Welcome to the very first edition of our shiny new blog, The Recovery Round-Up: a delicious smorgasbord of recovery-related morsels served up fresh on the first Tuesday of every month, with generous helpings of inspiration, celebration and aspiration. Our hope is that this will grow into a space that truly represents the diversity and richness of our ever-growing recovery community.
This is your platform – a place for sharing knowledge, ideas, and perspectives across our community and beyond. There is so much to celebrate about recovery, and the positive contributions that those in recovery make to their communities – and yet so much stigma continues to prevail where people who have struggled with substance or alcohol misuse are concerned. This blog seeks to dispel the misconceptions that relegate individuals to the margins of society, and replace them with the stories of hope that are abundant in our community.
While I’ll be contributing to The Recovery Round-Up on a regular basis, the blog will be open to anyone who would like to contribute – so, if you have something to share, we would love to hear from you. Perhaps you are involved in a project or initiative that you’d like to shout about; or maybe you have a perspective on an issue impacting our community, a current story in the headlines, or an aspect of policy or practice that has ramifications for people affected by addiction or substance/alcohol misuse. Maybe you know of an individual or group whose work in this area deserves highlighting and celebrating, or perhaps you have your own recovery story that you would like to share with the aim of helping others.
It doesn’t have to be weighty and serious: mainstream media and public debate often associate the work we do with tragedy, but anyone who has attended a Lancashire User Forum event will know that, yes, there is pain and loss – but there is joy and laughter in equal measure. And if you don’t feel confident about writing, don’t worry. Help is on hand to get your wisdom, knowledge and experience – which are, after all, our most precious commodities – onto the page.
Like many stigmatised groups, people who have issues around substance use, or have experienced these issues in the past, are rarely given the chance to tell their own stories: instead, they are spoken about, and all too often in a way that reinforces stereotypes and fallacies rather than challenging them. Those narratives won’t be changed overnight, but mighty oaks grow from the smallest acorns. This little blog could be one of those acorns, if we feed and nurture it.
Red Rose Recovery is full of passionate, dedicated people with lived experience whose voices can make a real difference. So, if you would like to raise your voice to help change minds and lives, don’t be shy, just get in touch – drop me an email at jennie.chapman@redroserecovery.org.uk, or contact me by text or WhatsApp on 0737 555 8075.
Jennie Chapman
Training and Development Lead/Blog Writer, Red Rose Recovery
