Our Sponsors are an important foundation of our online community. Please visit their websites.
Our Associate Sponsors provide valuable support to our community and help build 'The Wall'.
Our partners help move the Wired In agenda forward.
Join our community, create your own profile page, and communicate about what matters to you.
Dear all,
This is the first of an ongoing series of blogs, aiming to keep you informed and involved as plans progress towards the big day. The first UK Recovery Walk planning meeting was held in Glasgow on the 22nd January and we will be reporting back on this and future meetings and developments.
Here, Anne Marie outlines the vision for this year’s March. In subsequent blogs this week we will outline key tasks and how you can participate either in planning and organising the walk, raising awareness of the event or donating funds. We will also give you details of when and how you will be able register for the walk.
Michaela
UK Recovery Walk 2010 – The Vision
We are asking you to join us in this dramatic display of support for recovery. Over the last few years, here in the UK, recovered people have taken significant strides in ‘putting a face on recovery’.
We are the faces of your neighbours, business leaders, school teachers, clergy, police officers and others representative of your community. We believe that by being public about our recovery and through the power of our personal stories, we have incredible potential to become a teaching and healing force.
Indeed, by having the courage to proclaim that ‘recovery is a reality’ in our lives, we believe we can help shape public policy and begin to reduce stigma.
We have made arrangements to meet on Saturday, September 25th, 2010 at 3pm in Glasgow’s George Square. Where we hope thousands of individuals will offer themselves as living proof that recovery is real. Then in the evening have a celebratory event comprising of special guests, music, dancing, comedy and general all round fun.
We need your help to remove barriers to recovery and open new doors for those still struggling, and those who are struggling to support the ones they love. We need your help to show that those we have lost are not forgotten.
I’d like to take a little time and describe my vision for this year’s event:
I am hopeful that we can draw many thousands of people in recovery, and those support of recovery, from all over the UK and beyond.
I desire that every national television station, radio station and newspaper not only cover the walk, but helps us promote it.
I earnestly long for that point in time where every recovery worker in the field, MP, judge, prosecutor, businessman and key policy maker sees that ‘the lie is dead, we do recover’. I would also like to help them see and completely understand that recovery is a reality in the lives of thousands upon thousands of individuals, families and communities right here in the UK.
I yearn for the day when they are moved to make a solemn vow that all existing barriers must be removed and that every person still struggling must be given an opportunity to recover.
My vision quite simply is that every person in early recovery and every person not yet in recovery, who attends or hears about the UK Recovery Walk 2010, will be saturated with the power, hope and healing of recovery.
I envision the Recovery Walk 2010 as being the most dramatic and most powerful large scale, high-profile intervention of hope ever hosted anywhere, any time or any place here in the UK.
Would like to join, yet probally have had back operation by then, any wheel chairs preferably battery operated your way.
Powerful stuff,
Look forward to hearing more and I will help in any way I can. On the recurring theme of “changing hats” I have decided to don my optimist’s trilby today and am feeling really positive about what we can achieve in 2010. My personal aim for 2010 is to leave the cynical Stetson for special occasions.
Yours,
Matthew
CEO The pedantic society
Count me in, this event will be written about in the history books.
I’m really looking forward to raising the conscious levels in Glasgow on this day. It’s gonna be illuminating to say the least. I really hope the media gets behind this event and portrays it in the right context as well.
Great stuff Annemarie and, as you know, the SDRC will support this in lots of ways. I look forward to realising the vision through the shared talents of many others.
Hi Annemarie
Count me in !!!!!
Was going on Holiday to India for a month in Sept – I am now going in Oct instead – How can I help ? I will certainly volunteer to promote it at every available oppurtunity in Sheffield and beyond please get in touch.
Fantastic. I’m hoping to bring a bus load of Welshies up too. Spread the word everyone :-)
As a potential member of the UK Recovery Federation and also involved in any way i can with the March … I would like to put my name forward as already mentioned to Annemarie to maybe do a share of my experience on the day after hearing Annemarie speak in Liverpool in 2009 (which brought tears to my eyes) of my own addiction to alcohol and how recovery is for myself after being given 6-12 months life expectancy in March 2005 and also after coming from Glasgow myself and leaving Glasgow over 20 years with my best friend (alcohol) to chase the career of drinking … I feel its the right place to share and hopefully help others thinking if recovery is for themselves!!
See you all next week in Liverpool xxx
Ohhh … Almost Forgot … I also hope to have a coach load coming from Blackpool, Preston and other areas within Lancashire to Glasgow also … PLUS i am presently working as promised to get the people in services, ex service-users and those in recovery etc from the LGBT Community Nationally to come along also…
Members of the LGBT community are very much a hard to reach group and even harder to reach within services BUT as i am also the Founder and CEO of an LGBT Specific Alcohol and Domestic Abuse Network .. i will try my best to get to these individuals and groups in the UK and hopefully see them take part in the recovery walk and maybe the UK Recovery Federation also.
Brilliant!!! Will be there for sure. Anything I can do to help? I’m spreading the word. Love it.
