood, Lancashire FY7 6JB

Tel: 01253 870 101

Fax: 01253 870 111

Email: wyreandfylde@j2r.co.uk

Journey 2 Recovery (J2R) is commissioned by Lancashire Drug and Alcohol Action Team (LDAAT) to deliver a range of substance misuse services to drug and alcohol users in Fleetwood, Morecambe, Lancaster, Lytham St Annes and surrounding areas, helping them move towards a drug and alcohol free life.

Further information

If you are over 18 and want to talk about drug and alcohol issues, the J2R drug and alcohol support programme can help. The Journey to Recovery service, which is a partnership between DISC (Developing Initiatives Supporting Communities) and Delphi Medical works across NHS North Lancashire.