What brought you here? How did you hear about Red Rose Recovery?
“I began at RRR as a volunteer, quickly being taken on as a lead volunteer. I have been given an opportunity to visit a local prison as a buddy for the prison buddy scheme and have done this twice, as well as visiting with Red Rose to promote the project.”
How has Red Rose Recovery helped you?
“This has helped me with learning to listen to the individual’s unique stories, I do not see this as an opportunity to pry but to give them an opportunity to express themselves to an impartial person who is interested in their lives and to offload to a third person. It has also helped me approach people who I have never met before, this has helped me to combat my anxiety by making the first step with networking and making a difference. It is helping my professionalism grow with working with people from all walks of life.”
What positive outcomes have you achieved since you first engaged with Red Rose?
“Visiting the local prison today gave me an amazing sense of self-worth, I was able to use my assets today to forge a friendship with one inmate, he had anxiety and I was able to relax him by introducing myself and using open body language. Rather than sitting opposite him divided by a table I asked if I was able to sit next to him, so we weren’t having to raise our tone and he felt more comfortable. He left with a smile on his face and seeming a lot more relaxed.”
What other services have you linked in with since you first engaged with Red Rose?
“The service I linked in with today was the local prison.”
What do you now have in your life?
“Confidence, self-worth, value, friends, management of my anxiety, ability to overcome barriers.”
What do you still want to achieve?
“More skills and knowledge with mental health and addiction, progression, to be able to help others with my progression, training. The local prison is able to offer us training exercises and we can partake in other activities within it such as dog therapy sessions, this will be a brilliant experience if this happens as we are able to have a more in depth look at what prisons do to help their inmates.”
