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It’s hard to believe that my vision of seven years comes to fruition today – well, at least the first stage of that vision. The launch of this online recovery community.
All those years back, I read a book by Amy Jo Kim called ‘Community Building on the Web’ which helped bring together in my head so many of the ideas I had about substance use problems and how they might be tackled.
I knew then that one of the key strategies of Wired In had to be to develop an online community that brought people together from around the world to tackle substance use problems.
A community that provided a warm and supportive environment to help people overcome or alleviate their own problems, and help other people.
A community that would harness the passion and drive of people at a grassroots level. And create a voice that would challenge the prejudices of society, the negativism of the popular media, and the inadequacies of the current treatment system.
An online community that would facilitate and synergise real-world activities, and help bring about a change in communities worldwide.
I tried for years to obtain funding from the field to develop this online community, without luck. Finally, I decided to fund it myself using the last of my early retirement money. A gamble definitely! A calculated gamble that comes good, hopefully!
I guess this was a bit like what happened in that wonderful Kevin Costner film, ‘Field of Dreams’ – build it and they will come.
Except that we are looking for two groups of people. People to come and participate in the community, and organisations and individuals to sponsor the community. In relation to the latter, the reality is that this innovative project cannot realise its potential without the kind financial support of others.
Please take your time to look around our web community. You will see that there is already a good deal of original material on the site – take a peek at the various archives – and some people have already started to blog and participate in other community activities. Join them by registering to our site and creating your own personal profile.
As far as we can see, there is no other website anywhere that resembles this web community.
This is just the beginning of what will be an exciting journey. I hope you will join us on that journey, and help our community realise the full potential of what it is trying to do.
Your participation, as community member or funder or both, will be greatly appreciated, not just by ourselves, but eventually by many people from around the world.
PS. There are so many people who have helped us reach this stage – you all know who you are, thank you so much. I also want to thank three very special people who helped realise my vision, by helping put this web community and all its content together – Lucie James, Kevin Manley and Nathan Pitman. It is a pleasure and a privilege to work with you.
Hopefully this is just the beginning of an exciting journey. It has been a pleasure to work with you and your team David.
What excites me most about this project is not the website itself but the content and the feeling of community which exists already with just a handful of users.
Congratulations on the launch! This is a great facility and will help support many in their recoveries. It has a great feel to it.
Thanks a lot David. A long time in coming, but i feel good – and proud. Lot of people helped make this happen.
Your latest blog is moving along nicely!
David I have been with you from the very beginning. I have been there when the frustrations were more than anyone should be expected to bear when simply trying to “do good”. It has been a long journey for you and there have been many blind alleys along the way and many deflated dreams. But they were not dreams they were a vision and you kept the faith. I am proud to have worked alongside you all these years and I consider you as a friend as well as a colleague. My world has been, and is Daily Dose and I have not had much involvement with the development of the Wired In website. So I am as unbiased as I can be when I say that it is a truly remarkable achievement. The lifeblood of a community website is its members and I hope that it goes from strength to strength and achieves all that you envisage. Finally, I must congratulate everyone else involved with the development of Wired In.
Jim
Thanks Jim for your much appreciated comments. Of course, the ‘outside world’ has little conception of all those trials and tribulations we have shared over the years. But they are just part and parcel of trying to get somewhere – you learn from them and keep pushing the agenda.
We’ve had some great – and difficult – times with DD over the years, but we’ve kept the faith and shared a great friendship. I’ve really appreciated the times you have been there when I needed someone.
We’re at the next stage now and it is interesting to think what is around the corner. You and I both know, the potential is HUGE. But we got to get the financial backing.
We both know, the community will eventually rule! It may take time, but…
David, I want to add my own and Irene’s congratulations to you on the successful launch of Wired In.
When I first contacted you 5 years or so ago I little realised what the outcome would be, but I was impressed by your knowledge and your passion for the field and felt that here was someone who shared many of our concerns and views, and who had the energy and drive to take their dream forward.
The site and the online community are an inspiration to carers, users and practitioners alike and I believe it can promote not only recovery, but changes in public perception and in the way we deal with addiction and all of the issues involved. So here we go… let’s hope the funders sit up and take notice so that it’s enabled to achieve its full potential which is enormous. We’re with you all the way, and having met Lucie and Kevin this week, and heard about some of the other volunteers, know that you’ve got a great team behind you and are proud to be associated with it.
Ian
Thanks Ian. Now the and hard work starts!
Congrats to all involved in the set up of the online community, I hope I can contribute to the healing and recovery it will allow many to access. Big hug annemarie x
Hay Dave, totally wonderful, what an asset and inspiration you are for myself in recovery and so many in so many differant areas of addiction, yup you right! I have yet to see a sight set up like your, well done.
“WITHOUT CHANGE THERE IS NO PROGRESS, AND WITHOUT PROGRESS THERE IS NO FUTURE!” simple little saying yet so very true, Like dear Annemarie i hope i can contribute to all on this site and learn of all from this site. This site and you have helped me walk away from the problems i don’t want in my life, in turn this has allowed me to understand and put in place who i do not need to be. Thanks Dave, your 1 in a millon Yenwarp xx
where’s my praise heh???
so biased!!!!!
we will see how far you lot get without me when im off to hollywood!!!!
lol
You are my hero.
Chris is my hero.
David and the Wired In folk, it is easy in most field to continue to do what you have done in the past and difficult to have the vision of doing something different. It is even more difficult to turn that vision into a reality which is what you have all managed to do with this site. In Daily Dose you showed what could be done with an internet news portal and now you show the potential of an online recovery community. I have no doubt that there will be many challenges ahead but the value of communication as people exchange their ideas and experiences of recovery cannot be overstated. With this new site it is now possible for those exchanges to draw in people from every country where drug problems proliferate and that of course is every country in the world. I wish you well and I hope that the site gets the support we need it to enjoy.
