Wired In's new Recovery Support Group

Well, with Monday's rant behind me I've decided to let you know about the new Wired In To Recovery Support Group!! 

It's been set up as peer-support group, enabling those in recovery from substance use to give and get support from others in the same boat as them. We meet once a week, every week, on a Wednesday evening from 6 - 8pm. As well as a group sessions, we also have a big social aspect to the group. 

The Wired In volunteers that have helped to set this group up, felt that is was very important to have a social aspect to the group as it can be hard to socialise in a safe environment, drink and drug free, once you're in recovery. The groups are held at the premises of a local Housing association (2A Alexander Street, Cathays, Cardiff), where there is a chill out room with a pool table and a kitchen that can be used at every meeting, also helping people to make and strengthen friendships within the group.

This group is run by people in recovery for others in recovery, enabling experiences and support to be shared by like-minded people. As with all Wired In projects, there is no charge for these services. If anyone is interested in coming to this group or just wants some more information then please email me on kevinm@wiredin.org.uk or give me a call on 07541216011.

Wired In Recovery Support group

I've had a brilliant day of travelling around treatment providers in Cardiff giving a talk to let people know about the new support group we're setting up. The response I got was very encouraging from everywhere I went, although I got drenched while cycling around!

We had our first group last Wednesday, to which the turnout was great for a first group, a whole 4 people! It's going to be happening once a week from now on and is going to consist of a meeting in which participants will discuss their recovery and what's happening from day to day for them. There will be positive feedback encouraged as it's essentially a peer-support group, run by those in recovery, for those in recovery. After that there will be a chill out time for people to get to know each other over a cuppa and a game of pool. 

Well I didn't publish this straight away so it's a couple of days later now and we've had another group since writing this. I've been blown away by the response that I have received from people while telling them about this group. It's so encouraging to be told by people in recovery that they would like to attend this group. I've even had staff members from treatment providers I've visited asking if they can volunteer- it's been an amazing experience!!

I'm going to keep you all posted on how things go.

My Wired In experience

It was early 2005 when I first had any contact with Wired In. At the time I was a chaotic drug addict and no matter what I tried, I couldn’t quit using, in fact I had given up even trying. I just wanted everything to end; I’d simply had enough of life on my knees. Then I met Sarah, who worked for Wired In, we got talking and hit it off. I could see that she genuinely cared and that really surprised me, she was young, pretty and she wanted to spend time talking to me, a no-good drug addict (that was how I felt about myself), very strange!

I then started to volunteer with Wired In but I didn’t really do a lot at first, as my life was so chaotic. Usually I would just meet up with Sarah and have a good chat, I think that was what I really needed at the time. Sarah helped me to realise that there was more to the world than just darkness and pain, she had no ulterior motives for being my friend, it was only because she cared about what I was going through and wanted to support me. It was when I realised this that my outlook on life started to change. For me to accept, and believe I was actually worth that friendship was a huge step for me, in fact, it was the first step on the pathway to my recovery.

Since then I have got involved in lots of different activities with Wired In, and all of them served to increase my self-esteem, confidence, knowledge and skills; in fact I learnt a lot of new skills - public speaking, facilitating group sessions, conducting filmed interviews and about addiction/recovery as a whole, but more important than this I also learnt a lot about myself - my strengths, weaknesses, even who I really was and what I wanted to do with my life. It soon became clear to me that I wanted to work full-time in the substance misuse field and in October 2007, I secured a paid post with The Salvation Army as a Substance Misuse Worker. I’ve recently changed jobs and now work as the Community Development Co-ordinator with Wired In. My job is both challenging and very rewarding; I wouldn’t change it for the world!

Volunteering for Wired In has changed my life in so many, positive ways, I am indebted to all of the team, Sarah especially. I am now living a happy, fulfilled life and volunteering with Wired In was one of the main factors that helped me to turn my life around.

Wired In releases new film on You Tube

I've just been looking through the footage we have for the series "Life as a heroin addict'. It's helped me to realise how important it is to get information about addiction, treatment and recovery, out there in the public domain. It is something that people in the wider community don't know a lot about, apart that is from the exaggerated, sensationalist, usually negative, stories portrayed in the media.

If we are to encourage addicts in recovery to participate in recovery communities, then likewise we need to encourage people in the wider community to except and embrace those in recovery, welcoming them back into the heart of the local community. To do this we first need to break down the view that society has of drug addicts by education and by example. Look at me, I was a heroin/crack addict and now I hold down a respectable job, pay my taxes and live within the law.

By advertising my victory over addiction, I am showing my community that - 1) It is possible to overcome addiction/alcoholism. 2) That not all addicts/alcoholics & those in recovery are a danger to anyone. 3) People can change.

Likewise, I am showing my fellow addicts/alcoholics that - 1) It is possible to recover from addiction/alcoholism. 2) It is possible to live without the cravings to use/drink. 3) It is possible to be a valued member of the community again. 4) The stigma around addiction/alcoholism can be overcome. 5)  The communities opinion of those who have come from an addiction/alcoholic background can be changed for the better with education, time and patience.

I know this kind of dramatic change of opinion in the UK isn't going to happen overnight, but I also know that unless people like you and I, start to speak up for what we believe then It's never going to happen and this situation is going to get a lot worse for everyone. I want my children to grow up in a world where those living with health problems get the help they need promptly, with the support of their local community so that they can heal fully. I don't think that's too much to ask. Do you?

Keep taking the medicine???

I've just read The Guardian article highlighted on Daily Dose, in which the head of the National Treatment Agency, Paul Hayes, dismisses 'ideologues' who claim his organisation's addiction programmes aren't working. Well I for one agree with him, his organisation's addiction programmes most definitely are working, They've managed to give everyone who walked in to a treatment centre and asked for help to stop using drugs another addiction, methadone. The reasons? It's cheap, it keeps the people on it subdued and they hope it'll lower the crime rate.

Paul also says that the evidence for maintenance prescribing is clear and robust, "There are 130% more people in treatment than when we started [in 2001], rather than half the people dropping out because treatment isn't of good quality."

Clear and robust??? If you were drugged up to the eye balls on 100, 150 or 250ml of methadone a day, would you be able to drop out of treatment? What about your methadone addiction? It is only the methadone that locks people in treatment, most never escape the trap.

Why are the NTA giving this message? The message should be - 

"IT IS POSSIBLE TO OVERCOME ADDICTION AND LIVE A PRODUCTIVE, JOY FULL LIFE!!"

Recovery is where it is, not treatment for treatment's sake. The power of community, that's how we're going to sort out the shit-pit, this country's become. The Recovery Movement is gathering pace.

It's time to dust your boots off and get stuck in, before it's too late.

Moving on...

At the moment I'm editing and uploading film to You Tube. The filming took place last year and Mark Saunders and I got to have a go at being on the 'other side' of the camera for a change! A lot of the people we filmed, have become volunteers with Wired In and have moved on somewhat from the stage they were at when the filming took place.

It is totally amazing how that change manifests itself for different people. One of the individuals we filmed is now drug free, has secure accommodation and has started to help others along their path to recovery. His spiritual life has blossomed, in fact he's a different person to the one we filmed - There's a sunny outlook now, the darkness has gone!

One of the other guys we filmed (Chris Hobbs) is now well maintained on a substitute prescription and doesn't use street drugs anymore. He also has his own private accommodation. With all the money he's saved from not buying drugs, he has passed his driving test and bought a car, which has given him the freedom to visit his extended family, living in England, and also to get around a lot easier with his young family.

To be in the position where I can witness individuals, making these kind of changes in their lives, is an unbelievable privilege that many do not get the chance to experience. It is definitely the best part of my job. There are many people that make it out of drug addiction into recovery, and recovery that is long-term too. But the problem is that we don't always get to hear about those people, and this is why I believe that what Wired In is doing is so important. For those who are still trapped in the depths of addiction, there can be no better person to hear about recovery from, than a recovered addict - straight from the horses mouth. 

We should all be pushing for this kind of thing to happen on a far bigger scale, with proper funding. Until ex-addicts are given the platform to be able to discuss their personal experiences, victory's and failures, then we simply aren't going to understand recovery, with all of it's connotations. The better our understanding of recovery, that is, understanding gained from those who have recovered, the better we can facilitate recovery in others.

The Wired In 'Way Forward'

Wired In's strategy was launched today on Daily Dose and I for one think it's bang on! Drug and alcohol services out there should be offering a service based on 'recovery' not simply treatment for treatment's sake.

In an earlier blog I spoke of my experiences of community based drug services in my local area, and how once I was on Methadone my key worker thought her job was done, she couldn't even remember my name without looking on her folder. For people to succeed in obtaining lasting recovery, they need a strong relationship with their worker/s which is led by the client themselves. Without this it becomes very hard to make any meaningful, lasting changes to their lives. 

I'd like to stress I'm not saying all the doctors, CPN's or key-workers I've ever been with, have been of no help to me, because that simply wouldn't be true, my current GP is excellent and I know there are many other excellent workers out there.But, we need more of them and if your in a 'caring job' and aren't enjoying it or you've lost your enthusiasm, then get out, do something else, something that will fulfill you.

The current 'containment' strategy in operation, at prescribing services up and down the country isn't working. Yes substitute prescribing has it's place, but it's not the magical answer to everything.

Film Blog and subscription in a Reader

You’ll see we’ve launched a new blog, 'Our films', which we will periodically update with our film material. We will be working in this way until we launch during the summer our new online recovery resource at www.wiredin.org.uk.

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