How I'm recovering from addiction

Landing lights in the dark

2012-02-01T00:05:00.000-08:00

How one Person in Recovery sees Living Room Cardiff, the new recovery centre for Cardiff and South Wales.

I think in metaphors all the time, it's almost a compulsion, but as I am something of a story teller by trade, I think it's naturally how I am meant to think. I teach history, and from time to time historical visions come to me, and they help me to explain and comprehend my own recovery.
One such image has stayed with me for a while now, and it concerns the fate of American airmen during the Second World War, as they flew in the twilight across the vast expanses of the Pacific Ocean.
They had been sent out to find the Japanese fleet; I can't remember if this was at the Coral Sea or Midway or Leyte, but it was long before the outcome of the war was certain.
They had flown from the decks of America's aircraft carriers, their only home in tens of thousands of square miles of ocean, searching for the Japanese.
When they found them the fighting was bloody and many on both sides were lost, the Americans, having completed their mission, flew home, but as they did, the sun began to set.
The commanders of the US fleet knew that the biggest danger to them was a Japanese reprisal attack coming at night and they decided they could not risk having the landing lights on their aircraft carriers on, as they would stand out like beacons.
So the desperate pilots, now low on fuel circled and circled, looking for ships they could not see, and could not find, until one commander, hearing plane engines that he was sure were American, relented and switched on the flood lights.
Like that, there was and island of light in the dark. Planes that were flying on fumes descended from the night, their exhausted crews tearful with relief.
How like recovery this sounds, we come from so many futile, bloody struggles, so weary and full of pain desperate for anything in the wide lonely oceans and wildernesses of our lives to cling on to, and if we have faith and don't surrender to despair, someone, somewhere will turn on the lights for us.
Once I was the pilot, skidding down the runway, now I am the man on the deck, guiding others to touch down at Living Room Cardiff, on our island of light in the dark.

Nick

Gonestrwydd gyda'n hunain

2012-01-29T01:06:00.000-08:00

Gwrando ar sgwrs am onestrwydd ar Bwrw Golwg ar BBC Radio Cymru bore ‘ma.

Mae gonestrwydd llwyr yn anghenraid cyn y gall unrhyw un ddod i berthynas â’r dwyfol. Rhaid i ddyn fod yn gwbl onest gyda’i hunan cyn y gall yn ddiogel dderbyn mynediad i deyrnas yr ysbryd a delio gydag o. Fel y dywed Morton Kelsey yn ei lyfr Encounter with God, ‘All others are either turned away or they find themselves entangled and enmeshed in the darker sides of spirituality, for God does not like false faces.’

Ychydig iawn o bobl sydd â’r dewrder a’r gwrhydri i ganiatáu i’w hunain ddod i ymwybyddiaeth lwyr o beth ydynt, a pha bethau sy’n gudd o’u mewn, a phan nad yw dynion yn fodlon gwneud hynny, mae’n amhosib iddynt gyfarfod Duw.

Dyma’r prif reswm pam na all rhai pobl, sy’n gwbl analluog i fod yn onest gyda nhw eu hunain, adfer o ddibyniaethau ar alcohol a chyffuriau eraill. Rhaid iddynt, yn gyntaf, ddinoethi eu hunain yn llwyr. Dim ond wedyn mae’r broses o drawsnewid eu bywydau yn gallu dechrau.

The hustling of booze at times resembles something akin to drug pushing

2012-01-25T00:11:00.001-08:00

These are difficult times for supermarkets, price wars, falling profit margins and talk of closing huge out of town retail sheds dominate the news, and now the spectre of the Prime Minister giving consideration to minimum alcohol pricing.

Inventive solutions to these testing conditions are necessary, and it seems that Sainsbury’s has decided to sell as much cheap alcohol as possible before new regulations are introduced.

Sainsbury’s supermarket on Queen Street in Cardiff now sell a litre of white wine (or rose, if you prefer) for the bargain price of £3.20, slightly more than the price of sandwiches, a price which is guaranteed to make excess consumption an inevitability.
What could possibly motivate this pricing policy, given that the majority of evidence based research indicates that alcohol pricing has a clear relationship with excess consumption and alcoholism. All the studies that have reached the headlines in recent years seem to agree, cheap booze costs lives.

The packaging of this ‘special offer’ is interesting in itself as it is branded under the ‘Basics’ range, and sold at the queue-line for the automated tills in huge quantities.

Cheap alcohol, sold in a bargain product brand (perhaps to confuse it with the kind of cheap dietary staples that families desperate to make ends meet in a recession might buy) sold in plastic bottles with screw caps – the discerning wine buff is unlikely to be the target market.

More likely, the target market is the kind of person who values cheap alcohol, the sort of person who on a daily basis does the arithmetic of booze, calculating price against percentage per volume.

Sainsbury’s has perhaps considered that the golden age of bargain basement booze sales is drawing to a close, and that there might be few opportunities to sell the drug at so low a price as now.

Making hay while the sun shines, is, of course, a primary consideration for businesses, but if the troubles of our times are teaching us anything at all it should be this: We are more than businesses, our hearts and souls cannot be plotted into an Excel spreadsheet, we have higher responsibilities to one another than the simple mechanics of profit and loss.

The hustling of booze at times resembles something akin to drug pushing, and to sell a powerful, addictive and poisonous substance at the queue line for tills as if it were an impulse buy is a deliberate, calculated and cynical act.

Ironically, in many supermarkets, sweets and chocolate have been removed from the tills because harassed parents have often felt pressurised to buy their children unhealthy treats while doing the weekly shop.

It reveals volumes about our times that a Diary Milk or a Twix can be removed in the interests of customer health and well being, and be replaced by cheap alcohol instead.

A Faustian pact

2012-01-12T16:02:00.000-08:00

Cynicism is a word that is so frequently over used these days that gradually, over time, it loses its strength, its meaning becomes diluted. It takes financially difficult times like the ones we live through, and will continue to live through for years to come, for mercenary individuals and businesses to raise predatory practices to new heights.

There is something unique, in economic terms, about a casino, it is the only business that offers neither a product, nor a service, it fails to create anything (other than perhaps the illusion that some kind of success or wealth is possible) and instead feeds upon our very human need to feel risk, reward and excitement. Unlike smoking, which was known to be addictive for decades - and until court action wrung the truth out of the tobacco companies was not public knowledge - gambling's addictive qualities have been an open secret for centuries.

At precisely the time that ever greater demands for financial prudence are being imposed on the poorest, at precisely the time that essential services are being pared back to the bone, the Coalition are giving online casinos and betting chains carte blanche to entice another generation into indebtedness, addiction and despair.

Take the case of Think Bingo, the current sponsors of the Jeremy Kyle show. The entire point of commercial broadcasting is to find an audience and capture it with entertainment, and then deliver that audience to an advertiser who is likely to be able to sell something.
In the case of the Jeremy Kyle Show, described by Judge Alan Berg as:"A morbid and depressing display of dysfunctional people whose lives are in turmoil", and that it was "a plain disgrace which goes under the guise of entertainment" and "Human Bear Baiting," gambling advertisers have chosen to ally their harmful and dysfunctional with a programme that seems to echo their values.

With a largely low income and often unemployed daytime audience, the show, once sponsored by Learn Direct, has forged a rather Faustian pact with Think Bingo to increase the indebtedness of its viewers.

Given the fact that the show claims to be a forum for good, a means by which contestants (if that is the correct term?) and audiences are helped, encouraging them to hand their hard earned money over to mercenary gambling magnates is quite a breath taking act of hypocrisy.

Given the fact that Jeremy Kyle himself deals with all manner of addicts on his show, creating an aggressive simulacrum of recovery for sick and desperate people, while in reality providing prurient viewers with an underclass Barnum and Bailey circus for them to gawp over - its association with gambling advertisers should open our eyes to its absence of any legitimacy.

Interestingly, Kyle himself said: "...Sometimes people need to be stripped bare before they can be helped."

By this he meant that his programme had some valuable role in deconstructing and deprogramming dysfunctional people, but perhaps it is time we exposed more than the private miseries of others in order to sell addictive and destructive 'entertainment'?
Soap opera Emmerdale is sponsored by Tombola Bingo, and whilst Emmerdale has higher production values and actually pays its actors instead of using a constant stream of damaged people, the fact remains that a much loved family drama is being used by big gambling businesses in much the same way that a fisherman uses a fly.
Cockney national treasure Barbara Windsor has been picked exclusively because of her demographic appeal to be the public face of Jackpot Joy, and it is no coincidence once more that the bulk of adverts featuring her are broadcast during the day. Bored, frustrated and despairing people, often unemployed, are the 'mark' in a multi billion pound sting.

We are told, repeatedly, that we are 'all in this together', that the current economic crisis is akin to the spirit of the Blitz, that national and social unity should prevail and that a pragmatic, stoic and typically British spirit of 'keep calm and carry on' should prevail.

Are any of these slogans in use in the head offices of large online gambling companies, or in the conversations had between their lobbyists and their friends in all three major parties?

It is doubtful. Because as we all try to muddle through together, to keep calm and carry on, there are powerful predatory forces encouraging harmful addictive behaviour, who see other people's poverty, desperation and sorrow, not as a tragedy, but as an opportunity.

24 Hour Alcohol Delivery Services present a mortal risk for alcoholics

2012-01-04T04:10:00.003-08:00

In the past week, Wynford Ellis Owen, Director of the Welsh Council For Alcohol and Other Drugs visited an alcoholic engaged in an ongoing battle with alcohol addiction.

What confronted him as he stepped through the front door was a scene from hell.

In a recent blog post Wynford described the alcoholic's home as the prison of "…A still suffering alcoholic in the throes of active addiction with vomit all over the place – in Pyrex bowls and plates; on the settee; on the carpet; in the sink on top of her soaking, dirty plates; all over the bathroom; saturating her pillow and matted in her hair – and urine drenching her bedclothes and the stench permeating the whole flat. This alcoholic is being supplied with alcohol by a new breed of pariahs, the alcohol home delivery services, which she accesses by computer or telephone during the night."

In the last decade, drinks manufacturers have been inserting into their adverts the words 'Please enjoy Jack Daniels/Jacobs Creek/Stella Artois responsibly', placing the responsibility for the outcomes of drinking squarely on the shoulders of the drinker.

Is it not time that the drinks manufacturers now communicated a similar message to retailers and wholesalers of alcoholic drinks, asking them to 'Please sell our products responsibly'?

The commercial practice of selling alcohol by home delivery 24 hours a day makes the word irresponsible rather redundant. There is no legal sanction against this practice, and unlike alcohol sales on licensed premises, there is no penalty for selling alcohol to an already intoxicated person or under-age person.

Given that the market for late night parties that unexpectedly run out of wine or beer is probably rather small, the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs believes this trade thrives on alcoholics and has found at least one example where this is demonstrably the case.

The government, both in Wales and in Westminster must act to ensure that this new and unregulated frontier in the drinks industry is forced to adhere to the highest standards of responsibility, or be forced to cease trading.

However, beyond government action the home delivery sellers of alcohol must take strenuous action in order to distinguish themselves from common drug pushers, benefiting from a veneer of legality.

The fact that it is legal to sell alcohol to a dying alcoholic at any hour of the day or night should not be confused with the idea that it is right to do so, sellers of addictive and toxic products like alcohol should actually have a higher moral threshold than other retailers, given the risks to health and wellbeing that their products pose.

A few things which I regard as very important as we start on a new year

2012-01-02T15:13:00.000-08:00

A while ago, I wanted something from a certain shop. I used to call there regularly. This particular day, however, when I tried to open the door, to my great surprise, it was locked. I knocked several times, thinking that the shopkeeper for once had overslept. Eventually, after banging at the door several times, it was opened and I could see that the shopkeeper was very wide awake indeed.

“What do you want?” he asked angrily. And then after a second thought, he said, “Alright, come in quick.”

As soon as I was inside, he locked the door again.
There were no other customers inside only myself, but there were two or three other people behind the counter, all very much occupied.

“My word, what’s going on in here?” I asked. “You all seem very busy.”

The shopkeeper answered, “It’s stock-taking time here I’m afraid, and we are closing the shop today so that we can get on with the job.”

Of course, I felt somewhat guilty and offered my apologies for interfering with their work.

Now, don’t you think we ought to do something like that at the beginning on a new year? I mean, spiritually, of course. Ought we not to look into our hearts and thoroughly examine ourselves to find out how it is with us as we face a new year?

The times are evil. There’s not much shine on our spiritual life is there? Our stock has surely got very low and the prospects are not at all bright. Let us therefore take stock of our resources. For in a certain sense, life is a business concern. A book was publishes several years ago and its title was: This Business of Living.

“What do you do when you set about this complicated job of stock-taking?” I asked the shopkeeper. “What is the first thing you do?”

“Well,” he said, “the first thing I do is to close the shop for a day or two. There is a notice in the window to that effect and obviously you hadn’t seen it, or you wouldn’t have been banging on the door a few minutes ago. It’s quite impossible to get on with this stock-taking with customers coming in twos and threes all day long. So we close the shop.”

A very good idea, don’t you think? We too could do something like that. Shut everything out; forget for a while the cares of the world, the problems of every day life, so that we can give our whole attention to the things that matter.

Wordsworth, in one of his poems, says:

‘The world is too much with us, late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers’

How true that is. In order to examine ourselves thoroughly and take stock of our spiritual resources, we must shut the door tight and lock it so that we can concentrate on the priorities of life. So, the first thing we’ve got to do is to shut the door; close the shop.

“What’s the next step?” I asked the shopkeeper. “What do you do next?”

“Well,” he said, “we make an exact list of everything we’ve got in the shop. By doing this, we find out what we are most in need of. We find, for example, that we have a good stock of one thing but that we are dangerously short of something else.”

We too must do something like that – take stock of all that we have; count our blessings, as it were. No shop is ever empty of goods. Neither is life. We all have what we might call assets – things that are of value to us and to other people. Health – that is one very precious thing. Food and clothing – they’re two others. We need all these things. We have friends, families, sponsors, and the good things of this world. Let us be grateful for what we have already in stock.

But to know just what we have in stock is only part of the purpose of stock-taking. The main purpose is to give us some idea of the things we are short of; the things we must order for the future.

Some things are more in demand than others. Go to any shop and you will find that there are many commodities there that are only asked for occasionally. But there are other things, like bread and milk, for instance, that we must keep constantly in stock - things that are needed for day-to-day living.

Life is like that too. Food and clothing, health and happiness – we want all those things. But if we examined ourselves in this manner, we might discover that there are some things that we are short of, things that are we are desperately in need of – such as discovering the secret of serenity or experiencing wholeness. You might have everything else – good name, character, wealth, friends, and all that. Yet, that is not enough. There is one thing you haven’t got – wholeness maybe - and until you get that, life is no good.

There is a lot of cheap stuff on the market today – wealth, pleasure, and so on, and we are in danger of cramming our lives with these things. But there are other things too, things that neither moth nor rust can corrupt; things that will stand us in good stead in this life: faith, hope, trust and love.

There was one other thing the shopkeeper told me. “When stock-taking,” he said “I also get a chance to clean the shop from top to bottom. You have no idea how much dust there is here, and I take this opportunity to clean the place out.”

This is another thing we could do to our advantage. When we examine ourselves, and take stock of our lives, a lot of ugly things will no doubt come to light. Habits that we have formed unawares – they will all come to light and we shall feel ashamed of ourselves.

Here is a chance for us at the beginning of a new year to cleanse our minds and souls and to rededicate ourselves to that which is pure and good and leads to sound recovery.

I wish you all a happy New Year and all that's good for 2012.

We ain't never gonna be able to hide it from the world

2011-12-28T02:39:00.000-08:00

An interesting phenomenon of alcoholism is that, try as he may, the alcoholic cannot successfully hide his addiction from the world.

Over time his behaviour belies his true condition. It becomes impossible to keep it under wraps, and his sorry state eventually becomes public knowledge.

Alarmingly, many try to hide their recoveries from the world as well. They misinterpret the concept of anonymity and embark on a mission to hide their good fortune from the world. (Some, I’ve heard, even try to hide it from their own family members!)

Instead of “shouting it from the rooftops” as the Big Book suggests, recovery for too many, alas, can become another dirty little secret.

With this attitude it becomes nigh impossible to put a positive face and a voice to recovery - to counter the stigma and discrimination that still exists in society towards people with mental health and substance misuse issues.

Ask yourself: Is my recovery becoming another dirty little secret?

'Dinas a osodir ar fryn, ni ellir ei chuddio. Ac ni oleuant gannwyll a'i dodi dan lestr....'

Neges i wraig/ ŵr neu gymar a phlant yr alcoholig neu’r un sy’n gaeth

2011-12-23T01:32:00.000-08:00

Mae’r Alcoholig yn aflonyddu am gael y ddiod nesaf ac fel arfer mae ei gymar yn aflonyddu am ei atal rhag cael y ddiod nesaf. Felly, mae’r ddau’n aflonyddu am alcohol - a’r plant druain (os oes rhai) yn ffwndro ac yn ceisio gwneud ‘addasiadau peryglus ac afiach’ i geisio ymdopi gyda phresenoldeb alcohol yn eu bywydau - sydd yn naturiol yn creu ei lefelau ei hunan o straen a phoen.

Yn rhy aml, clywais am alcoholigion yn mynd i ffwrdd i gael triniaeth breswyl ymhell i ffwrdd ac yn dychwelyd at eu teuluoedd - dim ond i syrthio’n ôl yn fuan wedyn. Mae hyn oherwydd bod gan deuluoedd gyflwr y maen nhw’n dychwelyd iddo pan fydd digwyddiadau’n eu bwrw oddi ar eu hechel, a elwir yn ‘homoeostasis’. Ystyr hwn yw bod eu systemau wedi datblygu dros nifer o flynyddoedd i “gefnogi” (yn anfwriadol) yr alcoholig sy’n dal i yfed ac nid yr alcoholig sy’n gwella.

Dychmygwch degan symudol uwch ben crud plentyn- tynnwch un rhan ohono (yr alcoholig) ac mae’r system i gyd yn syrthio. Mae aelodau eraill y teulu wedi tueddu i ddefnyddio’r alcoholig fel bwch dihangol, gan ganiatáu iddo/ iddi gael ei gyhuddo/ chyhuddo am holl broblemau’r teulu. Nid yw’r aelodau eraill hyn wedi arfer gofalu am na delio â’u problemau eu hunain. Nid yw hyn yn syndod. Felly, pan fydd y rhan honno (yr alcoholig) yn dychwelyd i wneud y tegan symudol yn gyfan eto - mae’n mynd yn ôl i’w hen ffurf. Gwallgo’ neu beth? Ond, mae’r teulu (yn anfwriadol) - heblaw bod aelodau unigol y teulu hwnnw’n newid - yn gwneud i’r alcoholig feddwi eto.

Yn Stafell Fyw, Caerdydd, felly, anogwn deuluoedd (holl aelodau’r teulu) i edrych ar y ‘broblem’ yn wahanol - nid yn ynysig, ond fel rhan o’r cyflawn, ac i helpu i symud y cyfrifoldeb am y newid oddi wrth yr un unigolyn (fel arfer y person sy’n ddibynnol ar alcohol a/ neu gyffuriau) at bawb yn y system neu’r teulu.

Cysylltwch â ni i gael mwy o wybodaeth am Grwpiau Teulu. gwybodaeth@cyngorcymru.org.uk neu www.thelivingroom-cardiff.com neu ffoniwch 029 2049 3895

A message for the wife/husband or partner of the alcoholic or addict

2011-12-23T01:28:00.000-08:00

The Alcoholic obsesses about having the next drink, and his partner usually obsesses about stopping him having that next drink. Both therefore are obsessing about alcohol – and the poor children (if there are any) are floundering and trying to make ‘precarious and unhealthy adjustments’ to try and cope with the presence of alcohol in their lives – which naturally creates its own levels of stress and pain.

Too often I’ve heard of alcoholics accessing residential treatment far away and returning to their families – only to relapse soon afterwards, because families usually have a state to which they return if events knock them off balance, which is known as ‘homoeostasis’ – their system has been developed over many years to unwittingly “support” the still-drinking alcoholic and not the recovering alcoholic.

Imagine a mobile above a child’s cot – remove one part of it (the alcoholic) and the whole system collapses. The other family members, you see, have tended to use the alcoholic as a scapegoat, letting him/or her carry the can for all the family’s ills. These other members, not surprisingly, are just not used to looking at or dealing with their own issues. Therefore, when that part (the alcoholic) is duly returned to make the mobile whole again – it reverts to its old shape. Crazy isn’t it? But the family, unwittingly – unless the individual members of that family system change – will get the alcoholic drunk again.

At Living Room Cardiff, therefore, we encourage families (all family members) to view the ‘problem’ differently – not in isolation, but as part of the whole; and to help shift responsibility for change from the one individual (usually the alcohol and/or drug dependent person) to all involved in that system or family.

Contact us at Living Room Cardiff for further information regarding Family Groups. info@welshcouncil.org.uk or www.thelivingroom-cardiff.com or phone 029 2049 3895

Went out for a lovely meal last night with some Living Roomers. We had a great time. This was followed by a Welsh language meeting at our wonderful centre in Richmond Road.

Lighten up and give yourself a break

2011-12-17T02:21:00.000-08:00

Laughter is the best medicine.

Taking myself too serious1y can get me into trouble. I have to loosen up; lighten up; and have a laugh at myself. When I don’t – nothing seems to go right somehow; no one else does what I want them to do; and things tend to not work out for me either.

I can’t really put my finger on what’s wrong. It’s just that I don’t feel a 100 percent; that I’m not firing on all cylinders. It’s as if a dark cloud has suddenly appeared in the otherwise blue sky of my recovery.

This is when I need other recovering alcoholics and addicts the most. They can see in me things I can’t see for myself – that maybe I’m taking life a little too seriously.
“I’m sure God’s having a right old laugh looking at you now” they say. “If you could only see your behaviour through His eyes, you’d collapse laughing as well!”

So, let’s all of us stand back today and put things in perspective by having a laugh at ourselves, our struggles, our stubbornness, our defiance, and our desires. I’ll promise you one thing: you’ll feel much, much better if you do. Laughter, after all, IS the best medicine.

Try taking a good dose or two of it today.

You can read more blogs by visiting www.welshcouncil.org.uk or on Twitter. No Room To Live.

Y ffin denau rhwng llawenydd a thristwch yn thema ganolig yng Ngweddi'r Nadolig

2011-12-09T05:49:00.000-08:00

Wrth i bwysau gynyddu ar economïau’r byd mae’n hawdd iawn anghofio effaith byd-eang y polisïau macro ar fywydau pob dyn a dynes ar y stryd. Mae Gweddi Nadolig flynyddol Cyngor Cymru ar Alcohol a Chyffuriau Eraill yn tynnu sylw at yr angen i weddïo dros y rheini sy’n ei chael hi’n anodd dod a dau ben llinyn ynghyd mewn amser o ansicrwydd cymdeithasol ac ariannol, ac sy’n cael eu temtio i droi at gyffuriau neu alcohol am gysur.

Mae’r weddi, sydd wedi ei ysgrifennu gan y Parchedig Denzil John, hefyd yn crybwyll y ganolfan loches newydd, Stafell Fyw Caerdydd a’i rôl bwysig fel hafan gynnes a chroesawgar o’r byd tu allan o’r rhai sy’n camu trwy’r drysau.

Yn ôl Arolwg Iechyd Llywodraeth Cynulliad Cymru yn 2010, fe gyfaddefodd oddeutu 2 ym mhob 5 o oedolion eu bod wedi yfed mwy na’r cymeriant dyddiol a argymhellir o leiaf un diwrnod yn yr wythnos flaenorol, gan gynnwys tua chwarter o oedolion yn dweud ei bod wedi yfed dros ddwywaith y cymeriant a argymhellir. Nid cyd-ddigwyddiad felly yw’r ffaith fod y nifer o farwolaethau’n ymwneud ag alcohol wedi dyblu yng Nghymru yn y bymtheg mlynedd ddiwethaf.

Roedd 494 o farwolaethau’n ymwneud ag alcohol yn 2010, gyda chynnydd o 14 y cant mewn dynion ac 16.4 y cant mewn merched ers 2006 yn unig. Mewn ymchwil newydd gan Brifysgol John Moores, Lerpwl canfuwyd fod yr anghysondeb rhwng arolygon yn cyfrifo cymeriant a gwerthiant gwirioneddol alcohol yn 430 miliwn uned yr wythnos. Mae hyn yn gyfystyr â photel o win i bob oedolyn sy’n yfed ym Mhrydain yn mynd heb ei chyfrif.

Dywed Wynford Ellis Owen, Prif Weithredwr Stafell Fyw Caerdydd-Living Room Cardiff, “Bydd Nadolig 2011 yn arbennig o anodd i nifer o unigolion a theuluoedd hyd a lled Cymru, ac mae’r weddi eleni yn adlewyrchu popeth sy’n wynebu cymdeithas fodern.

“Mae ansicrwydd yn ein bywydau yn ein gwneud ni’n agored i straen, a tydi anwybyddu’r peth ddim am helpu. Mae’n rhaid i ni wynebu ein hofnau yn hytrach na gobeithio dod o hyd i’r ateb yng ngwaelod potel o win neu becyn o smôcs. Pan fo amseroedd yn anodd, mae hyn yn arbennig o wir. Wedi dweud hyn, mae’r weddi yn un llawn gobaith, ac mae Stafell Fyw Caerdydd yn ymateb positif i faterion anodd a thwfn iawn yng nghalon cymdeithas.”

DIWEDD
Am ragor o wybodaeth cysylltwch â Rhodri Ellis Owen, Cambrensis Cyf ar 029 20 257075 neu rhodri@cambrensis.uk.com.

TRIUMPHANT TIMES

2011-12-09T03:06:00.000-08:00

What a year 2011 has been, one of those crossroad years that the world seems to reach every few decades or so, when amidst the gloom and worry, opportunities for freedom lie.

In the midst of financial crises, Syrian despots, collapsing currencies, corrupt journalists and persecuted victims of press intrusion is a flowering of courage, honesty, integrity and perseverance.

The current state of the world is strikingly similar to the drama of recovery from addiction, and the similarities are so close, that perhaps there are broad human truths that run through both narratives.

As a society we have been debased by the narcissistic culture we have adopted in the past few decades, and 2011 was the year Britain's chickens came home to roost. We learned the real cost of endless spending and indulging. We learned the real cost to human beings of our gawping and prurient celebrity culture. We learned the real cost of marginalising our young people, and felt their anger boil over in the streets.

There will be many tired, ill, lonely and despairing people this Christmas who will be counting the real cost of 'good times' gone terribly wrong, people who are waking up to the realities of their addictions, just as society has started to wake up to its problems too.

For them, the sense of prevailing gloom and fear will be greatly amplified, and for a moment, for every addict who has reached the end of their ability to cope with their illness, a terrible moment of fear and powerlessness will envelop them.

In the midst of this, however, there is hope. The addict has a chance of a fresh start, the realisation that previous behaviours do not work any more, that old ways that seemed like solutions have only led to crisis, can give the addict a much yearned for doorway to freedom.

Sometimes it takes a disaster, the loss of a job or a relationship, to wake the suffering individual up to the truth of their situation and give them a new direction.

As with the addict, we have all had the truths of our societal addictions revealed to us, we have been shown the toxic nature of a society based on egotism and self obsession, and we too have an opportunity to get well.

The heartening fact is that many of us are taking that opportunity; banks, media barons and dictators the world over are being challenged and in many cases overthrown.

We must not only take heart in the knowledge that in the most difficult times that the world is in many ways actually getting better, but also that in every generation people seem to be becoming more caring and thoughtful, not less.

We must transfer our sense of optimism, of hope and of new beginnings to addicts and sufferers everywhere, and demonstrate to them that they can fight their own struggles for freedom, independence and sanity, and by just staying in the fight, day after day, they will inevitably triumph.

Tree of Hope takes root in Cardiff

2011-11-22T13:11:00.000-08:00

The decking of the traditional fir tree is one of the highlights for young and old as part of the Christmas preparations. However, there is one Christmas tree in Cardiff which will have more significance than most this year. The Tree of Hope, located in the newly opened Stafell Fyw Caerdydd – Living Room Cardiff, is launched at 6pm on Tuesday, 20 December 2011. The tree offers an opportunity to attach a star enclosing a message of hope as a way of celebrating freedom from addiction, honouring persons successfully achieving
recovery, to dedicate rays of hope to those still struggling in their illness and those working in the field, and to commemorate lives lost to this tragic and misunderstood disease

The idea for the Tree of Hope came from a visit to a ground-breaking Philadelphia Treatment Centre by Living Room Chief Executive, Wynford Ellis Owen, as part of his Churchill Fellowship in America. The concept of the tree is to demonstrate recovery from addiction is a reality and does happen.

Bev Haberle, on behalf of Philadelphia’s Recovery Community Centre, Pro-Act, said, “It’s great to know the Tree of Hope has crossed the Atlantic as a positive beacon of what is possible if we all pull together. I would encourage as many people as possible to take a minute out of their day in the run up to the Christmas celebrations to help those who are recovering whilst also remembering those who were not so fortunate.”

Wynford Ellis Owen, added, “I was struck at the simplicity of the Tree of Hope concept when I visited the States and thought it a great idea to bring to Wales to mark our first Christmas at the Stafell Fyw Caerdydd – Living Room Cardiff.

“I hope as many people as possible will help us to be a shining beacon of hope in the darkness to those still struggling or to send a message of thanks by placing a star on our Tree of Hope.

“Everyone is welcome to join us for our celebrations on 20th December 2011, where they can collect their individual stars to place on the Living Room Tree of Hope. Visitors are also free to tour the centre, speak to people who work here and enjoy mince pies and sing Christmas carols. I would also like to personally thank Pugh's garden centre for their generosity in supplying the beautiful Christmas tree.

“To have a special message inscribed on an individual star of hope, please call Living Room Cardiff on 029 20493895 or email info@welshcouncil.org.uk by 12th December 2011.”

ENDS

Stafell Fyw-Living Room Cardiff is a new charity set up by the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs (WCAOD) and based in Richmond Road Cardiff. It aims to offer support for anyone experiencing difficulties in relation to alcohol, drugs (prescribed or illicit) or any other dependency or harmful behaviour.

The Living Room Cardiff Concept (LRC) is like no other rehabilitation service currently offered in Wales. The community based day-care Recovery Centre will provide a safe, easy access, non-judgemental space offering a range of interventions including peer-based individual and group psychosocial support.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7TpeptRFEg&feature=player_embedded

We've got to be prepared to loose everything

2011-11-19T00:05:00.000-08:00

I don't think people realise how serious addiction is and that we have to be prepared to loose everything, absolutely everything, in order to recover. We don't necessarily HAVE to loose everything - but we've got to be PREPARED to do so.

Recovery has to becone THE PRIORITY in our lives. More important even than my children, my spouse, my career, my religion, my sport, my hobby, my finances....etc, etc. For if I loose my recovery I'm going to loose all those anyway. Today I'm going to committ to my recovery and do everything - absolutely everything - in order to achieve it, and to maintain it. And don't let PRIDE get in the way. Ask yourself "How important is it?" If it ain't life threatening, don't bother about it.

Rhoi'ch adferiad yn gyntaf, uwch POPETH yw'r nod er mwyn gwella o ddibyniaeth. Rhaid bod yn barod i golli POPETH er mwyn ei ddiogelu. Popeth.

FRANKIE COCOZZA

2011-11-09T15:20:00.001-08:00

What happens when you take an impressionable teenager, propel him to the heights of national fame, applaud him for his talents as a singer, encourage him to think of himself as a latter day Keith Moon and leave him to the tender mercies of the tabloid press?

This week we all found out when the antics of eighteen year old Frankie Cocozza led to him being dropped from X Factor, the show that he had been a contestant in.
His behaviour finally became unacceptable when it was revealed that he had taken cocaine, but for weeks there had been a slew of ever more tedious stories about his alleged excesses. True to form, Simon Cowell was quick to drop Frankie when the revelations came to light.
The Sun newspaper reported him as saying: ''Frankie's blown a wonderful opportunity. It's very sad, but he has no one to blame but himself.''

To take Simon Cowell seriously (and it is likely he doesn't care whether we do or not) we have to ignore most, if not all the context of what has occurred, he seems eager to profit from the successes of his protégés, and all too keen to abandon those who are deemed to have failed.

Firstly, Frankie Cocozza has been consuming a powerful, addictive and frequently lethal drug in massively dangerous doses with the full glare of publicity upon him for weeks on end. The fact that the drug in question is alcohol relegates it in news value to a story about youthful exuberance and harmless fun.

Secondly, the publicity machine that surrounds Frankie and other teenagers like him facilitates much of his behaviour, in order to craft a certain persona, in order to guarantee column inches in the tabloid press, in order to boost the show's ratings, in order to please advertisers, Frankie must make a spectacle of himself.

The X Factor has shown us a degree of naked mercenary greed and selfishness, not to mention monstrous hypocrisy, that few other programmes have ever managed. The moment this admittedly foolish young man has become damaged goods, he is abandoned; there was no question that Simon Cowell, Gary Barlow or anyone else on the show might have felt slightly responsible about his wellbeing at all. To do so might have accidentally apportioned some kind of culpability to the show and the culture that surrounds it, lethal in these times; one only had to look to the example of the News of The World to see what happens when an organ of celebrity culture is held accountable for something.

But the X Factor should be held accountable for failing in its care of Frankie, and there is an interesting parallel thrown up by reality TV this week.

On Saturday, Frankie arrived at the show after having had one hour's sleep. He had been on a long drinking and drug taking bender. Any addiction professional (or layman for that matter) should easily be able to see powerlessness over substances writ large in this scenario; where were the responsible adults around Frankie, where was the guidance?

On Monday night, Junior Apprentice was broadcast, where Lord Sugar reluctantly had to fire yet another hopeful looking to start a business career.
The house where the contestants in this programme were staying was undoubtedly supervised (it was a spotless mansion in an exclusive part of Chelsea or some other salubrious location, with ten teenagers inside it, the chances that they were left to their own devices are next to none existent).

In this scenario, the duty of care that the production company has towards other people's precious beloved children is fulfilled, the idea that they are human beings and worthy of some degree of concern and safety, and not simply commodities to boost advertising revenue or ratings has been implicitly understood.

Why do we have these two different approaches to young people who generate entertainment for us in the two biggest shows on TV? In case of Junior Apprentice, drinking, inappropriate sexual behaviour or drug taking would destroy the show, but in the case of the X Factor, it positively makes the show.

We are left with two wreckages before us, firstly, the wreckage of a young man's life, he has left the X Factor, badly in need of treatment, publicly shamed. Whilst he is certainly not blameless, the true extent of the show's responsibility will no doubt be conveniently ignored.

The second wreckage is that of the state of public discourse about drugs and alcohol, once again a magic, invisible line has been drawn between the two, hiving drink off as a special exempt class of substance, not really a drug per se.

The effect of this is to help mythologise drinking for a whole new generation, and Frankie has unwittingly done this, propagating an unspoken but tacit message: "Don't do coke kids, but drinking is fine."

Some handy hints on how to recover

2011-11-08T23:24:00.000-08:00

I was asked if there was anything practical one could do, apart from pray, to turn ones will and ones life over to the care of God (Step 3 in AA’s programme of recovery). Well, yes there is.

First you count to 10 – and don’t do anything rash. This gives you time to respond (to be responsible) as opposed to react.

Then you look for something positive lurking underneath whatever’s happened – no matter how hopeless, bleak or desperate that something may be. When you look for something positive you’ll ALWAYS find it. And once you’ve found it you’re found the key to your problem. You’ll be living in the solution.

Thus you’ve found a practical way of turning your will and your life over to the care of God without you understanding him. The above encapsulates the 1st three steps of AA’s programme of recovery.

Simples! Click!

The Power

2011-10-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

On email today I received a brilliant essay quoted below.

In his groundbreaking book “The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State,” Frederick Engels explained the evolution of the state this way: “The state is, therefore, by no means a power forced on society from without; rather, it is a product of society at a certain stage of development; it is the admission that this society has become entangled in an insoluble contradiction with itself, that it has split into irreconcilable antagonisms which it is powerless to dispel. But in order that these antagonisms, these classes with conflicting economic interests, might not consume themselves and society in fruitless struggle, it became necessary to have a power, seemingly standing above society, that would alleviate the conflict and keep it within the bounds of ‘order’; and this power, arisen out of society but placing itself above it, and alienating itself more and more from it, is the state.”

The role of the state as a repressive apparatus that includes the police, the prisons, the courts, the big business media and more should be studied and understood by every activist and revolutionary not only theoretically but practically.'

I think about for how many years I would not ever consider reading anything by Engels, or even worse, his buddy Marx. Communists, Marxists. My brain was washed to firmly believe that we were the goodies and they the baddies. I guess it was a gradual change. For one thing it was more hip to be liberal, but eventually it was the glaring inequity of our system and my forced-by-my-addiction return to God and then to a very progressive church, that really changed my thinking.

I look at Engels quoted paragraph above and realize how devastatingly accurate it is in his description of a power that is necessary as well as necessarily abusive; I think of another quote.

'Lack of power that was our dilemma. We had to find a power by which we could live and it had to be a power greater than ourselves.'

The quote is from the textbook of Alcoholics Anonymous known as the Big Book. And the power the alcoholics would eventually find and that would deliver them from the oppression of their addiction to alcohol; was a Higher one - that would usually end up being God.

Even now though as the protests are going on all over the world against the repressive and unfair system and state, I wonder exactly what they are asking for….just as I always wondered what was the solution for Engels and Marx and Marxism. The end of the so-illuminating essay regarding the whole breakdown of our system provides it.

'Besides deepening this solidarity, the next important lessons are that the capitalist state stands above the people, cannot be reformed, and must ultimately be smashed and replaced with a state that represents the interests of the majority of humanity based on the socialist reorganization
of society.'

Smashed. There’s going to be a revolution hey, hey.

Below is an excerpt from a poem I wrote about a brilliant Marxist author and playwright, Bertolt Brecht

But if you had lived you would have seen your dreams go up in smoke
For folk whether Red, White, Green or Blue will always horde their own
You rightly scoffed at righteous lords who used God as their tool
But with the filthy bathwater of their man-made faiths you also tossed the Babe
And perhaps it is right there where you erred For such brotherhood as you espoused
is perhaps beyond the grasp of mere flesh
To take only what's needed and nothing more is something the soul-less simply won't do

The 'socialist reorganization of society' will not hold up if it is a function of purely secular altruism. My brother, who must not starve so that another can join an even-better county club next year, is bound to me via a soul that will last forever. His and mine are parts of this Higher Power that is the only force strong enough to guide us to truly, and beatifically, even things out.

Inside the walls on Wall Street, the god of greed remains supreme. On the streets outside; God waits patiently and longingly to guide us in the non-violent charge that must be coming soon… '

Let me introduce you to a new approach encapsulated in the acronym, RKRTS

2011-10-23T06:14:00.000-07:00

I’ve been asked how recovery from drug and alcohol and other addictive behaviours can be instigated and maintained. Well, one way is captured in the acronym, RKRTS:

R - is for Recognising our need of help. That's where suffering comes in - possibly the greatest creative force in Nature. Quite often it's the only thing that will get us to change our ways. (Targeted, specific counselling interventions can also augment and help gently unveil the truth to us about our need of help.) This R also stands for Realising that we can't do it on our own. We need the ongoing help and support of others if we are to recover. Additionally, R means that we take Responsibility for the consequences of our actions and for Repairing the damage resulting from our behaviour.

K – is for Knowledge - in particular self-Knowledge. We discover how we became psychologically and physically dependent once we'd found, through our alcohol, drug or behaviour of choice, a short cut to feeling good - a short cut that bypassed the normal cognitive process of thinking ourselves into a good mood. Addiction is an illness of ignorance, one of a few that tells us there’s nothing wrong with us. This Knowledge helps reveal the truth to us about how we’ve used denial, delusion and compulsion to try to preserve some kind of equilibrium in our lives and within our families.

R – is for Risk. The juiciest, ripest fruits are always to be had on the highest, most difficult branches to reach. In order to get to them we have to Risk. Recovery from drug and alcohol and other harmful behaviours is the same; in order to recover we have to Risk. And the biggest Risk for people in recovery is to become vulnerable – to be authentic, to be real, to be true to Nature. To lower the mask and remove the façade we’ve been hiding behind for so many years - to accept our humanness. And being human is acknowledging that we don’t always know the answers to questions; sometimes we don’t even understand the questions; sometimes we feel lonely; sometimes we feel shy; sometimes we fall flat on my faces and make fools of ourselves. And it’s OK to be all these things. It’s OK to be human. It’s OK to be perfectly imperfect! We don’t have to pretend to be something we’re not any longer.

T – is for Toughening up. On the one hand we have to become vulnerably but, paradoxically, we also have to Toughen up. And Toughening up means accepting that we’re survivors and not victims - that we have the wherewithal, the ability, the guts, the wisdom, and the stick-to-itiveness to overcome our problems and emerge victorious. It’s like throwing a switch from the “can’t do” to the “can do”. We CAN recover. There’s hope for us - we need never drink, take drugs, or engage in harmful behaviours ever again. This Toughening up places the responsibility on us to train ourselves to adopt a positive attitude towards life. No matter how dark, bleak or hopeless a situation or condition is there’s always something positive lurking underneath. If you look for the positive you’ll ALWAYS find it. And once you’ve found it you’ve discovered the solution to your problem. Thenceforth, you’re living in the solution. This T also gives us Time to consider whether we want to remain “bitter” or get “better”.

S – is for Sharing with others. It’s about becoming “givers” instead if “takers”. It’s about putting a face and a voice to recovery and being attractive advocates for the reality of recovery. It’s about engaging in the Recovery Movement and playing whatever parts we’re meant to play. Now that the genius in us has been unleashed we get to contribute our uniqueness to life’s rich tapestry. S also stands for Staying connected – to like-minded people and to our support networks.

Many will no doubt ask, where’s the spiritual component of recovery in all this?

It inevitably follows, as night follows day, the first R (Realising our need of help) and the K (self-Knowledge). By recognising our need of help we’re basically saying “I can’t do this on my own. Please help me.” Unwittingly, therefore, we’re accessing the spiritual realm irrespective of whether we’re agnostic or atheistic. And the prerequisite to forming healthy relationships with ourselves, our fellow men and with the Source, is a knowledge and acceptance of ourselves (warts and all). Thus spiritual progress is achieved - and without our being aware of it almost - as we engage in the K stage of recovery.

Bike Ride in support of Stafell Fyw Caerdydd/Living Room Cardiff

2011-10-11T02:17:00.000-07:00

There's a bike ride from North Wales to Cardiff on 20th - 23rd October to support Stafell Fyw Caerdydd/Living Room Cardiff, the new recovery centre at 58 Richmind Road. Why not join us? Call for more info: 02920 493895

If you wish to donate (a Just Giving page should be up and running soon) please make cheques payable to Living Room, Cardiff .

Registration date has now been extended to: 6th October :)

A NEW KEY TO OPEN THE DOOR TO A NEW LIFE

2011-09-17T01:38:00.000-07:00

We walk through many doors throughout life; for some leading to positive experiences, but for others leading to a life of self destruction.

Stafell Fyw Caerdydd-Living Room Cardiff opened its doors for the first time today Thursday 8th September. This new charity, set up by the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs (WCAOD), aims to offer support for anyone experiencing difficulties in relation to alcohol, drugs (prescribed or illicit) or any other dependency or harmful behaviour.

The Living Room Cardiff Concept (LRC), as it’s referred to, is like no other rehabilitation service currently offered in Wales. The community based day-care Recovery Centre will provide a safe, easy access, non-judgemental space offering a range of interventions including peer-based individual and group psychosocial support.

Says Wynford Ellis Owen, Chief Executive of the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs, who has set up and will be running the Centre,“The recovery model differs from the medical (treatment) model, in that it emphasises the empowerment of the person, building on their strengths and assets, rather than focusing on weaknesses and deficits. Also significant is peer based support and the involvement of family members and friends in helping persons to build meaningful and valued lives, realise their aspirations and contribute positively to society.

“Regardless of which model or methods are used to ‘treat’ addiction problems, which is a chronic condition, it is important they are supported through the change process and provided with ongoing ‘after-care’ support, as without this essential element, people are prone to relapse.

“Stafell Fyw Caerdydd-Living Room Cardiff aims to work alongside other service providers in the area and, through the Recovery Centre, will be offering this additional and complementary ongoing support for people wanting to make positive life changes.”

The model which is being applied here in Wales is influenced by Wynford Ellis Owen’s 2010 Winston Churchill Fellowship research trip in the eastern states of America. As part of the tour, Wynford visited a number of new recovery community centres that have achieved long-term recovery from server alcohol and drug-related problems.

Continues Wynford, “Following the research project in America and having visited numerous centres throughout the UK, it became apparent to me that the only effective way of helping these people was to put them in the driving seat and encourage them to take charge of their own recovery journeys. We as practitioners were always in the driving seat of addiction treatment. Now however, we must learn from the US model and take a back seat.

Wynford went on, “If addiction treatment is to enhance its ability to support long term personal and family recovery it is essential that we make the philosophical shift from the acute care model to a recovery model. Without partnering with and standing beside the person who is going through the process then we cannot possibly provide the support that’s necessary to maintain long-term recovery.”

Wynford, who lived at the hand of addiction of alcohol and drugs for 23 years, began his journey of recovery back in 1992, “When I began to recover and live my life without recourse to drugs and alcohol, it stood out to me that the facilities I needed at the time to make a successful recovery were lacking. Sometime after I started on the road to recovery, I resolved to set up a recovery and day-care centre so that people, like me, who needed to abstain from drink and drugs, while confronting the burden of being human, could receive the support they needed on their doorstep here in Cardiff.”

Carl Sergeant, The Minister for Local Government and Communities said. “The Welsh Government has previously outlined its commitment to further expand the services available to help and support substance misusers to maintain their recovery through its 10 year Substance Misuse Strategy, Working Together to Reduce Harm. The Living Room, Cardiff provides recovering service users with opportunities to help rebuild their lives and to protect and support individuals from relapse after they leave structured treatment.”

To mark the opening of the centre, and raise awareness of addiction in Wales; Wales’ first ever Welsh National Recovery Walk will take place on Saturday 10th September. The UK Recovery Walk is supported by the UK Recovery Federation, the Welsh Assembly Government and Cardiff Council. It is sponsored by Crime Reduction Initiatives (CRI), Western Power Distribution (WPD), Voluntary Action Cardiff and M&D Care Ltd and it is going to be a day of celebration and inspiration, putting positive ‘faces and voices’ to recovery and becoming worthy advocates for the attractive reality of recovery.

Around 2,000 people are expect to parade around Cardiff City Centre to celebrate the fact people can, and do, recover from substance use disorders and mental health problems. To show support and sign up visit: www.recoverywalk2011.org.uk.

Leading up to the launch of LRC a new advert will appear on TV channels and in local cinemas promoting the new centre. A preview of the advert as well as further information about Stafell Fyw Caerdydd-Living Room Cardiff can be seen on: www.thelivingroom-cardiff.com.

The Invisible Crisis

2011-08-16T06:42:00.000-07:00

The convergence of four crises in the past two years, the near banking collapse, the actual collapse in public faith in politicians and the media and police, and now the explosion of violence from our most socially excluded youth show Britain as never before that a profound social and ethical juncture has been reached in our national history.
When the Prime Minister his deputy and the Leader of the Opposition today have all made the connection between the corruption of Britain’s elites and the free for all that we have seen on our streets, one might be forgiven for thinking that this is grounds for optimism; no longer will our politicians be in the thrall of private interests that at best exacerbate this culture and at worst facilitate it.
Such optimism might yet be misplaced as a huge piece of the puzzle over the causes of the unrest has been conveniently ignored, namely Britain’s absurd and contradictory relationship with alcohol and drugs.
Yesterday, apocalyptic CCTV footage from a London convenience store was released for the purposes of catching young looters who smashed their way into the shop. Without exception, the first place that the looters headed for were the spirits stored behind the counter, the cash register was actually an afterthought. Why? How does this litre bottle of addictive fluid command this degree of power over young people in our society? Why do we see scenes not just during riots but every single day on Britain’s high streets and town centres that Hogarth witnessed in the 18th Century?
Is it possible that there was something of a delayed reaction to the first night of rioting because most people thought it seemed all to similar to a normal night in any of a hundred towns and cities across the country?
The charge of moral decay across the country is a compelling one, and in many instances quite justified, however the moral decay at the heart of the drinks industry, and its alarmingly close ties to the government and to policy making are all but ignored.
When the British Medical Association and five other leading health charities in England and Wales walked away from the government’s Responsible Deal for Alcohol because the government was ignoring evidence led research into the importance of minimum pricing strategies, it was indicative of how successful their anti regulation approach was likely to be.
The current administration has been very effective in labelling regulation as some kind of intrusive, anti competitive and faintly Stasi-esque notion, this is the same administration that would seek to shutdown Facebook and Twitter during riot conditions.
By simply looking at the statistics of the amount of destruction alcohol causes in non riot conditions, one cannot avoid the conclusion that the regulations that exist already on this powerful substance are about as light touch as they get.
There is another question to address as well, one that reaches far beyond the mechanics of pricing, one that extends deep in to our culture and is intimately connected with the other social and existential worries thrown up by the rioting.
Why does a person annihilate his or her own personality with drink or drugs? If we assume our society is something of a people making factory, crafting different types of individuals in different circumstances, what settings are there on this factory that causes it to generate people in such chronic emotional pain that they choose not to be themselves at the cost of their health and sanity?
We may well have been presented a historic opportunity to answer this question, a revolutionary moment where our society can move forward and heal, but unless the issue of alcohol is put squarely at the centre of the debate, it may well be an opportunity squandered.

Prime Minister and Murdoch called on to Recover

2011-07-20T02:53:00.000-07:00

Organisers of the UK Recovery Walk are calling on the Prime Minister David Cameron and media mogul Rupert Murdoch to join their march through Cardiff city centre on September 10th.

“It’s all about recovery,” said Wynford Ellis Owen, chair of the UK Recovery Walk Cardiff and chief executive of the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs. “Very many people in the UK, including public figures, are recovering from some situation or another.

“With this latest phone hacking scandal hanging over the country, tarnishing Britain’s reputation overseas as well as at home, I would like to extend an open invitation to Mr Cameron and Mr Murdoch to take part in our event. It would be good to see them with us, joining in with people from across the UK, to mark their first steps on the road to recovery.

“But let’s not stop there! I’d also like to invite the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and the Governor of the Bank of England Sir Mervyn King to take part to represent the recovery being made by the UK economy.

“Most of the people walking will of course be recovering from very different conditions to these public figures. Addiction is a major problem in today’s society and the UK Recovery Walk is about spreading the positive message that with support and treatment, people can and do regain control over their lives.”

Over 1,500 people are expected to take part in an organised procession through Cardiff city centre. The walk is about celebrating success and promoting the benefits of effective treatment for substance use disorders and mental health problems to society.

The Cardiff event is supported by the UK Recovery Federation, the Welsh Assembly Government, Cardiff Council and the Lord Mayor of Cardiff and Voluntary Action Cardiff. It follows on from two previous successful UK Recovery Walks, held in Liverpool and Glasgow.

Sponsors line-up to support UK Recovery Walk

2011-07-19T07:29:00.000-07:00

With six weeks to go, organisers of this year’s UK Recovery Walk, which takes place in Cardiff on 10th September, have announced their first set of sponsors, namely Crime Reduction Initiative (CRI), Western Power Distribution, M&D Care Ltd and Princes Gate Water.

Over 1,500 people are expected to take part in an organised procession through Cardiff city centre to show that people do overcome their addictions and can regain control over their lives. The walk is about celebrating success and promoting the benefits of effective treatment for substance use disorders and mental health problems to society.

The UK Recovery Walk is also supported by the UK Recovery Foundation, UK Recovery Academy, the Welsh Assembly Government, Cardiff Council and the Lord Mayor of Cardiff.

Wynford Ellis Owen, chair of the UK Recovery Walk Cardiff and chief executive of the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs, said, “It’s a real pleasure to have the support of CRI, Western Power Distribution and Princes Gate Water for Wales’ first ever Recovery Walk. We want to give people hope - to show that individuals can find light at the end of the tunnel. Recovery is a reality and we want as many people as possible who are suffering because of their addictions to realise that treatment is available and is effective.”

On behalf of CRI, Mike Pattinson, director, commented, “We are delighted to sponsor the UK Recovery Walk Cardiff. As an organisation we work with individuals, families and communities across England and Wales that are affected by drugs, alcohol, crime, homelessness, domestic abuse, and antisocial behaviour. Our projects, delivered in both communities and prisons, encourage and empower people to take control of their lives and motivate them to find solutions to their problems.”

Karen Welch, sponsorship manager, Western Power Distribution, said, “Western Power is an active supporter of community events and is delighted to lend its support to the children’s activities taking place in front of Cardiff City Hall as part of the UK Recovery Walk Cardiff. We want children and young people to have a future which isn’t marred by addiction and over-dependency on alcohol, drugs and gambling. We are proud to be a part of the walk’s message of hope.”

Michele Martin, director of M&D Care Ltd, providers of care for young adults with mental health issues in Skewen, near Swansea, added, “It’s a privilege to be supporting this first ever Welsh Recovery Walk because it will go a long way towards countering the considerable amount of prejudice, discrimination and stigmatization of people with addiction and mental health problems that still exists in society.”

Glyn Jones of Princes Gate Water said, “We’re pleased to provide the walkers in this year’s UK Recovery Walk with the key ingredient to a healthy lifestyle. Water is the source of life and Pembrokeshire water is best of all!”

Fancy Dress & Banner and Placard competitions

2011-07-11T04:28:00.000-07:00

Fancy Dress Competition.

To help make the UK Recovery Walk Cardiff 2011 on 10th September as spectacular and colourful as possible we encourage participants to walk in fancy dress. There will be a prize awarded for the best costume on the day! (to be judged during the walk)
The categories will be
18+
11-17.
Under 11s.

So get your thinking caps on and start designing your costumes ready for September 10th @ 11.00am Cardiff City Hall.

Cardiff Recovery Walk 2011 Banner and Placard competition.

The recovery walk aims to put a face and voice to recovery! Please express yourselves with a banner or placard with a message or slogan which captures the spirit of the walk!! The bigger, more colourful the better! (to be judged during the walk)

There will be a prize awarded for the best banner on the day!
The categories will be
18+
11-17.
Under 11s.

So get your thinking caps on and start designing your banners and placards ready for September 10th @ 11.00am Cardiff City Hall.

How Recovery Became a Key Player Again

2011-06-14T00:18:00.000-07:00

The third annual Welsh Council on Alcohol and other Drugs lecture will be delivered by Phil Valentine, Executive Director for the Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (CCAR), USA, on Tuesday 21st June at 6.30pm at the Pier Head, Cardiff Bay. The lecture, How Recovery Became a Key Player, will be hosted by Alun Ffred Jones AM and chaired by television personality Angharad Mair.

Phil Valentine has been an integral component in the recovery community organization since January 1999. An accomplished speaker and presenter, he has gained recognition as a strong leader in the recovery community; in 2006 the Johnson Institute recognized his efforts with an America Honors Recovery award. In 2008, Faces and Voices of Recovery honoured CCAR with the first Joel Hernandez Voice of the Recovery Community Award as the outstanding recovery community organization in the country.

In 2009, the Hartford Business Journal named him the Non-profit Executive of the Year. Currently, he is spearheading CCAR’s effort to build a statewide network of recovery community centres that feature innovative peer recovery support services like telephone recovery support, All-Recovery groups and Recovery Works! employment services.

In recent years, experts have recognised the need to change the way that people can be helped to overcome serious substance use problems. Recovery has become a guiding principle and society is beginning to learn from the many people who have recovered from addiction. A transformation of systems of care is underway, shifting away from systems based on pathology to ones that promote wellness and recovery.

The recovery model differs from the medical model, on which much of addiction treatment is currently based, in that it emphasizes empowerment of the person, the importance of peer support, and involvement of family members in helping the person find recovery.

Wynford Ellis Owen, Chief Executive of the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs, said, “We are delighted Phil Valentine is able to come to Wales and deliver our third annual lecture. It’s a great opportunity to hear about the great strides being taken as part of the recovery movement in the USA, and which have had a great impact on the development of the 'Stafell Fyw Caerdydd/Living Room Cardiff.

“Whilst professional treatment can help people manage and even overcome serious substance use problems, the success of today’s treatment system is still limited. This is due in part to the fact that society uses an acute care model, whilst serious substance use problems are generally chronic in nature. As a result, whilst many people entering treatment may achieve a temporary psychosocial stabilization, they soon relapse after leaving treatment, in large part because of a lack of continuing support.

“The 'Stafell Fyw Caerdydd/Living Room Cardiff concept will revolutionize the treatment of alcohol and drug dependence and other addictive behaviours in Wales. The emphasis will be on recovery rather than simple addiction management.”

The new promotional film for the ‘Stafell Fyw Caerdydd-Living Room Cardiff initiative, which was produced by Betty Evans and directed by the BAFTA awarding winning director Rhys Powys, will be premiered during the evening.

Tickets for the lecture, which are free of charge, are available by contacting the Council at info@welshcouncil.org.uk.
ENDS

For further information please contact Rhodri Ellis Ow

Epidemic levels of public bewilderment and governmental complicity

2011-06-09T07:02:00.000-07:00

Last week the United Nations Global Commission on Drugs Policy attracted media attention from around the world, partly due to the attendance of such luminaries as Sir Richard Branson, and support from the likes of Dame Judi Dench, Sting and Julie Christie. However, the conclusions that the Commission has come to, have understandably generated far more discussion. The commission has recommended the decriminalisation of all illegal drugs and an end to the disastrous policy of the ‘War on Drugs’, a 40 year long failure that has seen record levels of addiction, billions squandered and a degree of bloodshed in some parts of the world that is comparable with civil war.

The British Government, rather predictably, gave the convention short shrift by stating that they were adamantly opposed to any change in policy at all. This was to be expected, governments of both stripes would be mercilessly persecuted by the British press on the announcement of the first post de-criminalisation drugs death. Their rationale is based around the degree of harm that illegal drugs pose to the health of individuals. In one key, and conveniently overlooked area of the drugs debate, however, the government are doing precisely the opposite of what they claim is their position.

Alcohol, a drug that continues to cause more deaths per year than all illicit substances combined, that if it were being measured on an indice of harm would have to be adjudicated a class A drug, continues to be sold in a manner that would make a Columbian drug lord proud.

Far from legislating against the rock bottom prices, the government’s minimum pricing policy on alcohol has been so ineffective (the Guardian on February 16th 2011 reported that only one in 4,000 drinks promotions would be affected) that one can only stretch the argument of ineptitude so far. That six of the UK’s leading health bodies have walked away from the government’s new drinks code, which calls for a voluntary pledge of responsibility, should give us all an idea of how effective the medical establishment thinks this brewer’s charter will be.

Taking the pledge was the term used in 1930’s America by drinkers who wanted to stop but were relying on willpower alone, invariably most of them failed. This pledge of good behaviour on the part of multinational drinks manufacturers is eerily similar. As with most problem drinkers back then, the distillers and brewers are completely insincere about their desire to change, and the government knows it. The voluntary code is designed to be as ineffective as the Press Complaints Commission’s voluntary code of conduct that the government is equally anxious to avoid making mandatory.

Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, special adviser on alcohol to the Royal College of Physicians has recently said: “"it is not acceptable for the drinks industry to drive the pace and direction that such public health policy takes."

If we are to make any progress in what has become the pre-eminent public health crisis of our times, we must have a government that has the courage and integrity to put socially irresponsible enterprises in their place, but this is just the beginning. Minimum alcohol pricing, while important, should be part of a wider strategy.
It is essential that the deeper causes of addiction in Britain are addressed, the reason why people actively seek alcoholic oblivion and wish to escape from being who they really are is still a mystery to most of us, and yet this phenomenon plays itself out in every public house and public place in every town and city in Britain. An epidemic of addiction is still being met with epidemic levels of public bewilderment and governmental complicity.

UK Recovery Walk Cardiff 2011 update

2011-06-03T00:04:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody and welcome to the UK Recovery Walk Cardiff 2011 Update.

Thank you all for your interest in the UK Recovery Walk Cardiff 2011, we’ve been delighted with the response we’ve had so far.

If you’re thinking of coming along and you haven’t registered already, please email us at welshrecoverywalk@gmail.com or gobaithatgerdded@gmail.com. For those of you have already registered, thank you very much for your quick response.

On Tuesday 10th May 2011 – exactly 4 months to the date of the Recovery Walk proper - we held a mini-launch outside Cardiff City Hall. Recovery coaches and champions from all over Wales and beyond gathered to celebrate Recovery and help the public preparations for the UK Recovery Walk Cardiff 2011 get under way. You can see photographs of the event and read more about it at our website. Go to

http://recoverywalk2011.org.uk/the-launch-of-the-recovery-walk-2011-in-cardiff-may-11th#more-212

That’s right, the website for the UK Recovery Walk Cardiff 2011 is up and running. Visit us at http://recoverywalk2011.org.uk/. There are videos, photographs, route plans, downloads and, of course, the latest news about the walk.

We’ve included for download on www.recoverywalk2011.org.uk a copy of the UK Recovery Walk Cardiff 2011 poster so please print it out and put it up somewhere where lots of people will see it. Also please feel free to circulate it among your friends, family and supporters in recovery and encourage them to register.

If you have any questions at all about the UK Recovery Walk Cardiff 2011 please do not hesitate to email us at welshrecoverywalk@gmail.com or gobaithatgerdded@gmail.com.

Thanks again for your interest in the UK Recovery Walk Cardiff 2011. Have a great summer and stay safe.

LAUNCH OF WALES' FIRST RECOVERY WALK - 120 days to go

2011-05-09T09:37:00.000-07:00

Cardiff City Hall will be the focus on Tuesday 10th May at 11am for a launch event to mark 120 days until the start of Wales’s first ever Welsh National Recovery Walk in Cardiff and the official registration website – www.recoverywalk2011.org.uk - going live. The Walk is supported by the UK Recovery Federation, Cardiff County Council, the Lord Mayor Elect of Cardiff and the Welsh Assembly Government.

The 10th September U.K Recovery Walk Cardiff is going to be a day of celebration; a fun day and an unforgettably inspirational day as we put positive ‘faces and voices’ to recovery and become worthy advocates for the attractive reality of recovery. Around 2,000 are expected to parade around Cardiff City Centre to celebrate the fact people can, and do, recover from substance use disorders and mental health problems.

The date of the walk coincides with the successful Recovery Month in the USA which has inspired the Welsh walk organisers, and which promotes the benefits to society of effective treatment for substance use disorders and mental health problems

Wynford Ellis Owen, who chairs the event committee, said, “We want this Recovery Walk, the first in Wales, to be an event to remember! The US Recovery Month model which I admire lauds the contributions of good treatment providers, and spreads the positive message that prevention works, treatment is effective and people can and do recover. This is precisely what the Welsh National Recovery Walk embodies.

“Through this walk we hope to engage with the UK Recovery community, and reach out and generate greater support amongst family members, friends and supporters of those in recovery.

“The Recovery Walk is, in essence, a civil rights issue and will go a long way towards countering the considerable amount of prejudice, discrimination and stigmatization of people with addiction and mental health problems that still exists in society.

“There’s one thing we can promise, there’ll be a welcome second to none in the hillsides, in the Valleys, and throughout Wales for all those attending this first ever Welsh National Recovery Walk. It’s going to be an once-in-a-lifetime experience!”

To register for the walk and to receive further information, send an email to welshrecoverywalk@gmail.com or gobaithatgerdded@gmail.com.

Carwyn, another member of our organising committee writes:

Hello my name is Carwyn and I am on the organising committee of the UK Recovery Walk Cardiff. I am delighted that Cardiff, Wales’s fantastic vibrant capital city, is hosting this walk at the end of the summer. The walk will take in some of the city centre’s great landmarks such as Cardiff Castle and the Millennium Stadium. There are also beautiful parks nearby, lots of great shops and restaurants, museums and galleries; in fact everything you need for a great day out! We look forward to seeing as many people in Cardiff as possible in order to make the walk a great success. We are preparing to launch the walk’s excellent new website prepared and designed by Oskar. We hope that the website will provide all the information that you need to register for the walk, to find out more about the location and route of the walk and help you get to Cardiff and stay in the city if you need to.
The website address will be http://www.recoverywalk2011.org.uk/ so please check out the website for updates, information and registration details.

ENDS
For further information please contact Rhodri Ellis Owen at Cambrensis Communications on 029 20 257075 or Rhodri@cambrensis.uk.com

2011-04-25T02:44:00.000-07:00

Mae sêr y byd cerddoriaeth Gymraeg, Bryn Fôn, Elin Fflur, Brigyn (Ynyr ac Eurig Roberts), Côr Hŷn Glanaethwy a Chôr Eifionydd wedi dod at ei gilydd er mwyn recordio cân er lles Yr Ystafell Fyw Caerdydd, y ganolfan Gymraeg ar gyfer adfer o alcohol a chyffuriau. Mae’r gân, Can y 'Stafell Fyw/The Living Room Song, wedi ei hysgrifennu gan y cyfansoddwr ac aelod o’r Tebot Piws, Alun ‘Sbardun’ Huws, ac wedi ei chynhyrchu gan Bryn Fôn.

Bydd y gân, sydd wedi ei recordio yn Gymraeg ac yn Saesneg yn Stiwdio Sain ger Caernarfon, ar gael i’w lawr lwytho o iTunes a www.sainwales.com o hanner nos 1af Mai. Bydd fideo’r gân hefyd ar gael i’w wylio ar wefan Yr Ystafell Fyw Caerdydd www.thelivingroom-cardiff.com/cymraeg ac ar www.sainwales.com.

Bydd y ganolfan Adferiad cymunedol, sy’n seiliedig yn 58 Richmond Road, Caerdydd, yn darparu man diogel, sydd ddim yn barnu, ac yn cynnig amrywiad o raglenni seico-gymdeithasol i bobl o ardal Caerdydd sydd yn gwella o broblemau camddefnyddio sylweddau dwfn a hirdymor.

Nid yw aelodau yn cael eu trin fel “pobl anffodus â phroblemau cyffuriau ac/neu alcohol hir-dymor” ond yn hytrach fel bodau dynol gweithredol â breuddwydion, gallu creadigol ac yn meddu ar fywyd i’w fyw. Bydd y ganolfan newydd yn cael ei hagor yn swyddogol ar yr 8fed o Fedi ac yn help i 'agor y drws i fywyd newydd' yn rhydd o ddibyniaeth. Mewn amser, bydd y gwasanaeth yn cael ei ymestyn i holl drefi mawr ledled Cymru.

Dywedodd Wynford Ellis Owen, Prif Weithredwr, Cyngor Cymru ar Alcohol a Chyffuriau Eraill, “Rwy’n ddiolchgar dros ben i bawb sydd wedi cymryd rhan yn y prosiect yma. Heb eu hymroddiad a’u brwdfrydedd, ni fyddwn ni wedi cyrraedd lle rydym ni heddiw. Mae cael rhestr mor drawiadol o sêr â’r un sydd gennym ni ar gyfer y record yma yn wych, ac rwy’n siŵr y bydd pobl wrth eu boddau pan fyddent yn clywed y gân ac y bydd hi’n rhoi’r siartiau ar dân!

“Bydd cysyniad y 'Stafell Fyw yn trawsnewid y driniaeth sydd ar gael i bobl sy’n ddibynnol ar alcohol a chyffuriau yng Nghymru. Bydd y pwyslais ar adferiad, yn hytrach na rheoli’r ddibyniaeth yn unig. Mae syniad y 'Stafell Fyw yn deillio o’r ffaith fod dim cymuned adferiad yng Nghymru. O ganlyniad, mae Yr Ystafell Fyw wedi ei sefydlu fel ffordd o roi ‘gwyneb a llais’ i adferiad a rhoi gobaith i’r rheiny sydd dal yn brwydro yn erbyn dibyniaeth. O fy amser yn America, fel rhan o Gymrodoriaeth Winston Churchill, dysgais ei bod hi’n hanfodol sefydlu cymuned adfer gref yn gyntaf, gan mai dyma’r llwybr gorau at lwyddiant i bawb sy’n delio ag adferiad.”

Ychwanegodd Alun ‘Sbardun’ Huws, “Mae 'Stafell Fyw Caerdydd yn achos gwych. Rydw i’n bersonol wedi cael profiad o frwydro yn erbyn dibyniaeth ar alcohol ac wedi bod yn gwella ers pum mlynedd ar hugain ac rwy’n gwybod pa mor anodd y gallai dod o hyd i gyngor a chefnogaeth fod. Rwy’n falch o allu helpu mewn rhyw ffordd."

Dywedodd Bryn Fôn, “Yn gyntaf oll mae hi’n gân wych ac roeddwn i’n fwy na bodlon cynnig fy nghefnogaeth. Mae cael lleisiau a thalentau ffantastig perfformwyr fel Elin Fflur, Brigyn, Côr Hŷn Glanaethwy a Chôr Eifionydd yn gwneud y recordiad hyd yn oed mwy arbennig ac rwy’n gobeithio y bydd yn codi llawer ar ymwybyddiaeth y 'Stafell Fyw Caerdydd.”

Meddai Dafydd Roberts, Prif Weithredwr Sain, “Roedd hi’n bleser cael croesawu cymaint o artistiaid talentog i recordio’r gân yma yn ein stiwdio, er budd yr achos teilwng hwn. Gobeithiwn yn fawr y bydd ymdrechion pawb yn sicrhau fod y gân yn codi ymwybyddiaeth o’r adnodd gwerthfawr hwn yng Nghaerdydd.”

Am ragor o wybodaeth cysylltwch â Rhodri Ellis Owen, Cambrensis Communications ar 029 2025 7075 neu rhodri@cambrensis.uk.com neu ewch i www.welshcouncil.org.uk.

Welsh supergroup bid for chart success in aid of recovery centre

2011-04-25T02:41:00.000-07:00

Welsh music stars Bryn Fôn, Elin Fflur, Brigyn (Ynyr and Eurig Roberts), Côr Hŷn Glanaethwy and Côr Eifionydd have come together to record a song in aid of The Living Room Cardiff, the Welsh alcohol and drug recovery centre. The track, cân y ‘Stafell Fyw/The Living Room Song, was written by songwriter and Tebot Piws member Alun ‘Sbardun’ Huws and produced by Bryn Fôn.

Recorded in both Welsh and English at Sain Studios near Caernarfon, the song will be available to download from iTunes and www.sainwales.com on midnight 1st May. A music video will also be available to view on the Living Room Cardiff’s own website www.thelivingroom-cardiff.com and on www.sainwales.com

The community based Recovery Centre, based at 58 Richmond Road, Cardiff, will provide a safe, non-judgmental space offering a range of psycho-social programmes (including peer-based recovery support) for people from the Cardiff area that are in recovery from longstanding, entrenched substance misuse problems.

Members are treated not as “unfortunate people with longstanding drug and/or alcohol problems” but as functioning human beings with dreams, capabilities, creativity and in possession of a life to be lived’. The new centre will be officially opened on 8th September and will offer support and help PIRs ‘open the door to a new life’ free from addiction.

Wynford Ellis Owen, Chief Executive, Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs who sponsor the new centre, said, ”I am so grateful to everyone involved with this project as without their time and enthusiasm we would not be where we are today. To have a roll call of stars as we have managed to amass for this record is great and I’m sure people are going to love the song when they hear it and that it sets the charts alight!

“The Living Room Cardiff concept will revolutionize the treatment of alcohol and drug dependent people in Wales. The emphasis will be on recovery rather than simple addiction management. The idea for the Living Room stems from the fact there is no recognisable recovery community in Wales as such. The Living Room Cardiff has been established as a way to put a ‘face and a voice’ to recovery and to give hope to those still struggling with addiction. From my time in America, as part of the Winston Churchill Fellowship, it is crucial to establish a strong recovery community first as this is the best route to success for all concerned with recovery.”

Alun ‘Sbardun’ Huws, added, “The Living Room Cardiff is a great cause. I’ve personally had experience of battling with alcohol addiction and have been in recovery for twenty five years and know how difficult it can be to find advice and support. I’m proud to be able to help in some way."

Bryn Fôn, said, “First and foremost it’s a great song and I was only too happy to lend my support. The fantastic voices and talents of performers such as Elin Fflur, Brigyn, Côr Hŷn Glanaethwy and Côr Eifionydd makes this track extra special and I hope it raises a lot of awareness for the Living Room Cardiff.”

Dafydd Roberts, Chief Executive of Sain Records said, “It was a pleasure to host the recording of this song and to welcome such talented artists to the studios here, in aid of such a worthy cause. We hope everyone’s efforts will ensure the song succeeds in raising the awareness of this much needed resource”

For further information please contact Rhodri Ellis Owen at Cambrensis Communications on 029 2025 7075 or rhodri@cambrensis.uk.com or go to www.welshcouncil.org.uk.

GWEDDI AR GYFER Y PASG oddi wrth Cyngor Cymru ar Alcohol a Chyffuriau Eraill

2011-04-18T01:48:00.000-07:00

Dduw pob gobaith,
Molwn di am hanes y Pasg.
Rhannwn gyda’r disgyblion
a thyrfa’r ymdeithio buddugoliaethus i mewn i Jerwsalem -
gan floeddio ‘Haleliwia i Fab Dafydd’.
Yn eu cwmni hwy, helpa ni i glywed gobeithion pobl heddiw
yn arbennig y tlawd a’r methedig,
y di-waith a’r sawl sydd anobeithio ar bererindod bywyd.
Boed iddynt hwythau brofi gwefr gobaith y Pasg hwn.

Dduw pob barn a chyfiawnder
Cyfaddefwn i ninnau droi addoldai’n ffydd
I fod yn ogofau twyll ac yn llefydd i frolio ein hunain.
Edrych arnom yn dy drugaredd
wrth i ninnau gyfaddef ein gwendid a’n pechod.
Maddau i ni am fod mor dawedog
wrth i ni glywed cri'r anghenus a griddfan y difreintiedig.
Glanha staen y byd oddi arnom y Pasg hwn.

Dduw'r cariad dyfnaf,
Diolchwn i ti am ein caru ninnau yn dy ras.
Diolchwn dy fod yn parhau i olchi traed y blinedig
ac estyn ohonot dy hun fodd i wasanaethu heb gyfrif y gost.
Pa fodd y gallwn sylweddoli grym gwyleidd-dra a gogoniant gwasanaeth
yn Iesu Grist?
Meithrin ynom awydd i weithio dros eraill
heb roi unrhyw ystyriaeth i ni ein hunain.

Dduw'r aberth mwyaf un,
Diolchwn i ti am Iesu Grist, a’i ufudd-dod i ti,
hyd yn oed wrth wynebu artaith y croeshoelio.
Wrth iddo edrych ar draws Golgotha,
credwn iddo weld pob dioddefaint,
ac estyn i drigolion daear rym rhyfeddol ei ras.

Dduw'r atgyfodiad,
Rhyfeddwn dy fod yn ein gwahodd
i rannu'r bywyd newydd sydd yn dy fuddugoliaeth di dros bob angau.
Ti yw’r hwn sy’n rhyddhau'r caethion o rwymau’r byd,
Gweddïwn y byddi’n datgloi cadwynau pobl o’r newydd -
y sawl sy’n glwm i alcoholiaeth a chamddefnydd o gyffuriau;
y sawl sy’n gaeth i’w hunanoldeb ac i drais;
y sawl sy’n cael eu cam-drin a’u hamharchu
y sawl sy’n dyheu am fywyd a rhyddid.

Helpa ni i brofi grym y Pasg ym mhrofiadau Golgotha ein byd.
ac i glywed yr Haleliwia yn ein heneidiau’n wastadol. Amen.

Y Parch Denzil I. John

A PRAYER FOR EASTER from the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs

2011-04-18T01:42:00.000-07:00

A PRAYER FOR EASTER

Lord of all hope,
We praise you for the Easter narrative.
We join with the disciples
And the crowds walking into Jerusalem –
Shouting ‘Halleluiah to the Son of David’.
In their company, help us to hear the hopes of people today,
especially the poor and the disabled,
the unemployed and those who have despaired along life’s pilgrimage.
May they experience the excitement of hope this Easter.

God of all judgement and justice,
we confess that we have turned places of worship,
into dark caves, where we can boast ourselves.
Look upon us in your mercy
as we confess our weaknesses and sin.
Forgive us for being silent
when we hear the cries of the needy and the wailing of the under-privileged.
Cleanse the worldly stains from us this Easter, Lord.

God of the deepest love,
we praise you for loving us with your grace.
We thank you for washing the feet of the weary
giving of yourself, the means to serve without counting the cost.
How can we realise the power of humility and the glory of service
in Jesus Christ?
Nurture within us the willingness to serve others
without considering ourselves.

God of the greatest ever sacrifice,
we thank you for Jesus Christ, and his loyalty to you,
even while facing the torture of the cross.
As Jesus surveyed across Golgotha, we believe that he saw all suffering
and extended to human beings world wide, the wondrous power of his grace.

God of the resurrection
we marvel that you have invited us
to share the new life in your victory over death.
You, who can free the captives from worldly shackles,
we pray that you loosen the chains of people anew

those who are bound to alcoholism and the mis-use of other drugs,
those who are captive to selfishness and violence,
those who are ill treated and suffer disrespect,
those who yearn for life and freedom.

Help us to experience the power of Easter in the Golgotha experiences of our world
and to hear the Halleluiah constantly in our souls. Amen.

The Rev. Denzil I. John

A new approach that will take away the power of addiction

2011-04-07T11:11:00.001-07:00

The recent statistics published in the Western Mail regarding the epidemic levels of obesity and alcoholism in Wales suggest strongly that the current model of treatment has proven to be as effective as medieval remedies for ‘bad humours’. (“Obesity and alcohol cost Welsh NHS £150m a year”, March 30).

The fact that the medical establishment has been so unwilling to adopt alternate strategies for so long, even in the face of such damning statistics, tends to suggest that there is a deep intransigence right at the heart of the institutions that are supposed to be offering the most support.

The reason why there has been so little progress in treating the ever growing problem of addiction in our society is due to the fact that the model for treatment used is inappropriate.

The prevailing philosophy is that of ‘acute care’, unsuited to dealing with a chronic condition. This is why many treatment facilities for alcoholism operate a near revolving door policy, seeing the unfortunate addict back in the ward sometimes days after they have been discharged.

Many such units offer a patch-up service, sending the problem drinker back out to deal with the world after some rest, but without any of the tools he or she needs to achieve sobriety.

If we are to have any success at all, if we are to save countless lives each year, we must bring about a fundamental change in thinking as to how we support alcoholics. We must move away from the idea of treatment, with all the connotations it brings with it, the helpless patient and the omnipotent doctor, all wise and all knowing.

The most successful treatments for addiction are those that are peer based, and whilst this fact may run contrary to our society’s prevalent notions of how medical science works, it is none the less true and is born out by increasing statistical evidence.

There is actually no mystery as to why this is so. Addicts respond very well to other addicts who they can relate to, and who they can share experience and hope with. Recovery in Wales must be a shared experience, a community of individuals committed to mutual help and not another series of interventions by well meaning professionals.

It will now require a new attitude towards the addict from the rest of society as well. The days in which addiction was a shameful secret must be consigned to the past, given the scope of society’s addiction problems, it surely will be, one way or another.

We can bring that day forward by supporting recovering addicts to speak out, share their truth with all of us, to show how they found recovery and to give hope to all those still struggling with addiction. It is now time to give a face and a voice to recovery, and in doing so, to take away much of addiction’s power.

Getting to know members of the U.K. Recovery Walk, Cardiff 2011 organizing team

2011-03-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

The logo and strap line for the 10th September U.K. Recovery Walk, Cardiff 2011 event will be shared with you soon. Both logo and strap line are one, incidentally; so watch this space.

In the meantime, the organizers thought it might be a good idea if we introduced some members of our team to you – with an open invitation for anyone, anywhere who’s interested in helping us, to join us.

This is your recovery walk, and it’s inclusive and welcoming of everyone. If you say you’re in recovery or have an interest in recovery, that’s good enough for us. And don’t forget to bring your family members, friends and supporters along with you. After all, isn’t everyone throughout the world in recovery from some condition, state or other?

The 10th September U.K. Recovery Walk, Wales 2011 is going to be a day of celebration; a fun day and an unforgettably inspirational day as we put ‘faces and voices’ to recovery and become worthy advocates for the attractive reality of recovery.

And don’t forget that the Recovery Walk is, in essence, a civil rights issue and will go a long way towards countering the considerable amount of prejudice, discrimination and stigmatization of people with addiction and mental health problems that still exists in society.

Here we go then, with event organizing team member number 1: Sarah Williams

Sarah Williams is Service Manager for the Peer Mentoring Service in Cardiff and the Vale. She began working in the substance misuse sector in late 2009. Previously she worked in ‘welfare to work’ services where her passion for supporting people with barriers to employment came alive. She really enjoyed supporting people back into mainstream society, and tackling the stereotypes and judgments that are made by local communities. The Recovery Walk is important to Sarah, as the Peer Mentoring Service is about empowering service users to realize the power of their personal recovery, and be proud of whom they are.

Now Sarah would like to hear from you if you’re planning to visit Cardiff for the Recovery Walk on Saturday, 10th September. In order to register for the walk and to receive further information, send an email to

welshrecoverywalk@gmail.com or gobaithatgerdded@gmail.com

And they’re coming from all over the world…!

This morning we received confirmation that John Shinholser founder and president of the McShin foundation a leading non-profit, full-service Recovery Community Organization in Richmond, Virginia, and his wife, co-founder, Carol McDaid are coming to Cardiff specifically to join the Recovery Walk.

Big John will convey a bigger message from our friends in America. So be there to listen to John’s impressive message, the result of 28 years in recovery

TAITH GERDDED ADFER GYNTAF CYMRU – DYDDIAD I’R DYDDIADUR

2011-02-25T11:26:00.001-08:00

Cynhelir Taith Gerdded Adfer Genedlaethol gyntaf erioed Cymru yng Nghaerdydd dydd Sadwrn 10 Medi 2011 gyda chefnogaeth Sefydliad Adfer y DU, Academi Adfer y DU, Cyngor Sir Caerdydd ac Arglwydd Faer Etholedig Caerdydd.

Mae dyddiad y daith yn cyd-daro gyda’r Mis Adfer llwyddiannus yn yr UD a ysbrydolodd trefnwyr taith gerdded Cymru. Mae hefyd yn hybu budd triniaeth effeithlon ar gyfer anhwylderau defnyddio sylweddau a phroblemau iechyd meddwl i gymdeithas.

Dywed Wynford Ellis Owen, sy’n cadeirio pwyllgor yr achlysur, “Rydyn ni’n awyddus i’r Daith Adfer hon, y cyntaf yng Nghymru, fod yn achlysur i’w chofio!
Mae model Mis Adfer yr UD yr wyf fi’n ei edmygu’n fawr, yn canmol cyfraniadau darparwyr triniaeth dda ac yn lledaenu’r neges gadarnhaol bod atal yn gweithio, triniaeth yn effeithlon ac y gall pobl gael adferiad a bod hyn yn digwydd. Dyma’r union beth y mae Taith Gerdded Adfer Genedlaethol Cymru yn ei ymgorffori.

“Drwy’r daith gerdded hon, gobeithiwn gysylltu â chymuned Adfer y DU ac estyn allan a chreu mwy o gefnogaeth ymhlith aelodau teuluoedd, ffrindiau a chefnogwyr y rhai sy’n adfer.

“Yn ei hanfod, mae’r Daith Gerdded Adfer, yn fater o hawliau dynol. Bydd yn mynd yn bell i wrthdroi llawer iawn o’r rhagfarn, camwahaniaethu a stigmateiddio pobl sy’n gaeth a rhai â phroblemau iechyd meddwl sy’n dal i fodoli mewn cymdeithas heddiw.

“Gobeithio y bydd cynifer o bobl ag sy’n bosibl yn ymuno â ni ar 10 Medi yng Nghaerdydd gan ddangos wynebau a lleisiau cadarnhaol adfer a bod yn eiriolwyr effeithlon a deniadol i’r ‘gobaith o adfer’.

“Mae un peth y gallwn ei addo, bydd y croeso gorau posibl ym mhob man yng Nghymru, ar y bryniau, yn y cymoedd ac ar draws Cymru i bawb fydd yn mynychu’r Daith Gerdded Adfer Genedlaethol gyntaf erioed yng Nghymru. Bydd yn brofiad unwaith mewn oes!

I gofrestru ar gyfer y daith ac i gael mwy o wybodaeth, gallwch anfon e-bost at welshrecoverywalk@gmail.com neu gobaithatgerdded@gmail.com

DIWEDD
I gael mwy o wybodaeth, gallwch gysylltu â Rhodri Ellis Owen yn Cambrensis Cyfathrebu ar 029 20 257075 neu Rhodri@cambrensis.uk.com

TAITH GERDDED ADFER GYNTAF CYMRU – DYDDIAD I’R DYDDIADUR

2011-02-25T11:26:00.000-08:00

WALES' FIRST RECOVERY WALK - A DATE FOR THE DIARY

2011-02-25T07:03:00.000-08:00

The first ever Welsh National Recovery Walk will take place in Cardiff on Saturday, 10th September, 2011 supported by the UK Recovery Foundation, UK Recovery Academy, Cardiff County Council and the Lord Mayor Elect of Cardiff.

The date of the walk coincides with the successful Recovery Month in the USA which has inspired the Welsh walk organisers, and which promotes the benefits to society of effective treatment for substance use disorders and mental health problems

Wynford Ellis Owen, who chairs the event committee, said, “We want this Recovery Walk, the first in Wales, to be an event to remember! The US Recovery Month model which I admire lauds the contributions of good treatment providers, and spreads the positive message that prevention works, treatment is effective and people can and do recover. This is precisely what the Welsh National Recovery Walk embodies.

“Through this walk we hope to engage with the UK Recovery community, and reach out and generate greater support amongst family members, friends and supporters of those in recovery.

“The Recovery Walk is, in essence, a civil rights issue and will go a long way towards countering the considerable amount of prejudice, discrimination and stigmatization of people with addiction and mental health problems that still exists in society.

“We hope as many people as possible will join us on September 10th in Cardiff putting positive faces and voices to recovery, and be effective and attractive advocates for the ‘hope of recovery’.

“There’s one thing we can promise, there’ll be a welcome second to none in the hillsides, in the Valleys, and throughout Wales for all those attending this first ever Welsh National Recovery Walk. It’s going to be an once-in-a-lifetime experience!”

To register for the walk and to receive further information, send an email to welshrecoverywalk@gmail.com or gobaithatgerdded@gmail.com.

ENDS
For further information please contact Rhodri Ellis Owen at Cambrensis Communications on 029 20 257075 or Rhodri@cambrensis.uk.com

Retreat - at Coleg Trefeca 18th to 20th February, 2011

2011-02-17T00:19:00.000-08:00

Our weekend retreat at Coleg Trefeca in the beautiful and serene surroundings of the Brecon Beacons National Park starts tomorrow, Friday 18th, February.

As you may know we had to postpone the last weekend in December 2010 as a result of the bad weather. It was heartening to witness – that even amidst the travel chaos that ensued, with many older people and those not well finding it almost impossible to go about their daily business - how kind and considerate people could be: helping clear paths and taking food and drinks to those who were housebound. It was lovely to witness tragedy and trouble bringing out the best in people!

We are looking forward to spending quality time with like minded people – those in recovery, or family members and friends of those in recovery - and getting away from the often painful and bewildering, hustle and bustle of life. We believe there seems little difference in the pain that we all can suffer. In having these weekend retreats we believe that change is possible and life can be worth living.

Throughout the year we host weekends, long weekends and week long retreats that are designed to delight your mind, body and soul. Time spent with us leads to fabulous positive changes and we have enjoyed hearing about all the wonderful life changing experiences that our attendees achieve! It our prayer this weekend will be a significant and healing one for you.

We appreciate that, if this is your first time at a weekend like this, you may be anxious and perhaps have fears. We understand this and will do all we can to provide a safe and comfortable environment for you. Our goal is to create an all inclusive, affirming, non judgmental community at this weekend – a community where all are welcome to explore recovery, faith, hope, healing, doubts and fears in order to better understanding unconditional love and to have a spiritual experience as a result of working and practicing the 12 steps of recovery.

If you have any queries or wish to discuss any aspects of the weekend please contact WYNFORD ELLIS OWEN on 07796464045.

Date of the 1st ever Welsh Recovery Walk in Cardiff

2011-01-11T09:35:00.000-08:00

My dear friends in Recovery,

It is with immense pleasure that I am able to inform you of the date of the first every Welsh Recovery Walk here in Cardiff, the proud capital of Wales. The 2011 Recovery Walk-with-a-difference will be held on Saturday, 18th June. (And yes, I have checked: there’s no rugby international being played in Cardiff on that day – well, as far as I can tell anyway! So you English rugby supporters should be safe!)

We can’t wait to welcome you all here to celebrate Recovery, to share quality time with us and to enjoy some first class entertainment together. More importantly, we can’t wait to put faces and voices to our recoveries, and to, hopefully, be worthy advocates of this marvellous recovery movement of ours.

I’ve just spent the best Christmas ever with my family - which includes my two little granddaughters who have never seen their ‘taid’ (grandfather) drunk: we didn’t argue all over Christmas; the atmosphere was serene and loving; and I got to tell my two lovely daughters - for the thousandth time, I’m sure, since I got into recovery in 1992 - how much I love and treasure them. Great, isn’t it?

“If someone were to capture recovery
and translate it for the community at large,
they’d make a ton of money.”
That’s what he said at dinner.
That’s what I’ve wanted to do,
but not for the money.
Imagine the healing, the coming together,
ending separation, isolation and blame.
Imagine the loss of judgement; the lack of “they”.
M.A Helijas 1.

So, boys & girls, mums and dads, gramps and grand mammas, Buster the dog, Mavis the cat ‘and Uncle Tom Cobley and all,’ start making your preparations today! Let’s show everyone what Recovery looks like.

You won’t regret visiting Cardiff. And I can guarantee you that you’ll never forget taking part in this 2011 Welsh Recovery Walk-with-a-difference.

What’s going to be different about it?

Wel, bydd raid i chi ymweld â Chaerdydd i ddarganfod yr ateb i hynny! (You’ll have to come to Cardiff to find out the answer to that one!)

More information about logistics and who’ll be providing the entertainment, etc will be announced during the coming month. What’s important for now is the date: Saturday 18th June, 2011.
**************
1. Mark Helijas is the Executive Director of White River Junction Recovery Centre, Vermont, U.S.A. – one of a network of nine Turning Point Recovery Centres throughout the state. I met him on my recent Recovery Tour of the eastern states of America as part of my 2010 Winston Churchill Fellowship where I researched Peer-based Recovery Support and Peer-based Recovery Support Systems. He presented me with ‘Sentence or Pardon’, a collection of his poetry. One of his best sayings will remain with me for a long time: “We’ve all been hurt by life. But then, only scarred people can really save.”

What's your worst Christmas present ever?

2010-12-24T06:34:00.000-08:00

What’s the worst gift you’ve ever given a loved one at Christmas whilst under the influence of drink and/or drugs?

This will be my 19th sober Christmas and I’m still reminded by my wife of the time I expressed my undying love for her be giving her an - ironing board!

Happy Christmas everyone.

The four "D"s - Death, Divorce, Debt, and Depression

2010-12-17T09:45:00.000-08:00

I'm more convinced than ever that my alcoholism and drug addictions were a smoke screen for the BIG one that mucks up most peoples' lives: our addiction to People, Places & Things. Most of my shit comes from this BIG one. Recovery is about trusting the Higher Power to help us detach from its claws and it's consequences: Death (in its myriad manifestations); Divorce; Debt: and Depression. The 4 Ds!

That's why Christmas is such a season of joy (for most people) - because the story of the Nativity defies Nature; defies logic. And therein lies the Hope that, no matter how hopeless, dismal or despairing our situation, a miracle can happen and fundamentally transform everything.

That miracle, incidentally, has already happened to those who are in recovery from drug and alcohol dependency. Why not join them on 'the road to happy destiny'?

It's 6.15am aboard Flight number VS022 from Dullas airport, Washington D.C., to London, Heathrow

2010-11-22T08:00:00.000-08:00

I’m visiting The McShin Foundation here in Richmond, Virginia on the very last stage of my Winston Churchill 2010 Fellowship Recovery Tour of the states. Over the last four days John Shinholser, Founder and President, and Carol McDaid, his wife, who is a board member and former-chair of Faces and Voices of Recovery, have been looking after me and showing me how John manages to offer a first class peer-support recovery service without receiving a penny in public funding.

Since McShin Foundation’s humble beginnings, when he relied almost exclusively on friends in recovery and their families, the organization has grown to include a 35-bed recovery housing programme that hosts more than 2,000 support meetings each year. Because the McShin Foundation is self-funded, John has adopted innovative fundraising strategies and, through them, he has been able to attract a diverse set of benefactors. Over the past 3 years, their annual revenue has averaged $500,000.

McShin Foundation has certified more than 150 recovery coaches – and they did it their way, the recovery way. Additionally, they’ve succeeded in attracting more than 7,000 to their annual Recovery Fest, an event celebrating recovery from substance use that takes place every September, during Recovery Month.

They’ve also impacted decision-making and policy at the local, State, and national levels through outreach and advocacy conducted by PIRs (People In Recovery) and their allies. In Virginia, lawmakers on a joint subcommittee studying strategies and models for substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery, approved some of the Foundation’s recommendations, including:

• Developing and implementing a voucher model at various treatment and recovery service provider sites;

• Fostering learning about current recovery community organizations, continuing to fund their successful programmes, and developing new ones; and,

• Exploring reimbursement options for autonomous recovery community organizations.

As John told me, “Any group of people committed to their recovery can create and sustain a truly localized recovery community organization, as we’ve done.”

John’s verve, notwithstanding his passion for recovery and his drive have played their parts too, I would suggest, not to mention his astute, business acumen.

John took me to meet the Sheriff of Henrico County, Michael Wade, who commands one of the largest sheriff’s offices in the Commonwealth with over 361 sworn and civilian staff. Sheriff Wade’s primary role is to provide security for Henrico’s two regional jails, security for the county’s two county’s two courthouses and fourteen Judges.
Sheriff Wade is the remarkable man who created and introduced the R.I.S.E programme (Recovery In a Secure Environment) into the Henrico County’s two Regional Jails. We called to see him at his home as he’d just a few days earlier undergone a knee replacement operation. (He’s recovering well, incidentally.)

The R.I.S.E program’s history dates back to August 15, 2000 when a men’s 20-bed
Community, based on the Social Learning Model of recovery, was started at Henrico
County Regional Jail, East.

Since that time, the program has grown into seven communities at Jail East and one community at Henrico County Jail (Jail West).

The model for the R.I.S.E program has changed since the beginning, but it is still based on principles that include social learning theory, the 12-step philosophy, and Cognitive-Behavioural strategies. More simply, the program provides tools for recovery and fosters self-esteem and self-efficacy (the belief that a person can make his/her life better).

Each community within the R.I.S.E program, with the leadership of appointed Advisors and guidance by Mental Health and Sheriff’s Office, implements and monitor its schedule, programming, and rules. Mental Health/Substance Abuse staff develops, revise, and monitor all components of the recovery program. Mental Health has ultimate responsibility for insuring the general content and direction of each community.

The entire R.I.S.E program is completely voluntary, which means participants may only enter through their own choice and can leave the program at any time through their own choice. Programming in all communities is seven days a week with a reduced schedule on the weekends.

“Prisoners are much more cooperative and less prone to violence and antisocial behaviour since we’ve introduced the programme,” Sheriff Wade told me. “And, instead of sitting around all day doing nothing, they are now actively engaged in their recoveries. Their quality of life has improved immeasurably as a consequence.”

I was privileged to be invited to address over 150 women prisoners and over 250 male prisoners on the following day, 18th November, at the Henrico County Regional Jail East. It was an experience I shall never forget – primarily, because of the obvious enthusiasm they displayed (especially the women) towards their newfound recoveries, and the new hope and purpose this remarkable R.I.S.E. programme had instilled in their lives.

Later, the same day, John Shinholser, invited me to talk to PIRs at the McShin Foundation. I talked to them about the importance of accepting our humanness, and how I needed to confront the burden of being human by becoming a risk-taker. That’s an ongoing challenge I have to face every day, incidentally!

That same evening, John took me to an NA Open Fellowship meeting. It was one of the biggest meetings I’ve seen in a long time. I listened, for a change! The theme of this discussion meeting was ‘Slogans, and how they are misinterpreted’. It’s amazing how we misconstrue ‘One day at a Time’, ‘Easy does it’, Let go and Let God’, etc. to justify our inaction and lack of forward planning.

The concept of anonymity is another one we often misinterpret and, as a result, the Fellowships, unless we’re careful, are in danger of becoming invisible.

On 19th November, John drove me to nearby Caroline County to meet Anthony G. “Tony” Spencer, Caroline County Commonwealth’s District Attorney.

Tony and John are collaborating in order to solve a criminal justice problem that’s facing Caroline County and all other American rural communities: prison population is increasing year on year, as is the cost. The solution, they expect, will show measurable success in the first year and every year thereafter. They expect also to generate enough savings in jail, probation and other costs to be able to sustain and expand their plan.

Under their plan, they will find defendants who are good candidates for recovery and reintegration into their communities, and Tony will offer them an alternative to conviction and jail. By using a carrot-and-stick approach - the first four or five times a participant relapses, he or she will not be removed from the programme. Instead, his bond will be revoked temporarily, and he will go to jail, one week for the first relapse, two weeks for the second, and so on - they expect to see about 50% of them succeed. To sustain and expand their plan will require half of the money they will be saving in the cost of imprisonment, pre-trial and probation supervision, and court-ordered treatment.

Defendants charged with serious violent felonies, such as rape, armed robbery and murder, will not be eligible.

Tony hopes to see a dramatic drop in crime and an increase in the quality of life.

I was later taken on a tour of the old and new courthouses and enjoyed a pleasant lunch with both of these dedicated men. I am conscious of the fact that it takes just one man with a vision to make a difference. In this case we have two of them! And they need just $55,000 as a one-off investment to get the programme up and running.

John and Carol have not only opened their home to me these past few days but also their hearts. This was the perfect end to my Fellowship Recovery Tour. And the weather’s been perfect too! Last night (Saturday) we all enjoyed a recovery get-together of smoked turkey and barbequed tender-loin of beef at Daniel and Mckenzie Paine’s home. All evening 9 of us PIRs played games, chatted, laughed and reminisced whilst 5 little-ones entertained themselves in the adjoining room. We needed no alcohol or drugs to enjoy ourselves, just fine fellowship and that special sense of gratitude that always accompanies recovery.

I’m writing these last few sentences as I near Heathrow airport, London. It’s 6.15am aboard Flight number VS022 from Dullas airport, Washington. Sitting next to me is a young lawyer, Mohsin, who’s been keeping me company on the long flight home. He tells me, after listening to some of my tales, that he’s now considering applying for a Winston Churchill Fellowship next year!

I’ll be preparing a report on my Recovery Tour and also a video diary which, I hope, will capture some of the magnificent experiences I’ve encountered on this life-changing tour.

I’d also like to thank the following principles for their kindnesses to me: Phil Valentine CCAR (Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery), Mark Ames (Vermont Recovery Network Coordinator), Dr Arthur Evans and Professor Roland Lamb, CBH/MRS (City of Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioural Health & Mental Retardation Services), Pat Taylor (Faces and Voices of Recovery, Washington, D.C.), and John Shinholser and Carol McDaid (The McShin Foundation, Richmond, Virginia).

And a special thanks to William (Bill) White for his advice and for inspiring the Recovery Tour, and to Cheryle Pacapelli, Director of Operations at CCAR and Jennifer Sears, DBH/MRS Special Projects Co-ordinator, for helping me plan my itinerary.

I’d also like to wish Peter Rainford, (another Churchill Fellow) for his input into my Recovery Tour, and for his friendship and support. I’ve got a funny feeling I’m going to be seeing a lot of Peter!

Thanks all of you who’ve followed my blogs over the past two months. I’ve appreciated greatly your comments and your support.

Finally, I’d like to thank the Trustees of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust for giving me this wonderful opportunity. I hope that, by the time my report is presented, I will have done justice to the great man’s memory.

I told him that he’d been spared, most probably, so that he could carry an important message to someone. “What led to the relapse” I asked.

2010-11-17T19:58:00.001-08:00

Did you spot the deliberate mistake in my last Churchill Fellowship blog? Of course you did! It was Abraham Lincoln and not George Washington who was assassinated at the Ford Theatre on 16th April! And it was the same Abraham Lincoln, who served as the 16th President of the United States, who successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserved the Union, and ended slavery.

I spent today, 15th November, at the Maryland State-wide Community Forum in the historical town of Annapolis. The Forum, organised by Faces and Voices of Recovery, was intended to highlight instances of discrimination towards individuals in or seeking long-term recovery.

This was the first of four forums that are being held around the country. And Faces and Voices audio-taped the event in order to write a report, using the PIRs’ stories, in order to help educate policymakers and others about changes that need to be made to address these issues and remove barriers.

During the morning session we heard 21 PIRs testify to 4 members of a listening panel, as well as to a packed audience made up of other PIRs (including family members, friends, and allies), professionals and community leaders in the addiction field, business community leaders, representatives from the criminal justice system, and elected officials and policy makers.

The stigmas and/or discriminations highlighted ranged from:

The practise of turning people with co-occurring issues and with no obvious means of support from psychiatric hospitals, out onto the streets. Cindy demanded, “This practise has to change.” This had happened to Cindy’s son 5 years ago resulting in his suicide 2 days later. Cindy identified with what Paul Newman had said following the death of his own son from a similar drugs overdose, “Things change….but you never get over it.”

Then there was Rebecca, who is in her 7th year of recovery, but had been imprisoned for 2 years in 2002 for committing an armed robbery. Like an albatross, this felony had hung around her neck and had made it very difficult for her to find a job of any significance, even though she had changed her life around completely.

Thankfully, Rebecca is now in a worthwhile job (she works for her local church that increased her wages 18% after 12 months) and is studying for a degree at college. But only because her present employer and the university dean were so impressed by her ability and personality that they were prepared to take a risk and put their faith and trust in her.

Unlike Rebecca, the vast majority of PIRs are consigned to do menial, worthless jobs – if they’re lucky. Rebecca’s husband is currently in this unenviable position - his life, seemingly, blighted forever because of a brief aberration, albeit criminal act committed during his early years of addiction.

Rebecca’s heartfelt plea was this: “Addiction is a family and community problem. Please make it a family and community solution.”

Similarly, Anna’s husband had applied for a job in the Fire Department. He was not given the job because of his drug history.

Carol was concerned about the stigma endured by children of alcoholics, even when a parent or parents are in recovery. “These children” she said, “live under ‘no talking’, ‘no feeling’, ‘no thinking’ family rules. They need outside help from specially trained child-care professionals, teachers, etc to teach them how to communicate.

Carol’s own sister died 2 years ago. She died, not from any addiction, but because she couldn’t come to terms with the experiences she’d gone through as a child of an alcoholic.

Robert identified the familiar stigma of “You just could have said ‘no’!” I encountered this stigma myself recently during a BBC Radio Wales interview with the columnist Peter Hitchens from the Mail on Sunday. Addiction to him didn’t exist!

And Wanda felt her daughter was being discriminated against by members of NA, AA and some treatment facilitators because she was receiving medicated-assisted treatment. Indeed, she was once asked to leave an NA meeting because she was deemed to be in active addiction. She also lost her job recently because she tested positive.

According to Donald, access to affordable housing subsidised by the federal government was impossible if you had a criminal conviction. “You’re ineligible”, he said “if either you or a member of your family has a criminal history.” And, of course, the non availability of adequate affordable housing is one of the biggest barriers to recovery.

And so on, and so on. It was a fascinating morning’s session. It’s quite remarkable the power these PIRs exercise when they’re given a voice.

Interestingly, one member of the listening panel was Peter Gaumond, newly appointed chief of the White House Recovery Branch Office of National Drug Control Policy. Yes! Even the White House now has a Recovery branch!

Peter will be responsible for reviewing laws, regulations and policies in the context of the new recovery agenda. As he said, “The culture of recovery used to mean AA recovery. Now, it’s more diverse. And all the energy is coming from the recovery community itself.”

I read in USA TODAY, the daily rag here in America, that the makers of FOUR LOKO, a caffeinated alcoholic drink with an alcohol content of 12%, comparable to five beers and the caffeine equivalent of 5 cups of coffee, has agreed to stop shipments to New York state.

The popular drinks, which comes in several varieties, including fruit punch and blue raspberry, has already been banned in Washington, Michigan, Utah and Oklahoma. This follows reports of several college students being hospitalised after drinking the stuff. The drinks are no longer available in New Jersey either, after one school banned them! And as I arrive in Richmond, Virginia, to visit the McShin Foundation a non-government-funded Recovery Centre, I hear that it’s been banned here as well.

It never ceases to amaze me the extent to which some in the drinks industry will go in order to entrap youngsters into the Hell of addiction.

On Sunday morning I took two Double Decker tours of Washington. The red route took in all the Capital’s main national and civic buildings and monuments and the yellow route concentrated, in the main, on the key hotels. Sadly, we weren’t allowed to get too close to the White House. Besides, Obama was away on a tour of India.

Jean Walker, a volunteer who accompanied Pat Taylor, Executive Director of Faces and Voices of Recovery, and me to the Forum in Annapolis, said that Barrack Obama was being unfairly picked-on by the media and, in particular, by Fox News. “They criticise Obama because he’s can’t walk on water”, she said. “And if he did, they’d say it’s because he can’t swim!”

Most of my Sunday afternoon was spent in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery. American history is such a fascinating subject. I wish I had more time to spend here in Washington to absorb some more of its richness and diversity.

I met with two very interesting people on Monday morning, 16th November; Paul Malloy, Chief Executive Officer of Oxford House, Inc., the self-run, self-supported Addiction Recovery Houses, and Johnny Allem, a consultant who has done most things in the recovery field and is driving the DC Recovery Community Alliance, a group of people from all walks of life who want to change the way the District addresses alcohol and other drug prevention, addiction, and treatment.

I thank them for their time and for their stories – in particular Paul Malloy, who has a gift for storytelling and who kept me enthralled for the 90 minutes I spent in his company.

Oxford House is a concept in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. In its simplest form, an Oxford House describes a democratically run, self-supporting and drug free home.

Here are some of Paul’s comments:

“The only time we’re going to stay clean and sober is when we have a good time staying clean and sober.”

“The common bond that kept us together in a half-way house was fighting authority, lights out at 10pm, for example. We fought this rule like crazy. In an Oxford House, the us/them thing had gone, we were now running the show ourselves.”

“A survey showed that 1,200 people had gone through our houses – and the big surprise was that 80% were still clean and sober.”

“From the outset we decided that we weren’t going to own any property, and we were not going to fight over money.”

“When you mix the “has-beens” with the “never-weres” you get the perfect mix: a really integrated house.”

Thanks also to Pat Taylor and Faces and Voiced of Recovery for their wonderful hospitality, and for arranging so efficiently and successfully the Washington part of my Churchill Fellowship.

I’m currently being entertained and spoilt by John Shinholser, Founder and President of the McShin Foundation in Richmond, Virginia. You’ll get to hear more abut this Centre and the wonderful work they do here in my next blog.

I want to tell you about Bill Mac, thought, before I finish today. I met Bill, a licensed substance abuse and treatment practitioner, over a coffee a few hours ago. Bill relapsed after 27 years in recovery. He was at a loss to know why he’d been spared and given another chance. “Most people in long-term recovery die when they relapse”, he said.

I told him that he’d been spared, most probably, so that he could carry an important message to someone. “What led to the relapse” I asked.

“The boundaries between my own recovery and my work as a counsellor became blurred. The latter became more important to me than my own recovery.” he said. “I also became lazy and complacent. I thought I was sorted and could just sit back and relax. Then I had an injury and had to take medication to deal with the pain. I thought I could handle the drugs. I couldn’t and they let to my relapse.”

“That’s the message I and others in long-term recovery needed to hear, Bill”, I said. “And if you hadn’t survived, I would never have heard it.”

So thank you Bill, for giving the kind of giving that has no price-tag on it – the giving of oneself to someone. And that ‘someone’ today was me.

I’m listening to …..no music tonight! I’m staying in John’s home and the conversation between us is taking precedence tonight.

Nos dawch pawb A diolch am ddarllen y blog. Good night everyone. And thanks for reading my blog.

By the way, pretty soon there’ll be information about our Love and Forgiveness Retreat in Trefeca College, Brecon, between 3rd & 5th December. I believe we have room for a further 4 people. If you’re interested, please contact us at info@welshcouncil.org.uk

Our objectives are as follows:

• To create an environment to promote recovery and healing from alcoholism and other addictive illnesses for People in Recovery (PIRs), their families and friends;
• To help identify the issues that prevent people from living life to the fullest;
• To create positive lifestyles through personal responsibility and the release of emotional baggage.

We have attempted to cover every aspect of the weekend for your enjoyment and satisfaction. Our desire is to ensure also that the weekend is inclusive and does not isolate anyone, offend or cause any obstacles.

It is our prayer that this weekend is another landmark and stepping stone in your life’s journey. We hope it is inspirational, challenging and the utmost in fine fellowship. If there is anything that we can help you with over the weekend please do not hesitate to ask and we will do all we can to assist.

We ask you to keep an open mind, relax and enjoy the weekend.

This will be a small retreat of 20 people with the emphasis on love and forgiveness. It’ll be about learning new ways of living and putting the past behind you and living in the present. One of the biggest challenges of living is to live in the now – often guilt and shame from the past and anxiety for the future can leave us stuck in the present.

Good night. Nos dawch.

An idea for the world

2010-11-14T19:52:00.000-08:00

As I thank Jennifer, Arthur, Roland, Sade Ali and all the dedicated and passionate staff at the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioural Health & Mental Retardation Services (DBH/MRS) and all the various programme providers, recovery coaches, counsellors and, most importantly, the PIRs themselves, for their incredible welcome and endless kindnesses to me during my two weeks stay in Philadelphia, here’s an idea for the world, courtesy of Dr Roland Lamb:

“I’d like to share with you an idea - an idea for the world.

A message of recovery (as we understand it in the field of addiction) is a message for everyone.

In regard to diabetes, cancer, heart disease, asthma, high blood pressure, for example, all have a recovery focus - a focus that allows people to be in support of each other; to support their mutual recoveries. A support, that extends beyond the treatment, and the doctor; that goes beyond the hospital intervention; and beyond even the medication.

I would like to suggest that we, all of us, get together to begin to talk about a universal concept of recovery - and principles of recovery that extend beyond the use of drugs; beyond the use of alcohol - to the overall population across the world.”

******************************************************

Incidentally, it doesn’t take new money to introduce such a concept – just a willingness to change our attitudes! And don’t let us ever, ever think we cannot change and improve!

I’ve now arrived in Washington D. C. Today I’ve spent sightseeing. I left my hotel room at 8am this morning and I’ve just now returned a few minutes ago at 8.45pm.

Did you know that George Washington had a secretary names Kennedy who tried to dissuade him from going to the Ford Theatre on the night he was assassinated? And, did you know that John F. Kennedy had a secretary names Washington who tried to dissuade him from visiting Dallas where he was assassinated? Funny old world isn’t it!

Tomorrow, bright and early at 7.30am, I’m being collected from my hotel by Pat Taylor, Executive Director of Faces & Voices of Recovery, and we’ll be travelling to Annapolis to attend a state-wide community forum on Recovery.

Faces &Voices’ goals, incidentally, are to celebrate and honour recovery in all its diversity; to foster advocacy skills in the tradition of American advocacy movements; and to produce principles, language, strategy and leadership to carry the movement forward.

And judging from what I’ve witnessed recently, I’d say they’ve been doing a pretty good job of it!

Right, I’m off to bed.

What music am I listening tonight? Will Young, singing ‘Changes’!

And I’ve bought another book. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli. My excuse? Well, the relation of personal morality to political morality, and the way some people try to separate the two, intrigues me greatly.

Yes, I did get to a meeting – and shared. I also attended two Catholic Church services – and I’m no Catholic! And last night I enjoyed the most fantastic and expensive T-bone steak. As my old sponsor used to tell me, “Be good to yourself, Wynford. You’re worth it!”

Sleep tight everyone. Nos dawch. Cysgwch yn dawel.

I was confronted by a sight I will not forget for as long as I live

2010-11-11T20:06:00.000-08:00

“People in recovery have a real understanding of what it means to struggle to be OK as opposed to what it means to struggle to seem OK.”

One of the many insightful sayings that punctuated my conversation over dinner this evening (Tuesday 9th November) with, Roland Lamb, Director of the Office of Addiction Services in the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioural Health & Mental Retardation Services (DBH/MRS).

Here is a caring and loving man at the top of his game and one of the pivotal leaders of the drive to transform Philadelphia’s system of care into a recovery-oriented service delivery system that puts the needs of PIRs (People In Recovery) first and encourages them to choose a personal pathway and style of recovery.

They do this by optimizing autonomy and exercising independence and choice. The PIR identifies personal life goals and in collaboration with others, directs his or her recovery by designing a unique path towards those goals. People have the opportunity to choose from a range of options and to participate in all decisions that affect their lives.

And, as PIRs ‘confront the burden of being human’ – which is what they do by struggling to be OK as opposed to struggling to seem OK - miracles happen.

I witnessed one such miracle the other day at the aptly named ‘Miracles in Progress 2 Sanctuary Programme’ a North Philadelphia Health Systems (NPHS) initiative which offers comprehensive, recovery-oriented, substance abuse and co-occurring treatment services to the chronic homeless population.

Tony Moses, the Clinical Supervisor of Miracles in Progress 2, had told me earlier about a telephone call he’d received from a blind, elderly man who had presented for treatment. As part of his assessment he had been referred to staff at a nearby hospital’s ophthalmology department who had carried out a relatively simple surgical procedure on the man’s eyes. As he came round from the anaesthetic, the man had insisted excitedly on telephoning Tony from the recovery room. This was his message, “Tony! Tony! I can see! I was blind…..but now I can see!”

As we left St Joseph’s Hospital, where Miracles in Progress 2 programme is located, I was confronted by a sight I will not forget for as long as I live. An elderly man was dancing in the yard outside. He was waving his arms above his head and dancing what seemed to be a jig of celebration. He hugged other PIRs who watched him in stunned silence as he danced over to where we were standing. He hugged Tony Moses; he hugged Garry Brown, DBH/MRS’ Communications Director; he hugged Jennifer Sears, who has accompanied me on all my visits to the various, diverse programmes here; and he hugged me too. With tears streaming down his face, he proclaimed, “I love you all. Thank you! Thank you all so very much!”

Then he looked upwards, his blood-stained eyes protected from the glare of the strong sunlight by tinted, protective lenses. “Thank you, God” he said. “Thank you for giving me back my eyesight!” And, to the accompanying applause and hurrahs of his PIRs, off he danced to another part of the yard – to tell even more people about the miracle that had befallen him. Here was a recovery advocate par excellence!

I felt that what I had witnessed was a powerful metaphor for what is happening in the recovery world. Eyes are being opened across the world, as in a miracle, to the effectiveness of peer-based recovery-oriented system of care. I feel there’s an increasing groundswell of support for this approach. And it’s coming, primarily, from the recovery community itself. Their voices are at last being heard.

However, as my reading today by Mathew Arnold reminds me, ‘Miracles do not happen’. We must do our part. If we look at the history of our personal miracles, we can usually see that time, pain, and patience prepared the way. As the saying goes, ‘To catch a falling star, we must be standing under it!’

When, on Tuesday night, I related the story of the blind man who could now see to Professor Roland Lamb’s class at the University of the Sciences, Pennsylvania, during his lecture on ‘Slaying the Dragon’, Bill White’s masterly book on the history of Addiction Treatment and Recovery in America, Roland immediately recalled John Newton’s famous hymn, Amazing Grace and, in particular, the first verse:

‘Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.’

Incidentally, Roland’s welcome to me has been extraordinary, and his offer of support to me personally and his eagerness to help us develop our important project, The Living Room Cardiff, is both comforting and exhilarating. I look forward very much to cooperating with Roland and his team on future projects, and I will relish every opportunity to strengthen our ties and deepen our relationship even more.

I’ve visited, on average, 4 treatment programmes each day this week ranging from: ODAAT (One Day At A Time) – that provides a range of services to low income and homeless men and women suffering from addiction and HIV/AIDS, to Women’s House of Hugs – that provides housing as well as ongoing networking systems for women who have become homeless due to abuse of some form; to the NET (North East Treatment Centres) – whose mission it is to provide comprehensive behavioural health services and social services to adults, children, and their families.

I’ve also had a tour of Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Programme and marvelled at the ingenuity, creativeness and the community cohesion that made these towering works of art possible.

And, yes, I visited Philadelphia’s own Living Room Project! Our own Living Room Cardiff project, as a result, will benefit immensely from this particular visit. We’ve promised to keep in touch and exchange information. Coincidentally, our objectives are similar: 1) to be a programme where PIRs can establish effective and rewarding social and support networks; 2) to help PIRs achieve success and act as a stepping stone to greater achievement; and 3) to provide a nourishing milieu for PIRs’ empowerment – i.e. helping people to have the motivation to utilize their skills and knowledge.

I also got to meet and work with Peter Rainford, another Churchill Fellow, who’s visiting similar peer-based recovery centres in this Eastern part of the U.S. You can access Peter’s blogs on www.wiredin.org.uk as well. We met for the first time for dinner on Sunday night and have had shared visits to some of the programme providers and to other presentations, such as Sam Cutler’s overview of Drug Use in Philadelphia and Cathy Bolton’s introduction to her work as Director of Continuous Quality Improvement.

I seem to be doing nothing but eating out! I can assure you that in between meals I am also doing some very hard work and learning loads!

I did however enjoy another very tasty and fulfilling meal, this time with Dr Arthur Evans, Director of the DBH/MRS in the city of Philadelphia and Sade Ai, his Deputy Director. Sade, incidentally, went to the same college in Vermont as Bill White. “They encouraged us to think differently there!”

I presented both Dr Evans and Sade with two Tea Towels (gifts from the Welsh Society of Churchill Fellows) and a Sir Winston Churchill Commemorative Crown in appreciation of the fabulous welcome I’ve received and the unique access I’ve been given (at every level) to the facilities and facilitators here. It’s been truly amazing. And I’ve been treated like a king, with the red carpet being rolled out for me at every single facility, programme or event that I’ve either visited or attended!

Now, let me introduce you properly to the man who’s driving the ongoing efforts to transform DBH/MRS from the Acute Service Model to the Recovery-oriented service delivery model that is so admired across the world.

Arthur C. Evans Jr, Ph.D. is the Director of Philadelphia's DBH/MRS, a $1 billion healthcare agency. Since Dr. Evans' appointment in November 2004, Philadelphia has begun a transformation of its entire system to one that focuses on recovery for adults, resiliency for children and self-determination for all people who use mental retardation services.

Dr. Evans is a clinical and community psychologist. He holds a faculty appointment at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He held faculty appointments at the Yale University School of Medicine and Quinnipiac University. Dr. Evans has extensive experience in transforming systems of care while serving in several national leadership roles.

Prior to coming to Philadelphia, Dr. Evans was the Deputy Commissioner for the Connecticut Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services (DMHAS). In this capacity, he led several major strategic initiatives for the Connecticut behavioural healthcare system. He was instrumental in implementing a recovery-oriented policy framework, addressing health care disparities and increasing the use of evidence-based practices.

Here, of course, he worked with my friend and Executive Director of CCAR, Phil Valentine.

Dr. Evans currently serves in several national leadership roles that include: Chair of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Partners for Recovery Initiative Steering Committee, Co-Chair of National Action Group on Fostering System Reform for Adults with Serious Mental Illness, and Member of the Federal Centre for Substance Abuse Treatment Advisory Committee.

Dr. Evans is highly committed to serving people who are underserved and ensuring that all people have access to effective, quality services.

But why is he so important for us at the Welsh Council and to Wired in?
Well, Dr Evans has agreed to join the latter’s advisory board. More, he thinks that Wired In is the right medium to carry the message of Recovery worldwide!

For us at the Welsh Council, he’ll be a contact at the highest level that will provide us with all the help that we need to establish The Living Room Cardiff project, and to develop our services for the future. Great, eh?

The music I’m listening today is Amazing Grace sung by I.V. Webb. (Now, is that a coincidence or is that a coincidence!!)

And a thought for you for the day from the wisdom of Tao Te Ching:

‘Good fortune, bad fortune
One seems to bring benefit
The other to cause harm
But Heaven rejects them both
Both, in the end, tether men to this world.’

I was privileged to share my story of recovery at the Last Stop Clubhouse tonight (Thursday 11th October) and made many new friends from the rougher, more impoverished side of the city in the process. On the wall was this simple prayer:

‘Lord, teach us to laugh again. But, God, don’t ever let us forget that we cried.’

There was also this slogan: ‘I know I’m somebody ‘cause God don’t make no junk.’

And just before the meeting. I visited the tomb of Cardinal John Newman (yes, there are two of them!) at the church of St. Peter The Apostle. Cardinal Newman’s body is there in a glass cage for all to see as his corpse, for some strange reason, has not decomposed.

I reckon they should put Eddie, the guy who runs the Last Stop Clubhouse, in a glass case as well when he goes to his maker. He, like Cardinal Newman, has saved countless lives from a fate worse than Hell.

One more thing, I met John at the NET centre last week. He runs a Methadone Stabilization Programme for those dependent on Opiates. These PIRs can be detoxed, if they so wish, from alcohol whilst remaining on the Methadone Stabilization Programme.

Now, you purists, get your heads around that one!

Thanks for reading my blog. Thanks also for your very positive responses. Diolch am ddarllen fy hynt a’m helynt yn America. Nos dawch. Cysgwch yn dawel. W X

'This is what man is intended to be; an expanding spiritual plant, not petrified wood.'

2010-11-07T10:15:00.000-08:00

I bought a book yesterday, a new translation by Jonathan Star of Tao Te Ching. It's got little gems like this in it: 'Govern a nation as you would fry a small fish.' Or, how about this:

'The sun in all its glory
reveals but a passing world
only the inner light illuminates eternity
only that light can guide us back home.'

And this – which will resonate with all 12-Steppers, I’m sure:

‘The movement of Tao is to return
the way of Tao is to yield

Heaven, Earth, and all things
are born of the existent world
the existent world is born of the nothingness of Tao’

This is how a new friend of mine, James F. McGovern Jr. (great name!), who I met for the first time yesterday, has translated the same poem in his book, Twelve Steps to Change Your World (ISBN: b978-0-578-04126-1):

‘The movement of the Way is a return
In weakness lies its major usefulness
From What-is all the world of things were born
But What-is sprang from what is not’

I went to a meeting on Thursday night and shared some unimportant trivia about Recovery being about experiencing shitty days as well as joyous days. It so happened that there was a young man there on the verge of drinking that had just been released from prison the previous day - and it was just, he said, what he needed to hear.

Amazing how this programme works!

I’ve had a wonderful few days here experiencing at first hand how Philadelphia is transforming to a Recovery Focused System of Care.

But what does System Transformation mean? Isn’t ‘change’ a better word for what is happening here?

Well, a chameleon can change. Not surprisingly, it can also change back or revert to its previous state without much difficulty.

System Transformation, on the other hand, is much more than that. Take the butterfly as an example.

From the New Life represented in the Egg, to the growth of the Caterpillar, to the Transformation within the Chrysalis, to the rebirth that is the Butterfly we appreciate little of the process if we don’t understand the relationship each stage has to the next and owes to those before it.

System Transformation (and the “Egg”, in this context, is Recovery as an organising principle) requires that we appreciate each stage - regardless of how slow, painful and unpredictable - trusting that the end product is the foundation for a Community of Recovery. And, of course, once transformed, the butterfly can never revert to being a caterpillar!

Tragedy struck on Wednesday afternoon as I was about to film contributions from William Dinwiddle, CEO of the Mental Health Association and members of his executive team, I dropped the Sony Super Steady (sic!) camera and the battery shattered on the floor. Now it isn’t my camera and it’s rather old! So you can imagine my concern. Where would I find a new battery for this rather outdated piece of equipment? Thankfully, I found a replacement battery in only the second camera equipment shop we visited, and peace of mind was restored.

Earlier in the day I had visited Bev Haberle and her team at PRO-ACT

 PRO-ACT, (Pennsylvania Recovery Organization-Achieving Community Together), was formed in 1997, by The Council of Southeast Pennsylvania, Inc., which has been providing advocacy, prevention, intervention, and recovery support services in the community for 35 years.
 An affiliate of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD).
 Grassroots advocacy initiative founded to promote the rights of and ensure opportunities for those still suffering from the disease of addiction, members of the recovery community, and their family members who wish to advocate in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

PRO-ACT’s mission is to provide resources and opportunities to reduce the impact of addiction, trauma and other related health issues for the entire community. They do it, however, under an overarching atmosphere of love and with dedication, passion and commitment.

Here’s an initiative of theirs that you might like to replicate in your towns and cities: the Tree of Hope.

People are able to dedicate a Star on this Christmas Tree of Hope to Celebrate freedom from addiction, honouring persons successfully achieving recovery; to Dedicate rays of hope to those still struggling in their illness and those working in the field; and to Commemorate lives lost to this tragic and misunderstood disease.

This is an initiative celebrated in Philadelphia every Christmas. You too could arrange such an evening of hope and dignity in your own communities. It would be an opportunity, would it not, to enjoy fellowship, music, personal testimonials and light refreshments in the cause of Recovery. I’m certainly going to be cooperating with others on my return to Wales to establish this annual tradition in Cardiff.

Incidentally, I returned to the PRO-ACT Recovery Community Centre (one of 5 centres they operate within community settings) last night, Friday 5th October, to enjoy an evening of fun and games with other members of the community. (Remember, recovery is not all about working on yourself; it’s about creating ‘meaningful connections and roles in one’s community’ and having fun doing it.) I played Bingo for the first time since my childhood – and won two games!! I think people were quite pleased to see me leave with Jim, who had invited me out for a meal, because with all the luck I was having, I’m sure they thought I was going to win all the prizes!

And yes, I’m eating very well thank you! Bev Haberle invited me out for dinner on Wednesday night and we were able to continue our discussions from the morning session. Fred and Brooke accompanied Bev and a good time was had by all! I’m also indebted to the staff at the Down Home Diner for providing me with breakfast every morning and to Mr Stephen Shao, of the Shanghai Gourmet, for the two lovely meals I’ve so far enjoyed at his restaurant. Both these eateries are located in the Reading Terminal Market a few yards away from my hotel. And what a fascinating place it is!
Reading Terminal Market is filled with local produce, fresh eggs, milk, meats, poultry, seafood, handmade crafts, jewellery, and clothing. The Market is home to more than 80 merchants, two of whom are descendants of the original stand holders from a century before. On any given day one can find an eclectic array of fresh baked Amish goods, produce direct from the field, unusual spices, free range meats and poultry, flowers, ethnic foods, and much more. One hundred thousand Philadelphians and tourists pass through the Reading Terminal Market every week enjoying its exceptional products, history, and people.
I will, in future blogs, talk more about two projects in particular which excited me very much: the DBH Chronic Homeless Substance Abuse Treatment Project, where I met about 15 PIRs (People In Recovery) and was able to share with them about my own recovery. Interestingly, they told me what was different about this approach to previous failed attempts to recover. “Everything was imposed on us before. Counsellors told us what to do; we weren’t even allowed to stay in bed in the mornings, we had to do what we were told to do or else we’d be asked to leave. Here, nobody tells us what to do. We decide what works best for us, and it works.”

And the other project is STOP (Sobriety Through Out Patient). STOP’s programme design supports an integrated evidence-based treatment model that focuses on recovery, resilience and wellness for those with co-occurring issues (mental health and drug and alcohol). STOP offers help to persons 14 years of age and older, and is a state-of-the art quality outpatient (OP) and intensive outpatient (IOP) facility.

By the way, did you notice that all important word integrated? Because unless we adopt an integrated approach in dealing with diverse co-occurring issues then, I’m afraid, we’re condemning PIRs to an ongoing revolving-door situation whereby one untreated condition (whether a mental health or substance abuse issue) triggers relapse.

STOP is also keen to link up with Wales regarding Radio/TV internet transmissions. I’ll be returning to STOP on Thursday next to record a Radio interview and to discuss further these exciting possibilities.

Last night Jim collected me from my hotel and drove me down the 2.8 miles that is Kensington Avenue. At one time, hardworking blue-collar workers inhabited this rather proud suburb of Philadelphia. Now, however, it’s in poor repair and a haven for drug addicts, alcoholics and prostitutes. I witnessed the walking dead shuffling aimlessly along or congregating miserably on street corners. Most of them – the men, in particular - on heroin (there is good quality heroin on the streets of Philadelphia!) or on Crack (mainly the women) or Suboxone (both men and women).

However, where there is darkness there is also light. Indeed, without the darkness we’d be unable to identify the light. And there’s plenty of light and hope on Kensington Avenue.

There’s St Francis Inn, for example, where they feed the homeless every day, and there are loads of Recovery Houses on the Avenue. Jim took me to the Hope Outreach Ministries of the United Church of Christ, where the Reverend Savage, a woman pastor, had given over her church to house and feed the homeless. There I met Tommy Gallagher, a homeless man himself, who has assumed responsibility for organising the centre. 17 men would sleep there last night. I tell you, the love in that place was palpable.

Incidentally, the authorities tried to close the place down because it didn’t conform to safety regulation. But Tommy and his men rallied support and got the backing of TV stations and the religious community. The authorities finally relented and Tommy and his merry men are now making some structural alterations to the church so that they comply with building and safety regulations. Tommy told me, with justifiable pride, that they hope to be able to offer a home to 40 men by the time they’ve finished the work.

I then visited a Spanish NA meeting in Cardinal Bevilacqua Community Centre (who was archbishop of Philadelphia between 1988 and 2003), as Jim was trying to set up a Spanish speaking NA meeting for some of the PIRs who access his recovery facility.

I have a special interest in the language of treatment, as plenty of evidence suggests that treatment is more effective if delivered in the mother tongue. That’s why The Living Room Cardiff will offer help in both Welsh and English languages. The provision of treatment in other minority languages is our long-term goal.

Then it was off to a Fellowship Clubhouse (opposite St Francis Inn). The place was heaving. I was given a warm welcome and invited to return next Thursday night to share my story. All members were then served spaghetti bolognaise with garlic bread. Oh, I so regretted having eaten earlier at Freddy and Tony’s on Allegheny Avenue! (Between you and me the food wasn’t very good there!)

As I departed, one member came up to me and gave me a hug. “There’s more love in this place than in the whole of Philadelphia” he said. Many would place mattresses on the floor and sleep in the clubhouse that night - after first of all, of course, enjoying their Movie of the Week.

So why is there all this fuss about Recovery?

Paramahansa Yogananda sums it up for me:

‘Some persons I have met, through the years have not changed at all. They remain always the same, like fossils. The difference between a fossil and a plant is that the fossil is the same now as it was millions of years ago, but the plant keeps on growing. You want to be a living seed. As soon as it is put in the ground, it begins pushing up and drawing sunlight and air, and it throws out branches and eventually it becomes a sturdy tree and covers itself with flowers.

This is what man is intended to be; an expanding spiritual plant, not petrified wood.’

Tonight I’m listening to ‘You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You’ sung by the superb Michael Bublé.

Goodnight everyone. And thanks for reading my blog from Philadelphia. Nos dawch pawb. Gobeithio y gwnewch chi faddau i mi am yr holl Saesneg ‘ma. Cysgwch yn dawel.

You can view pictures, etc on www.welshcouncil.org.uk

A video-diary of my Winston Churchill Fellowship ‘Recovery Tour’ will displayed on this website after my return to the U.K.

"It is essential that we make the shift from the acute care model, we know doesn't work, to the recovery model."

2010-11-02T19:47:00.000-07:00

My first day in the city of Philadelphia Department of Behavioural Health and Mental Retardation Services (SBHMRS) was spent meeting my contact here, Jennifer Sears, and Roland Lamb, Director of the Office of Addictions Services, to review my schedule.

I’ll tell you more about the remarkable Professor Roland Lamb in future blogs as I’ve got several more meetings arranged with him over the next two weeks and we’re also dining out together next Tuesday (9th November) after I’ve listened to him delivering a lecture at the University here.

I’ll give you a taster, however, to be getting on with. This is his way of describing what working in a peer-based, recovery-oriented service delivery system is like as opposed to the previous acute treatment system of care. “At one time I used to drive the bus. Now, I just sit in the back and pay for the petrol.”

Perhaps at this stage I should tell you a little about SBHMRS itself. The department, under its Director Arthur C Evans, PhD, is responsible for administering a broad array of treatment, intervention and prevention programmes for individuals and families impacted by mental illness, addiction and mental retardation. More than 112,000 people are served each year through a $1 billion annual budget.

The behavioural health component comprises the Office of Addiction Services, the Office of Mental Health (OMH), and Community Behavioural Health (CBH). These entities provide a full range of mental health and substance abuse treatment for approximately 100,000 adults and children annually through a network of community-based providers.

Mental Retardation Services (MRS) is responsible for the development, coordination, and monitoring of services for children and adults with mental retardation. MRS contracts with approximately 70 provider agencies to serve more than 12,000 people annually. MRS provides case management/supports coordination, in-home and residential services, early intervention, family support, day programme, and employment services.

As Dr Arthur Evans, the man responsible for the transformation of Behavioural Health Services to Recovery-Oriented system of care, explained to me over lunch today (Tuesday 2nd November), “My philosophy and belief about recovery is that it is essential that we make the shift from the acute care model, which we know doesn’t work, to a recovery model. And what that means to me is that it’s about the “why” we do treatment; it’s about the “how” we do treatment; and it’s about “what” treatment.

The “why” being, that ultimately our goal should be to help people to obtain the best possible life that they can for themselves. And in the traditional system which is focused on symptoms and the management of symptoms, that is not necessarily the view. So it shifts the “why” to much more about people having a life in the community, the kind of life that any one of us would want to have.

It shifts the “how” because for many years our field has been professionally driven and the recovery philosophy is about partnering with, standing beside the person who’s going through the process and, whether that person is a treatment professional or a person who‘s also in recovery, it about how do you partner with, become a coach or facilitator, or a support for someone who’s going through that process.

And it also shifts the “what” in treatment because it opens up many more options for folks. So, in a traditional system that is focused on symptomology and managing symptoms, the focus is on narrow sets of interventions that are focused on those particular issues. But when one moves to a recovery orientation, which is about having a life in the community, it really opens up a much broader array of services and interventions that we need to bring to bear to help folks.

So, for me, it’s about the “what” the “how” and the “why” of treatment and making that, both the philosophical shift, but then doing the real hard work of ensuring that our practices and our policies and how we finance and how we organise our service systems are aligned with that philosophy, are aligned with those practices.”

Initiatives, as was pointed out to me by Peg Minehart, the Medical Director, are geared towards encouraging the use of evidence-based practices, improving the cultural competency of all care providers, eliminating behavioural health disparities and heightening sensitivity around providing trauma-informed treatment strategies. Standard policies promoting individual choice, consistency of operations, and access to services for people with mental retardation are also being delivered.

In the afternoon, I was privileged to attend PROACT (Pennsylvania Recovery Organization – Achieving Community Together) for a Family Member Story-Telling Training session facilitated by Joan Kenerson King (who created the training model) and Jazmin Banks.

The room was packed for this wellness and recovery oriented training session which recognises that the stories of Family members are a critical tool in moving Systems Transformation forward.

“All sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story or tell a story about them”, so said Isak Dinesen.

Therefore, SBHMRS, in conjunction with the Philadelphia Compact, are sponsoring free trainings especially for family members of children and/or adults who have received mental health (MH) and/or substance abuse (D&A) services in the city of Philadelphia.

I stayed for the whole session and the RECOVERY in that room this afternoon was palpable. This was not only a training session but a moving and healing experience for all of us. Joan King has a magical quality about her and her conviction to the cause is inspirational. I was invited to tell my story at the end of the session.

A gardener once told me, “Wynford, if you’re ever in trouble – give, give, give.” And that’s been my philosophy throughout my recovery. Focussing on others takes me away from my pain. It’s always worked in the past – becoming a “giver” instead of a “taker”. And I saw it work again this afternoon. The blessings one receives from simply telling your own story are immeasurable. I saw people physically change, their postures straightening, their expressions mellowing and peace descending on what had previously been some very troubled and anxious souls.

And that’s why I’ll be taking this particular training model back home with me to Wales.

And the music I’m listening tonight is – Bobcaygeon sung by Damhnait Doyle, Lights down Low.

Nos dawch pawb. Diolch am ddarllen am fy nhaith yn America.

Good night, everyone. Sleep tight.

Surely we have a 'common purpose' that we can all unite behind

2010-10-31T17:28:00.000-07:00

I read about a great example of recovery advocacy in yesterday’s (Saturday 30th) edition of The New York Times. Under the heading of The Clean and Sober Champion, it described how the Texan Rangers outfielder, Josh Hamilton, had battled to overcome his dependence on alcohol and drugs. Hamilton, who led the American League this year with a .359 batting average, speaks openly about how his addiction cost him nearly four years of his baseball career and almost destroyed his life.

Hamilton was involved in a car accident during the first month of spring training with Tampa Bay in 1999. He injured his back and was unable to play. Without the game to anchor his days, he began abusing drugs and alcohol, and a habit that he said was born of boredom quickly became a compulsion.

Eight trips to rehab followed, but it was not until he became a Christian that he was able to change his life around. And the one verse that proved to be his salvation was from the Book of James: “Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”

Hamilton has been a role-model to others. Anthony Hargrove, who plays for the reigning Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, and who was himself suspended for the 2008 N.F.L. season after failing multiple drug tests, described Hamilton as “a light for those in the dark.”

Hamilton likes to talk openly about his experiences so that he can reach out to help as many people as possible. During batting practice before the two games in San Francisco, he signed autographs for people who had also suffered difficulties with addiction and they thanked him for going public.

“I talked to a couple of fans who were clean and sober for 14 months,” he said, “Hats off to them!”

And hats off to Hamilton too for being such a fine role-model to others. As Nolan Ryan, the Rangers president said: “I don’t think that I can truly appreciate what he’s overcome and the way he’s handled it. To me, it’s a phenomenal story.”

I arrived in Philadelphia on the third stage of my Winston Churchill Fellowship late last night. The two weeks ahead has much in store for me. Here’s my itinerary and the names of some of the people I’ll be privileged to meet:

Wales Visit: November 1 - 12, 2010
Philadelphia Contact: Jennifer Dorwart 267 825 6861

Mon, Nov. 1, 2010: Pre Meeting Schedule Review:

11:30am – 12:00pm Jen will meet Wynford at hotel and bring to Lunch

12pm – 2pm Lunch Meeting: Roland and Jennifer
Location: Rangoon / Jones

2:00pm – 2:30pm Jen will transport Wynford back to the hotel

Day 1: Tues, Nov. 2, 2010: DBH Overview & Storytelling Training

9:00am - 9:30am Jen will meet Wynford at hotel and bring to DBH

9:30am – 11:00am Meeting: System Transformation Overview
Participants: Michelle Khan - Policy and planning, training and workforce development. Kyra Turner – Community Connections and Mobilization. Jennifer Sears – OAS Provider Development and Transformation Initiatives.
Location: Suite 7100

11:15am – 12:15pm Lunch Meeting: Overview of Philadelphia System with Executive
Location: CBH Board Room
Contact: Gloria Barrow (215) 413 3100

12:15pm – 12:30pm Jen will transport Wynford to PROACT

12:30pm – 4:00pm Meeting: Family Storytelling
Location: PROACT 444 Nth 3rd
Contact: Jazmin Banks (215) 685-4989

4:00pm – 4:30pm Jen will transport Wynford back to the hotel

Day 2: Wed, Nov. 3, 2010: System Transformation Activities &
Building a Peer Culture

9:00am - 9:30am Jen will meet Wynford at hotel and bring to PRCC

9:45am – 12:00pm Meeting: PRCC and Peer Leadership Group
Location: PRCC 1701 West Lehigh Ave
Contact: Bev Haberle 215 262 5771

12:00pm – 12:30pm Jen will transport guests to Lunch

12:30pm – 1:30pm Lunch Meeting:

1:30pm – 2:00pm Jen will transport Wynford to MHA

2:15pm - 3:30pm Meeting MHA and Wendy Williams
Location: Chestnut Street
Contact: Bill Dinwiddie 215-751-1800, ext. 503

3:30pm – 4:00pm Jen will transport Wynford back to the hotel

5:30pm – 7:30pm Dinner Meeting: Bev Haberle
Location:?

Day 3: Fri Nov 5, 2010: Innovative Recovery Oriented Clinical Services

8:30am - 9:00am Jen will meet Wynford at hotel and bring to NET

9:00am – 11:00am Meeting: Northeast Treatment Centre Consumer Council
Location: NET Recovery Support Centre
Contact: Sonia or Karen

11:15am – 12:00pm Jen will transport Wynford to STOP

11:45pm – 1:45pm Meeting: STOP & Beck
Location: Broad Street with Regina B.
Contact: Natalie Charney 215 227 7867

1:145pm – 2:00pm Jen will transport guests to STOP

2:45pm – 4:00pm Meeting: Chronic Homeless Program
Location: NPHS with Tim Sheahan 215 680 0130
Contact: Tony Moses

4:00pm – 5:00pm Jen will transport Wynford back to the hotel

5:30pm – 7:30pm Dinner Meeting: Bev Haberle?
Location:
Contact:

Day 4: Mon. Nov 8, 2010: Building Community Capacity
9: 15am - 9:45am Jen will meet Wynford at hotel and bring to ODAAT

9:45am – 11:00am Meeting: One Day At a Time
Location: 2432 W Lehigh Ave
Contact: Mel Wells & Darryl Chapman
215-226-7860

11:00am – 11:15am Jen will transport Wynford to New Pathways

11:15am – 12:15pm Meeting & New Pathway Projects
Location: 166 W. Lehigh Ave
Contact: Eugenia: 215 740 9672
12:15pm- 1:15pm Lunch

2:15pm – 3:00pm Jen will transport Wynford to Women House of Hugs

3:00pm - 4:30pm Meeting Women House of Hugs and Rhonda Johnson Rhonda.L.Johnson@Phila.Gov 215 215 546 6435
Location: Girard Ave
Contact: Tracie Kilgore Poe 215-294-6550

4:30pm Jen will transport Wynford back to the hotel

5:00pm – 7:30pm Dinner Meeting: Dr. Evans
Location: Chandra Brown 215 685 4732

Day 5: Tues. Nov 9, 2010: Strengthening Community Partnerships
(Kyra will Coordinate)
9:45am – 10:00am Jen will pick up Wynford from hotel transport to BHSI

10:00am – 10:30am Meeting: Kyra Tour of Mural Arts and Community Projects
Location: BHSI

10:30am – 10:45am Jen will Transport to SeaMaac

11: 00am - 11:45am Meeting: SeaMaac with Kyra
Location: 1711 S. Broad Street - 2nd Flr.
Philadelphia, PA 19148
215-467-0690 Voice
(Broad & Tasker-Morris)

11:45am – 12:00pm Jen will Transport to Mural Arts

12:00pm – 2:00pm Lunch Meeting: Mural Arts Visit and Tour with Kyra
Location: City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program
The Lincoln Financial Mural Arts Center
at the Thomas Eakins House
1727-29 Mount Vernon Street
Philadelphia, PA 19130

2:00pm –2:30pm Jen will transport Wynford back to the PRCC

2:30pm – 4:30pm Meeting: Wales Study Tour Debriefing with DBH staff and other study tour participants.
Location: PRCC Bev Haberle 215 262 5771

4:30pm – 5:00pm Jen will transport Wynford back to the hotel

Day 6 Wed. Nov 10: Supporting Research, Outcomes and Wrap Up

9:15am – 9:30am Jen will pick up Wynford from hotel transport to

9:30am – 10:30am Meeting: Continuous Quality Improvement, Data & TRU
Participants: Cathy Bolton, Suet Lim & Sam Cutler
Location: CBH – Small Conference Room

11:00am – 1:00pm Lunch Meeting: Wrap up with Roland and Jen
Location

1: 00pm Jen will transport Wynford to hotel

As you can appreciate this itinerary has taken some organising. I’m greatly indebted to Jennifer Sears (nee Dorwart) – she recently got married – for her skill in arranging all these appointments for me. I don’t think anyone could have asked for more!

This morning (Sunday 31st October) I attended a service at Saint John the Evangelist Catholic Church in the heart of Philadelphia and met Friar James Gavin, a Pastoral Associate there. In a matter of minutes I got a potted history of this “truly international” church, first founded in 1830. As James told me, “People come here the world over: from Peru to Paris; Bombay to Western Samoa; Tonga to Tobago; Berlin to Boudreaux.” And buried in its cemetery is Thomas Penn-Gaskell, the last descendent of William Penn, the famous Quaker and the founder of Pennsylvania. Apparently Thomas converted to Catholicism on what he thought was his death bed, and then survived a further 5 years. Alongside Thomas lie the remains of Anna Maria Hallarte de Yturbide, the first queen of Mexico, and her 3 youngest children. Her husband was Prime Minister of Mexico and made himself king and his wife queen. The Mexicans killed her husband but Queen Anna Maria escaped with her family to Philadelphia.

James’ greatest claim to fame, however, is his ongoing friendship with Francis Campbell, the British Ambassador to the Pope in Rome. James first met Francis when he came to study at the University of Pennsylvania. James believes that he’s a great ambassador for Britain and credits him with the success of the Pope’s recent visit to the U.K. It was so successful, James said, “Because Francis Campbell decided to concentrate on what unites us rather than on what divides us.”

I think we in the Substance Misuse field could well learn from Francis’ example. Surely we have a ‘common purpose’ that we can all unite behind.

I made two new friends after the service as well, and they drove me around the centre of Philadelphia and took me to see Capel Dewi Sant (St David’s Chapel), the only surviving Welsh Chapel in Philadelphia, which merged with the Arch Street Presbyterian Church in 1970. I intend meeting up with my newfound friends next Sunday, when we’ll go out for Sunday lunch together. I also hope to attend a service at the Welsh chapel and meet up with some members of the Welsh Society here.

It was good to see USA/Russian relations restored somewhat this week as both countries joined forces with Afghan to eradicate several drug laboratories in Afghanistan. The operation, in which four opium refining laboratories and over 2,000 pounds of high-quality heroin worth $55.9 million were destroyed, was the first to include Russian agents. Russia and the United States created a counter narcotics working group last year in part to reconcile past disagreements, and this week’s raid on the heroin factories appears to be a step in that direction.

And news of a new law that’s been introduced here in the U.S.: Carmen Huertas, a drunken driver, was sentenced to 4 to 12 years in prison for killing, Leandra Rosado, an 11-year-old girl who was a passenger in her car. Her death prompted a law that made it a felony for people to drive while drunk with children in the vehicle. The felony carries a minimum sentence, which is probation, and a maximum sentence, 5 to 15 years imprisonment. Previously, drunken driving was a felony or misdemeanour, depending on the driver’s record, without regard to vehicle occupants. However, because the new law was passed after Ms. Huerta’s crash, it did not apply to her.
Mr Justice Solomon told her that he would not give her the minimum sentence nor the maximum sentence, but added, “In good conscience I can’t give you that much of a reduction from the maximum sentence. It’s not about revenge, it’s about justice.”

And this Sunday afternoon I went shopping in Macy’s, Philadelphia, and ended up enjoying an organ recital given by Gordon Turk. Mr Turk has performed throughout the United States, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, and Japan. And today, I felt that he performed on the Wanamaker Organ at Macy’s just for me!

His programme, which was presented in loving memory of Albert J. Derr, a lifelong Friend of the Wanamaker Organ, included works by Chucherbutty, Johann Sebastian Bach, Edvard Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Vierne and Sousa. At 2.30pm prompt the central shopping area at Macy’s became a concert hall and the navy-blue socks I’d been shopping for were forgotten as shoppers were showered by the cascading notes of the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.

I don’t have the time or the space to tell you about my adventures with my family in Boston and New York last week. Suffice to say I loved every minute of their wonderful company and tops for me were our visits to the theatre to see the Lion King and to the top of the Prudential Centre in Boston, and the Rockefeller Centre in New York. I’d also like to tell you about my visit to the Wilson House, Bill W’s old home in East Dorset (where I shared), and of my meeting with Barbara Cimaglio, Deputy Commissioner Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programmes, Vermont Department of Health, and her team in Brattleboro. But you’ll have to wait until the video-diary of my Churchill Fellowship is edited and dubbed back in Tinopolis Ltd, Wales.

Then, I hope, you’ll all get to experience the wonder that this scholarship is turning out to be.

The music I’m listening to at the moment is: Alive and Kicking by Simple Minds.

Good night everybody. Thanks for reading the blog.

Nos dawch pawb. A diolch am ddilyn fy nhaith yn America.

A love fest at the Capitol Plaza Hotel

2010-10-22T08:30:00.000-07:00

On October 20th I attended a meeting of representatives from Region 1 agencies in Montpelier. During this meeting discussion focused on services already available in the communities, identifying barriers to services as well as gaps in them and developing objectives for the rest of the year. Included with the agenda were descriptions of the services provided by agencies that had been identified by the group.

Fascinating for me was to see how the state of Vermont has had the courage to change from an Acute System of Care to the Recovery Oriented System of Care. I asked Jeckie Corbile , Chief of Treatment at the state, what had precipitated this change. “It came about because we felt we had lost focus on what recovery was about.”

I then visited “Mickey” Stuart Wiles, Director of Turning Point Centre of Chittenden County in Burlington. Mickey’s centre is part of the Vermont Network of Recovery Centres, but the funding level prohibits his ability to maintain staffing 100% of the time. The Centre, during many hours, is left in the hands of volunteers. The Centre’s ability to offer consistent and adequate recovery support services is only possible with full staffing. Volunteers are great but they need adequate supervision and the ability to refer individuals they cannot assist to a qualified staff person. State funding is $50k per year, while an adequate operating budget is $200k. The gap is too significant to close it with private donations and fund raising, especially with limited staff.

Cuts and money being removed from budgets and how it affected the disadvantaged most also dominated the discussion in the workshop that I attended yesterday, October 21st. This was a Vermont Association for Mental Health (VAMH) workshop on the Challenge of “Challenge for Change” held at the Capitol, Plaza hotel in Montpelier as part of their 72nd Annual Educational Conference.

This initiative, an outgrowth of an intense debate in the Legislature, seemingly focused on the need to reduce state services with a new focus on outcome measures, new efficiencies, and the re-design of priorities (sic). Given the breadth and size of the Agency of Human Services, much of the focus of this proposal related to the Department of Mental Health and many aspects of Vermont’s Community Mental Health System which, of course, includes the Substance Misuse budget.

Does this ring a bell with what’s happening back in the U.K.? All the attendees yesterday were certainly only too aware of one thing: they had to prepare themselves for some very tough times ahead.

If I heard the phrase “We’ve got to think outside the box” once I heard it a hundred times. What it means in essence is “We’re in a right old mess here, folks. And we haven’t got the slightest idea on how to sort it out. You wouldn’t by any chance have any suggestions or ideas, would you?”

Much of yesterday’s event, however, centred on the retirement of Ken Libertoff, outgoing Director of VAMH, and was a celebration of the life and work of this most inspired and extraordinary of leaders. Apparently, he had transformed attitudes in Vermont towards Mental Health issues and had established a department that was the envy of other states. Deservedly, therefore, yesterday’s get-together was a love fest!

This was his final comment to his host of admirers, “For much of the past thirty years, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. More recently, I discovered some of what I didn’t know. What I learned is, it is not about me….
But about ALL OF YOU!

Maybe that’s what Jackie Corbile meant when she said that providers had lost focus on what recovery was!

If Californian voters approve a ballot initiative that would legalize recreational marijuana use in the state, then the Federal government will take action to overturn the proposition. Proposition 19, a state constitutional amendment, would allow adults at least 21 years old to possess up to 1 ounce of marijuana and grow 25-square-foot pot gardens. Obama’s drug tsar and 9 former Drug Enforcement Agency chiefs vehemently oppose this proposal. The drug war continues!

And scientists are still looking for the easier, softer option! A gene that has a “big, big effect” on how people respond to alcohol has been identified. About 10% to 20% of the population carries a version of the gene – which carries the blueprint for an enzyme called CYP2E1 - that makes their brains especially sensitive to alcohol, claims Kirk Wilhelmsen, senior author of a paper by the journal, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. “While the finding doesn’t yet have any treatment application” he says, “my expectation is this is actually going to lead somewhere.”

This afternnon I travel to Burlington again to see Barbara Cimaglio, Director of Vermont state’s Addiction Agency . I then drive down south t o East Dorset to chair a meeting in the Wilson House, Bill W’s old home.

And tomorrow, I leave for Boston where I’ll meet up with, Meira, my wife, Bethan, my eldest daughter and my two granddaughters, Begw Non and Efa Grug. Next week, therefore, will be a break for me and an opportunity to recharge my batteries before I continue with my Churchill Scholarship by visiting Philadelphia, where I will look at the provision and quality of Service Elements – 1) Life-skill education; 2) recovery coaching; 3) recovery plan development; 4) educational/employment coaching; 5) family support and relationship enhancement; 6) parenting training; 7) special interest support groups; 8) sober leisure; and 9) community service projects.

There are some extraordinary Service Outcomes in Philadelphia – 100% reporting no crime or involvement with the criminal justice system within the past 30 days; at 6-month follow ups there was a 41.7% increase in employment and/or school attendance; and those reporting stable living environments increased from 23.1% at intake to 46.2% (reporting a permanent place to live) at 6-month follow up. (Source: monograph on Peer-based Addiction Recovery Support, William L. White).

After Philadelphia, it’ll be on to Washington D.C. and then to Virginia. But all that’s to come.

Today, I need to thank Mark Ames for his extraordinary kindness towards me, He has been my guide throughout my stay in Vermont and he had provided me with the widest possible scope of experiences. I didn’t get to thank him properly yesterday as he left the ‘love fest’ early to fly off for an out-of-state appointment. So, thanks Mark for all you’ve given me and for allowing me to experience how a consummate ‘mover & shaker’ and politically-astute network Coordinator operates. I’m full of admiration!

And finally, a poem from a book of poetry, Sentence or Pardon, by Mark Helijas, who I met the other day at the Turning Point Centre in White River Junction.

Here’s a taster:

Get Out of the Way

let attack pass by unhindered
offer no resistance
nullify its force

offer no self to defend
and sparring will
have no partner

offer no self to engage
and venom pools
harmlessly on the ground

offer only love
and rage finds
no life support

offer only peace
and you are peaceful

M. A. Helijas

The music I’m listening to at the moment is, Debussey: Claire de Lune (for all you out there contemplating marriage!)

“I’m done!” as they say in the states.

I hope you all have an enjoyable time next week. And remember, no matter how dark, how bleak, how hopeless a situation is, there is always something positive lurking somewhere underneath. So look for that positive and when you’ve found it (and you ALWAYS will), then you’ll be living in the solution.

God bless you and thank you for reading my blog. Diolch am ddarllen fy sylwadau. Cysgwch yn dawel.

The only requirement for membership is an interest in recovery...

2010-10-19T21:46:00.000-07:00

‘The only requirement for membership (of AA) is a desire to stop drinking. The only requirement for membership of a Recovery Centre is an interest in recovery.

It’s been a good few days. I got to speak on Skype with David Clarke on Sunday morning. (Yes, our David! You didn’t know I moved in such illustrious circles, did you!)

I was also privileged to chat to Linda, David’s partner, and Ben, his son, for the very first time. Trouble was, David and I spoke for so long I missed the morning service at the local church here in White River Junction, Vermont. Instead I ended up joining a Sunday school class where members were discussing how the Catholic Church had fallen out of favour with the developing world from around the 10 century onwards. Members blamed outside influences for this. But I piped up and suggested that the most damage was probably done from within (as it always is!).

I remember reading a brown-covered, bland-looking volume about the life and doctrines of Meister Eckhart (c1260-1327), a Dominican friar and German philosopher, a spiritual psychologist, who was renowned for his preaching to lay people about his vision of the relationship between man and God. His central theme was ‘the presence of God in the individual soul, and the dignity of the soul of the just man’.

What attracted me to that particular book I do not know! But as soon as I started reading it, I was fascinated. I was excited, even, before I sensed he had a message for me, personally! And indeed, he did. By reading that book I learnt so many things about God – things that were to become the very foundation of my view of life.

In essence, I learnt that I could have a direct relationship with God, one to one, and also that he was available where and when I needed him. I didn’t have to take the scenic route to God. I could even catch him in his kitchen if I wanted to. This was the kind of relationship I needed with my ‘higher power’, because I didn’t know when or where I’d next be tempted to drink. Whenever that might be, I’d need instant access to his help. From then on it became my main objective in life to improve my understanding of God and to deepen my relationship with Him. That, and maintaining my sobriety – because, in effect, they mean the same thing.

Now that was fine and dandy for me. Not so, however, for the Catholic Church. Not taking the scenic route (religion) to God was tantamount to committing heresy in Eckhart’s days. Indeed, Meister Eckhart was put on trial for heresy after his death, and found guilty.

I, on the other hand, through his teachings and his philosophy, found a new life.

I heard on the news programmes on Sunday night that Joycelyn Elders, the former U.S. Surgeon General, had called for Cannabis (Skunk) smoking to be de-criminalised.

Whilst agreeing with her that I don’t want to see the lives of our young people blighted by the stain of a criminal record. I’m not too sure, either, that I want to make it legal for them to shuffle aimlessly through their lives in a de-motivated, semi-conscious, Zombie-like state.

On Monday morning (18th October), I attended the Vermont Recovery Network quarterly meeting held at the Kingdom Recovery Center in Saint Johnsbury, Vermont.

This building will have special significance for many – it’s the historical birthplace of “Dr. Bob,” co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. If I’m lucky, and if my meeting on Friday with Barbara Cimaglio, Deputy Commissioner Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programmes at the Vermont Department of Health, ends on time, I might even get to chair a meeting in the Wilson House, “Bill W’s” old home in East Dorset, Vermont. Now, that will be something to write home about!

There were several items on the agenda that interested me very much. The discussion on Programme Standards and Staff Supervision Protocols and a review of Recovery Coaching Tools & Participant Understanding, for example.

“We’re moving forward by the skin of our pants!” as one contributor said. This is new territory indeed! Up to now, no supervision has been in place for Recovery Coaches. Instantly, I was transported back to Bill Wilson and Dr Bob’s early challenge when developing the AA 12-Step programme: “How not to screw this up!” And that’s what was uppermost in these peoples’ minds also – as they struggled with introducing structure and outcome measurements into Recovery Coaching which, by its very nature, is the antithesis of these things.

“At the Vermont’s Network of Recovery Centres, we work to engage those who are new to recovery; those who struggle to feel welcomed in traditional settings, youth, disabled people, senior citizens, and people whose recovery includes the use of medications and therapy.”

“We’re the people who help the people who don’t make it in AA” was one further comment I heard.

And then I got to hear this definition from Mark Ames, Vermont Recovery Network Coordinator: ‘The only requirement for membership (of AA) is a desire to stop drinking. The only requirement for membership of a Recovery Centre is an interest in recovery.

Prior to these discussions, however, we had attended a workshop presented by Yvette Stevens, an experienced substance abuse clinician who is currently working for the company that distributes Suboxone. Her presentation covered the rationale for and process of medication assisted recovery. Yvette also discussed the recovery needs of this population and the need for further public education in establishing a recovery oriented systems of care, sensitive to the needs of this population.
,
Tuesday (19th October) I travelled down to meet Ed Battles, Director of the Turning Point Recovery Centre in Springfield. Ed showed me around this wonderful setting and took me next door to show me around their brand new Modular 8 bed roomed Home, which will become a transitional home for released prisoners. This beautiful house was gifted to the centre by Matt Foley and Susan Sundstrom from Woodstock, Vermont. They wanted to donate it to a non-profit organization.

And how much did they have to pay for this wonderful new resource?
Well, $1.

“And they wouldn’t even accept that!” added Ed respectfully.

“What’s the one single biggest attribute needed to run a place like this, Ed” I asked.

“Passion for recovery”, he replied without a moment’s hesitation.

I also got to speak to Wendi Lashua Germain, Director of Springfield’s Restorative Justice Centre. “Our mission is to empower local organizations, individuals and schools committed to peacefully resolving conflict addressing crime and building a safe and healthy community.

We adhere to a non-violent and empowering vision where differences are respected. Conflicts are addressed through open and respectful communication guided by trained community members.”

And what had brought Wendi into this field?

“I was a victim of crime and I did not feel I had a voice in the system. And Restorative Justice really looks at those that are harmed. When I was harmed, nobody asked me what I wanted, nobody cared. The person who harmed me went to jail and it was over. And that didn’t work for me. And when I heard about Restorative Justice I volunteered to work here and that’s how I started…”

I then travelled with Mark Ames up to White river Junction and spotted wild turkeys and deer on the way – turning back on ourselves once so that I could see the deer properly. We lunched at tiptopcafe, the original site of the Second Wind Foundation, Vermont’s first ever Recovery centre. They were a victim of their own success apparently. So many visitors’ cars clogged the car parking facilities that the landlord asked them to move on.

My discussion with Mark Helijas (who started it all and who had the vision for the Vermont Recovery Network) and Mark Ames was truly inspirational. I can’t do it justice here, so I won’t try.

Suffice to print for you Mark Helijas’ vision:

“Everyone, everywhere has access to vast and varied
recovery support services, that no one feels the
ongoing desolation of this disease, that those who
have suffered no longer live behind a veil of stigma,
but rather they feel society’s admiration and
appreciation for the struggle and courage it takes
for them to live a life reclaimed from darkness;
viewed as people who have taken hold of an
extended hand and worked mightily to reclaim the
spark of Divine inspiration and live a life in the
Right for everyone to see.”

Mark Helijas

The music I’m listening to tonight is Feeling Good sung by Michael Bublé

And I’m reading The Books Early AAs Read for Spiritual Growth. 7th Ed., by Dick B.

And that’s all for tonight folks.

Sleep tight everyone. Good night. Nos dawch pawb. Cysgwch yn dawel.

Recovery Coach Academy Certificate of Completion a meal with Mark Ames and I get to watch a game of American Football..

2010-10-16T19:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, along with some 30 other participants in the Vermont Recovery Coach Academy held at Camp Spofford, New Hampshire, I received my Certificate of Completion. I am now a trained Recovery Coach!

Josephine Romano, one of the facilitators summed up what being a Recovery Coach is all about.

“We raise up the individual’s strengths, talents, passions and interests - because, quite often, we forget them. Then we co-create a vision for the future of what matters for that individual, what their mission is. We then set a goal plan with baby steps along the way on how to get there.

And, as a recovery coach, I support you in getting there. I also support you in keeping you accountable to the steps.

But along the way there are universal habits and patterns of thinking that can prevent you moving on: like procrastination, limited thinking, and feeling like a victim – “That’s good for them - but not for me!” – or simply fear. Fear is a big block.

We take these blocks that come up and coach right through them. We look at how we can think differently about this or that, or what actions we can take to coach through the fear (or whatever the block is) and keep taking the steps to reach the vision.

Recovery Coaching is always about today. It happens in the “now”. We start there and move forward with what’s working well. We don’t go back to try to figure anything out. We co-create as we go along.

Coaching is all about choice. And it‘s all about co-creating a life that works for you – a life that you’ll love.”

I wish to thank Jo and her other two course facilitators, James Henzel and Robin Baldinelli, for all their hard work throughout the 5-days. Thanks also for accepting me onto the course at the very last minute and for making me feel so welcomed. Mark Ames’ hunch that I would benefit from observing this aspect of peer-based recovery at close hand was dead right.

My least comfortable time during the 5 days at Camp Spofford happened when we looked at the section on Power & Prestige under Cultural Diversity. That’s when Rosita, a Puerto Rican, and I, a Welshman, found ourselves at the other end of the room and separated from the rest of the group.

The exercise involved the group of 30 of us standing together in silence at one end of the room and crossing over to the other side when James, the facilitator, called out non-shared ‘values, norms, traditions, customs, art history, folklore and institutions of [us] group of people’. (Orlandi, Weston, & Epstein, 1992.)

My sense of separateness was at its most acute when those who had a first language other than English were asked to cross over to the other side of the room.

In that moment, with just two of us isolated out of the entire group, all the frustrations, the sense of injustice and oppression of belonging to a minority culture came rushing to the fore.

In that moment, I identified with the single mothers, the ones suffering from mental illnesses, those from poor backgrounds, the disabled, etc.

If it felt uncomfortable for me, however, think how it must have felt for Elmer. He was the only black man standing in silence at the other end of the room.

The point had been made though and the lesson learnt. Cultural proficiency is the goal whereby cultural competence is incorporated into every policy, practice and attitude.

I wish to thank Cass for the lift up yesterday from Spofford, New Hampshire to White River Junction, Vermont. It rained cats & dogs the whole way but Cass and I talked about all manner of things and the journey went very quickly.

I had a bit of a panic though when Cass drove off with my laptop still in her boot and I had no means of contacting her. Thanks to Dennis DeLine, pastor at the Winchester Assembly of God church, who was also on the course and whose telephone number I had, I was able to eventually phone Cass and an hour later I was reunited with my computer. Thanks for going those several extra miles, Cass.

My thanks and best wishes also go to Jim MacFarlane and Ken Dattilio, my two room-mates at Camp Spofford. I got to know both and we became firm friends. Isn’t it amazing how quickly friendships are formed when we share with each other at depth and accept our humanness? It was a privilege meeting these two men. And, yes, three grown men were in tears when we said our goodbyes.

My best wishes go to all the other members of the group as well. They’ll make excellent Recovery Coaches. Thanks for your friendships and kindnesses over the past 5 days. And thanks particularly to Ken for sorting out the security of my laptop.

Today (Saturday 16th October) Mark Ames came over to my hotel to take me out for a meal. We went to Hanover in New Hampshire as I fancied going to watch a game of American Football, between Dartmouth and Holy Cross colleges. I’d never seen the game played live before and wanted to try and make sense of a made-for-television sport that baffled me.

Before that, however, we had to sort out my itinerary for next week and it became obvious that I would have to hire a car for my final three days. I had meetings all over the state and Mark was not going to be around because of out-of-state business. I am also intent on going to a meeting in the Wilson House, Bill Wilson’s old home, on my last Friday in Vermont. I had no option really but to hire a car. Unfortunately the Enterprise garage was closed so I’ll have to get up extra early on Monday to arrange the car-hire from Wednesday onwards.

The meal with Mark was lovely and we talked through most of the first half of the football game! In particular we discussed the opposition that has been in some quarters to the idea of peer based recovery systems.

As Mark explained, “The reason that some providers feel it’s a threat is that they haven’t understood that we do different territory. They provide an acute care response to addiction as a disease. We provide a life-time recovery support. Treatment is an event. Recovery lasts a lifetime. That’s why providers need to work together with the recovery services.”

Then as Mark drove off to finish writing a paper for Monday’s Vermont Recovery Network meeting in St Johnbury, I went to watch the 2nd half of the American Football game.

Two college teams vying for supremacy in what looked like a chaotic, nonsensical mêlée of a game with more bodies on and off the field than I’ve ever seen in any other sport. I’d swear there were at least a hundred players on both sides!

Thankfully, I was seated next to John Kettere and his partner, Delilah Sourley. John, a retired doctor and keen fox hunter, understood the game and tried to explain it to me. He was in a difficult position this afternoon though – as an ex Holy Cross scholar and having worked for over 25 years as a gynaecologist and obstetrician at the local 350 bed Dartmouth-Hitchcock medical Centre in Hanover, his loyalties were split. I think deep down though that he favoured Holy Cross. And it was Holy Cross alas that lost. The final score was Dartmouth 26 Holy Cross 19. And do I now understand the game? Well, what do you think!

After the match John and Delilah went out of their way to take me back to my hotel. I’m taken aback by the ongoing kindnesses extended to me on this trip.

The music I’m listening to tonight is: Have a Nice Day (Decade in the Sun Version) by the Stereophonics.

And you have a nice evening as well.

Good night everyone. Nos dawch. Cysgwch yn dawel.

Sore hands and Assumptions

2010-10-13T21:02:00.001-07:00

Well, I’ve seen a skunk – albeit a dead skunk - but a skunk nonetheless; and it still stank!

I also experienced one of the most magical nights of my life so far. About 20 PIRS (People In Recovery) sitting around a bonfire on Spofford Lake beach under a starlit sky and holding a Fellowship meeting on the theme of ‘Spirituality’. The experience will remain with me for as long as I live. It felt as if the Universe had poured its cleansing stream of living water all over us - refreshing us, renewing us.

Incidentally, do you like the term, PIRS (sounds like ‘Peers’)? A group of us in class today (13th) disliked ‘Recoverees’ as a word to describe People in Recovery. So we’ve came up with the acronym, PIRS. What do you think? Will it catch on? Surely it can’t be any worse than that other most impersonal of terms, Service Users!

Tonight, after a long day at the Vermont Recovery Coach Academy, we returned to the same Spofford Beach and met with Lon Jackman who helped us set up a Drum Circle. Before the rhythmic percussion-playing began, however, Lon introduced us to the traditional Yoga’s seven mantras associated with each Chakra.

1. LAM (Laum) – Earth chakra colour Red
2. VAM (Vaum) – Water chakra colour Orange
3. RAM (Raum) – Heart chakra colour Yellow
4. YAM (Yaum) – Heart chakra colour Green/Pink
5. HAM (Haum) – Throat chakra colour Blue
6. AUM (Aum) – Third Eye chakra colour Purple
7. R(Silence) – Crown chakra colour White

It was another night to remember. However, my hands hurt and feel as if they’re raw after all the drumming. Maybe I should have chosen a smaller drum – or at least one I could have beaten with a drum stick instead of the palms of my hands!

How’s the Recovery Coach training going?

Here’s how James Henzel, Programme Director, RISE Programmes, and a tutor on the course, summed things up on day 3.

“In the Recovery Coach Academy we’ve focused on the roles and responsibility of the Recovery Coach - to see how the approaches can be utilised to work with PIRS and to identify with what level they are at in terms of responsibility to themselves. We want to inform them and to be a resource for them.

On the Recovery Coach side we’re also trying to develop the resource network. We’re taking about it amongst ourselves in terms of our regions. We’re separated by 2 states here, Vermont and New Hampshire, so we’re looking at how we can best work together to effect change within the recovery field.

We’ve looked at Motivational Interviewing. How do we engage the recovery? How do we motivate them to communicate with us? How do we effect change with them and help make the decisions theirs? We’ve also looked at Pathways to Recovery and The Stages of Change model developed by Prochaska and DiClemente’.

We’re aiming to see PIRS through their first stage of recovery. Typically, it’s an hour a week through the course of a year – that’s the first stage. And that’ll really ground them and enable Recovery Coaches to build a relationship with them; to be honest with them; to engage them in Wellness planning; to validate their experiences and to negotiate an approach that they’re really a part of.

And I think that’s where we are today, our third day. We’re at that negotiation stage. We’ve bought up a lot of skills sets and different modalities of change that we implant them with the recovery, and we’ll further those discussions tomorrow.

Tomorrow we’re also going to look at Power - those positions of power and non-power and how recoveries fit into one of those.”

What have I learnt so far?

The value of being respectful, I think – and of being authentic; being human. That’s going to be my biggest asset in helping others recover.

And what’s the music tonight? The late, great Eva Cassidy singing, ‘Over the Rainbow’. Sublime!

I’m also reading a book that was gifted to me yesterday: The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. In fact, I read an excerpt from the chapter headed ‘Don’t make Assumptions’ during this morning’s meditation. Our whole dream of hell is based on making assumptions, apparently, and taking things personally. So there! Don’t do it! Don’t assume and make an ass of you and me!

Cysgwch yn dawel a nos dawch pawb. Good night everyone.

A meeting in the woods by firelight

2010-10-12T04:30:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all who attended the Welsh Society dinner in Massachusetts last Saturday, 9th December and to Bob and Nancy who collected me up from my hotel and drove me there through the beautiful rolling vistas while informing me of further treats to come when I get to Boston in two weeks time. Thanks also to Susan Davies Sit for her inspired presentation on the subject of copper mining in North Wales. It was both thought-provoking and informative. Llongyfarchiadau Sue!

Good news! I got to sell 20 copies of my book, No Room to Live, at the dinner - which was a godsend. I didn’t fancy carting them all the way to Brattleboro, Vermont, today (Sunday 10th) by Amtrak. I’m heavy-laden as it is and can hardly lift my suitcase!

When things get rough at sea the captain and crew sometimes have to jettison the cargo. Well, I’m beginning to think that I’ll have to do something similar with the contents of my case!

Last night was spent packing that case – after a last supper at the Chowder Pot, nearby. I don’t ordinarily eat this late (9pm), but it was well worth it this time, the Reef & Beef, an 8oz choice top sirloin, accompanied with stuffed Maine lobster tail was superb.

A joke for you that was told to me by a new-found friend at a meeting: This guy was stumbling drunkenly on the seashore when he tripped over an old bottle that was partially buried in the sand. Suddenly a genie appeared and told him, “You have two wishes, master. What is your first wish?”

The drunk didn’t hesitate. “I’d like to have a perpetual pint of Guinness, please?”

“Your wish is my command”, said the genie. And with that, a frothy-topped, pitch-black pint of Guinness appeared from nowhere. The drunk couldn’t believe his luck and started drinking it with a passion. And the more he drank the more the pint glass filled up with the black nectar.

The genie then addressed him a second time. “O master, what is your second wish?”

Without a second thought the drunk replied, “I’ll have another one of these, please!”

I just about managed to pack my case in time to be collected from my hotel at 9am the following day (Sunday) by Phil Valentine, CCAR (Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery) Executive Director. I was to accompany Phil and his family to a service at their local church, Trinity Covenant Church in Manchester, CT, where little Mary, Phil and Sandy’s youngest, was being christened.

Prior to the service proper, however, I was privileged to attend a men-only Sunday school class. The topic under discussion was the 6th Commandment: Thou shall not kill. Interesting for me was the fact that several men shared at depth about difficulties they were encountering in their lives. I’ve only ever seen this happen in Fellowship meetings. I was taken aback by this level of self-disclosure. Members of this class obviously had complete trust in their fellow members and felt that it was a safe environment for them to be vulnerable. I was later told that this level of self-disclosure and vulnerability was first modelled to them by AA members who attend the same church. An example of AA having a positive effect on religion!

The highlight of the morning undoubtedly was little Mary’s christening. When asked by the pastor why she had decided she wanted to be christened, Mary replied, “To have all my sins removed.”

Phil and I reflected on this as we travelled towards a restaurant for a pre-travel meal and wondered what the heck she’s been up to in her 6 short years!

Incidentally, Mary looked beautiful. She made us all cry and I felt privileged to have witnessed her strong (and unprompted) testament of faith.

“So, what have you learnt from your visit to CCAR?” That was Phil Valentine’s question to me over lunch. This was my reply:

“That the secret of CCAR’s success, I believe, is good management - especially in organizing the recovery community’s ability to care and bridge the gap between treatment and build productive lives. Good training is also a hallmark – especially your highly acclaimed Recovery Training Series. Add to this your innovative Telephone Recovery Support service and your Recovery Housing Database and the simplicity of your philosophy: ‘you’re in recovery if you say you are’ and you have a formidable and highly efficient and effective organization. However, underpinning everything is your success in putting a Face on Recovery. By speaking publicly about the reality of recovery, CCAR members put a face on recovery. CCAR members put a public face on recovery by testifying before the legislature and state commissions, as well as through well-attended public events like Recovery Walks. Employing Alpha Female staff members also helps!”

And shortly after that I was on the Amtrak train heading towards Brattleboro, Vermont. I felt sad saying goodbye to Phil. Phil and I clicked from the outset. I hope it won’t be long before we meet again. I get a strong sense that we are somehow destined to meet again soon. Indeed, I think we’ll even get to work together.

The views en route to Vermont, which I filmed, were impressive and all they had been built up to be. The autumn colours were nothing short of spectacular.

Mark Ames, Vermont Recovery Network Coordinator, was at the station to greet me. And, after a Fellowship meeting and a Chinese meal, we drove towards Camp Spofford and the Vermont Recovery Coach Academy.

This week I’m going to be trained to be a Recovery Coach. But more on this and how I get on during the coming week.

In the meantime, I have a quote for you from Jo Romano, one of the facilitators: “There really needs to be a vision in Recovery Coaching. Without helping people see what their vision is - which includes what they’re really interested in, what their values are, what their passion is – they’ll never get to achieve it. When you become mindful and focused – you manifest it, whether it’s good or bad.”

And what of the meeting in the woods by firelight? That happened this evening (11th) at the end of a perfect day. Several of my new friends from the state of Vermont (well. It was Ken actually) decided to build a fire in the forest and hold an “all-recovery group” meeting out in the open air. Only alcoholics could arrange such a thing at such short notice! But it was fun; it was sincere and it was emotional. And the theme of the meeting? Well, it couldn’t be anything other than ‘gratitude’ could it?

And your music I’m listening to at this moment: Alive and Kicking by Simple Minds: Once Upon a Time.

Nos dawch pawb. Cysgwch yn dawel. Goodnight everyone.

Saying goodbye and moving on...

2010-10-08T21:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Thursday 7th October, I travelled the 60 or so miles down to Bridgeport, Connecticut. My first appointment, at Dr Marcus McKinney’s suggestion (read Blog no. 4. ‘An early morning appointment with Dr Marcus McKinney’), was with Mary Green, Executive Director of the Park City Initiative Corp., a faith-based, non-profit community development corporation. Its initiatives are many and varied: Adopt-a-Block is about revitalizing the neighbourhood and engaging the community by organising teams of children and adults to clean blighted areas and transform their living environment; the Food Pantry provides nearly 6,000 meals to over 1,000 people each month and its mobile unit distributes food to those in need throughout the city; the Park City Metro Kids mobile street outreach unity, brings interactive theatrical sessions to over 1,000 children throughout the city, offering life-skills training through songs, games, and lessons in a manner that is accessible to all youth.

I was there, however, to see its Resource Advocacy Programme (RAP) at work. Staff and volunteers work to ensure that people have enough food to eat, a place to live and assistance managing life’s difficult situations including addiction and unemployment.

When an individual is referred to the RAP, Park City Initiative (PCI) Case Managers work with them, advocating on their behalf and providing critical referrals to community resources. Life coaching, peer counselling and support groups are offered to allow for individual growth. In just three years PCI’s Resource Advocacy Programme has served over 350 individuals.

I met Grace Ricks, Tinesha Malachi, Lucy Marriso, Yolanda Hopkins, Lenny Walters and, of course, Mary Green. They all passionately testified to the transformative power of God in their lives, with many of them now Case Managers themselves and “giving it (recovery) away in order to keep it”.

I reminded myself how important it is to try to support everyone in making a commitment to a recovery path that works for them.

I must admit that I was moved to tears seeing these committed people at work ministering to the poor and needy in their community - their sole motivation being to help others out of gratitude for being “saved” themselves.

Over a salad lunch in a nearby diner I read how consumers who want to support breast cancer research can now do so by buying alcohol. Chambord, which markets pink vodka and liqueurs, urges people to “pink their drink”, saying that “by adding a splash of Chambord to any cocktail, they’re supporting breast cancer awareness year-round”.

I was relieved to read that at least one breast cancer charity is walking away from alcohol-related gifts. I trust it won’t be too long before they all do!

Then it was down to the Bridgeport Recovery Community Centre and to a warm welcome from Michael Askew, the Manager, and Luis Rivera, Volunteer Coordinator. This is the Bridgeport offshoot of CCAR, in Hartford. And the centre offers a variety of programmes ranging from Computer Training Courses; Peer-to-Peer Smoking Cessation Programmes, to a new partnership, ReEntry Works, which helps people succeed in the workplace after imprisonment.

The centre also offers training for people wanting to become Recovery Coaches, whereby they serve as personal guides/mentors for people seeking or in recovery from alcohol or other drug addictions and helping to remove barriers and obstacles to recovery. The centre also hosts “all-recovery groups”, AA and NA meetings, Relapse Prevention programmes, Audio/Visual Recovery tapes, games and other leisure activities (to counter those “what shall I do with myself” moments), and offers CCAR Telephone Recovery Support whereby a peer-to-peer calling network is in operation to check-in, lend an ear, and offer support. There’s also the excellent Recovery Housing Database, which has been accessed by over 4000 people since June of this year.

I talked to Delano Smith Jr., who was on the phone trying to set up a job interview, “This place is a godsend”, he said “I don’t know where I’d be without it”. And Fred Richardson, who was manning the reception desk and who’s been in recovery for over 30 years, summed up for me the Centre’s whole approach, “I tends to treat people here much as I would like to be treated myself. I gives to people what I was given: love, respect, compassion and understanding.”

Then it was mad rush back to Saint Frances Hospital, Hartford in time to view the film documentary, Lost in Woonsocket (Woonsocket being an Indian word, apparently, for Wonder Mist, which describes the fine spray from a nearby waterfall in Rhode Island). This critically acclaimed film is about two alcoholics, discovered living together in atrocious and sub-human conditions in the back woods of Woonsocket. A series of profound coincidences lead to a miraculous reunion with their families. “It hurts me to see him like this” said Norman’s son who hadn’t seen him in 15 years. “But unless he’s sober I don’t want anything to do with him.” A chance at treatment ensues, with recovery and redemption in the offering. The real challenge, however, is yet to come. What happens when only one of the men is able to remain sober?

This film is a technical feat. How they managed to capture, let alone make sense of the chaotic behaviour of these two drunks is nothing short of miraculous. And I’m sure that it’ll be a wonderfully effective recovery resource. Indeed, I bought a DVD copy of the film to bring back to Wales.

Less impressive for me, however, was the Q&A session at the end when Norman, one of the “stars” and the one still in recovery after 4 years, was produced like a ‘rabbit out of a hat’ to tumultuous applause from the audience. I couldn’t help feeling for Mark, the drunk who “didn’t quite make it”, and felt uncomfortable that Norman was being built up to be the hero of the piece.

As too often happens with these things, the producers got it wrong. The hero, for me, was Joe, the barber. Joe, in long-term recovery himself from alcoholism, was the man who tidied up both drunks after detox and made them presentable for their treatment in Wilson House, the famous treatment centre. Mark’s father knew the secret of his son’s apparent early recovery: “I think it’s the magic haircut!”

I’m sure that the haircut did play its part. But it was Joe, who administered the haircut, who captivated me. Joe was authentic; he was real and he was true to nature. He was spontaneous; he openly cried on camera so passionate was he to get Mark into recovery. He was angry at his later relapse and he was fun to be around as he felt every imaginable feeling whilst never once taking himself too seriously. Add to this his attractive humility and his verve for life and you have, for me, the essence of Recovery.

Without a doubt, the producers should invite Joe to the after-show Q&A session next time. He’s the real “star” – and, as yet, he’s undiscovered.

Today, Friday 8th October, was my last day at CCAR. I had a long chat with Normajean Cefarelli, CCAR Volunteer and Training Manager, about her work and responsibilities. We discussed recovery too at length, with both of us concluding that vulnerability (risk-taking by lowering the mask and showing people who we really are) and toughening-up (accepting that we are survivors not victims) were necessary bed-fellows if recovery was to flourish.

I then collected my clothes from the launderette, and packed two boxes (with Cheryle’s help) with the books, T-shirts, DVDs, etc I’ve received as gifts since I’ve been in Connecticut and posted them back home. It’s the only way - else I’d be weighed down with all the stuff!

Then I returned my hired car before enjoying lunch with Phil Valentine. My treat this time! We discussed leadership and some of the problems we’ve both had to deal with recently. His quote of the day: “It’s the captain of the ship who has to decide who remains ashore!”

And so, a fortnight has gone by and the 1st stage of my US visit is over. Later, I phoned Mark Ames and arrangements are in place for him to collect me from the rail station in Brattleboro, Vermont, at 5.10pm on Sunday, to begin the 2nd stage of my US visit. Before that, however, I’ve got the Welsh Society lunch in Massachusetts tomorrow (where I’ll hopefully sell some of my books!) and a final few hours spent with the Valentine family on Sunday morning when I’ll get to attend young Mary’s christening ceremony.

What music am I listening to? Nothing tonight, I’m afraid. I’m writing this piece in the hotel lobby as the tables and chairs here are lower and more comfortable than the ones in my room.

Thanks to all the staff at CCAR – for your kindnesses and for making me feel so welcomed. I trust Fate will play her part and ensure that we meet up again soon. I believe that the growth of the Recovery Movement world-wide will dictate that we do.

Cysgwch yn dawel pawb. Good night everyone.

Pulsing the membership

2010-10-06T21:42:00.000-07:00

In my previous blog I talked about the “all-recovery group”. It welcomes 12-Step, Christian-based, methadone, medication-assisted, co-occurring, family members, and community members – or, if you like, all non-denominational groups! But its main purpose is to provide an opportunity for people to come in and to talk about recovery.

Well, on Monday 4th October, I joined the group and I wish to thank the following for putting me at my ease and making me feel so welcomed: Linda, Victoria, Primitive, Nykeda, Christine, Diane, Dale, Lyssav, Daryl and Tanya.

As one of the members said, having listened to my share, “This illness is real, whether you’re from Wales, Hartford, the Bronx or Timbuktu!”

Tuesday at 9.30am I attended a staff meeting at CCAR, Hartford. What impressed me most about this meeting was the apparent smooth-running of the whole organization. Phil has gathered around him a formidable team with each member totally dedicated to the cause of promoting a more ‘person-centred, holistic, family-centred and recovery focused system of care’. Included in this recovery system of care is Recovery Capital. Recovery Capital is the level of internal and external resources that can be used to begin, and then maintain, recovery from severe alcohol and other drug problems. There are three different types of Recovery Capital: personal, family or social, and community. I’m going to learn more about these next week in Vermont, incidentally, with Mark Ames and colleagues as I join the Recovery Coach Training Academy for a 5 day course in Camp Spofford.

I then left the meeting early in order to travel down to Deep River and to meet up with my friend, Jimmy DeLano, who took me to the local Rotary Club meeting where I spoke about The Living Room Cardiff project. Thanks for the warm welcome everyone and yes, I might even consider accepting Tim’s kind invitation to preach at his local church - when I next come calling!

In the evening I joined Bob and Nancy Bolgard, Tina, Shirley and Danny and Sherry at Susan Davies Sit’s beautiful home for my second Welsh Society dinner. I presented the society with a Sir Winston Churchill Commemorative Crown and a tea towel, a gift from Churchill Fellows Wales, in appreciation of the wonderful welcome and hospitality that has been extended to me during my visit to Connecticut. And there’s more to come! I’ll get to meet a further 25 of my fellow Welshmen and women in a dinner in Massachusetts on Saturday!

Today, Wednesday 6th October, I was meant to travel to Willimantic to meet Diane Potvin, Director of the Willimantic Recovery Community Centre (WRCC) and Kathy Wyall, Volunteer Coordinator at WRCC. However, I called by Phil Valentine’s office first thing and there I stayed - talking and putting the world to rights. The discussion continued over lunch with Normajean, Volunteer & Training Manager and Dina Repincz, Director of Development at CCAR. Then, after we returned to the CCAR offices, more talking! And, as if that wasn’t enough, Phil invited me to his home this evening for dinner and to meet his lovely wife, Sandy, and his children, Joshua (aged 16), Samantha (14), Mathew (8) and little Mary (5). The end to a perfect day jam-packed with recovery talk and spirituality.

One of the things we talked about in passing was “Pulsing the membership”.

“Pulsing the membership” is a term coined by Don Coyhis, the founder of White Bison, a non-profit charitable organization whose mission is to assist in bringing 100 Native American communities into healing by 2010. He’s a Native American and an elder in his tribe and in the recovery community as well. He talked about communicating with his community by “pulsing” them with a weekly report he’d send out every Friday.

And what intrigued Phil most about that phrase was the association between pulse and heartbeat. Pulsing suggests that we get to hear the heartbeat of the organisation.

He went on, “As I was talking to you earlier today, it occurred to me that I had been “pulsing” our organisation” regularly with a ‘Hooked on Recovery’ article every two weeks and that I had stopped doing it.

So I think I need to get back to doing that. It seems important to me that regular “pulsing” of the community; that regular being in touch; that heartbeat of the organisation, needs to be there and to be heard loud and clear.

So I think it’s a cool thing for leaders in the Recovery movement to consider how they are keeping in touch. What’s the heartbeat of the organisation they lead? What’s the rhythm? What’s the pulse?

What music am I listening to tonight? Air on a G String played by Frank Shipway & the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Nos dawch pawb a diolch am ddilyn fy hynt yn America. Good night everyone and thanks for reading my blog.

Tomorrow I head for an early-morning meeting with Mary Green and a visit to CCAR in Bridgeport.

The full and varied life of a Churchill Fellow

2010-10-05T03:25:00.000-07:00

Today, Monday 4th October, I talked with Diana Desnoyers, Recovery Oriented Employment Services Coordinator at CCAR (Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery).

Diana is responsible for developing and implementing the ROES programme, (Recovery Oriented Employment Services) for those in recovery. This programme is designed to combine treatment and case management with employment readiness training and recovery support. It offers new approaches for assisting individuals in recovery to become active, useful, members in their community within a structured setting.

Those who benefit most from this programme are individuals that are dedicated to their recovery and are motivated and ready to re-enter the workforce. In other words, those ready to combine the vocational with their recovery.

Diana warned that pushing someone into a job when their recovery isn’t strong is likely to cause them to relapse.

This programme, incidentally, which comprises 8 modules ranging from Financial Basics and Time Management to Common Work Challenges and Employment Support Groups, is soon to be rechristened, Recovery Works, and trainer and trainee manuals will be on sale within 2 months. I’ve already placed my order.

Last Saturday (2nd October), if you remember, I’d been invited out to lunch by a small contingent from the Connecticut Welsh Society (Cymdeithas Gymraeg Connecticut). Susan Davies Sit (originally from Colwyn Bay) collected me from my hotel as promised and I met up with Bob (Illinois) and Nancy Bulgard (nee Johns and from North Wales), Shirley Gilmartin (Aberdare), and Sherry Williams (Llanelli) at The Bottomless Express, where I ate a hearty Beef Fajita. We spent two or more wonderful hours reminiscing about Wales and I was reminded whilst chatting of the last few lines of my father’s strict-metre poem, Yr Hen Fro (The Old District):

Heddiw dir yw fy hiraeth
Am erwau ffridd, am wŷr ffraeth;
Am rin y bobl werinol,
Am nef na ddaw mwy yn ôl.

(Summed up, it means things will never be the same again. Like a Heaven that’ll never return. It also contains the word ‘Hiraeth’ – a deep longing, which Welsh purists say is untranslatable.)

I spent the rest of the sunny afternoon walking the banks of the Connecticut River with Sherry Williams and being shown around some famous Hartford landmarks. I’ve got two more meals to enjoy in the company of these lovely people: one, tomorrow night (Tuesday 5th) when I visit Susan’s home (and I get to hear what Sherry thinks of my book!), and the second, next Saturday, my penultimate day in Hartford, when I get to meet members of Cymdeithas Gymraeg Massachusetts. I won’t be able to fit into my clothes by the time I return to Wales, you’ll see!

Sunday (3rd October) began very early for me. I drove some 40 miles to Deep River, a town with a population of 5000 in Middlesex County, Connecticut, and to the home of Laurie Fresher (CCAR Recovery Community Centre Manager) and Jimmy (or James) DeLano, her partner.

Laurie had warned me that I was likely to click straight away with Jimmy. And she was right! I spend a relaxing and so, so enjoyable day in both their company. We attended the 8am service in St. Joseph’s Church then ate an American breakfast in the local Diner before driving to a nearby meeting of ‘likeminded folk’ where the theme was ‘adversity’ – potentially the greatest creative force in nature. After that, it was onwards to the Mystic Seaport, a museum of America and the Sea situated along the banks of the Mystic River in Mystic, Connecticut. It is notable both for its collection of sailing ships and boats, and for the re-creation of crafts and fabric of an entire 19th century seafaring village. It consists of more than 60 original historic buildings, most of them rare commercial structures moved to the 37-acre site and meticulously restored.

I was particularly impressed by the Amistad, a ship famous because of an onboard revolt by African captives being transported from Havana to Puerto Principe, Cuba. It was a 19th-century two-masted schooner built in the United States, but owned by a Spaniard living in Cuba. The Africans took control of the ship in July 1839 and were captured off the coast of Long Island by the USS Washington of the United States Revenue Cutter Service. The Amistad became a symbol in the movement to abolish slavery. The ship was taken under control by the United States, resulting in a US Supreme Court case (1841) over the status of the Africans, as importation of slaves into the US had been prohibited since 1808.

Incidentally, Shirley Gilmartin, who I met at the Connecticut Welsh Society Saturday lunch and who works in the Mystic Seaport as an actress and performer, had promised to leave me three free tickets at the visitors entrance. And true to her word, there they were waiting for us in my name! Thanks Shirley. I’ll get to thank you in person for your kindness tomorrow night.

The day ended with a juicy sirloin steak at the Steak Loft in Mystic, Connecticut. The perfect end to a perfect day and a perfect weekend!

Today, Monday 4th, I got to record Phil Valentine, Executive Director of CCAR, as he gave me an overview of the services they provide and how they evolved and were developed.

Interestingly, Phil said that he was hesitant, initially, about offering peer recovery support groups as a means of supporting long-term recovery, because he believed people should use existing available resources, such as AA and NA membership. However, he found a need for an “all-recovery group”.

Currently the all-recovery group in Willimantic draws from 30 to 50 people, and the CCAR centre in Hartford draws from 10 to 15 at each meeting. They welcome 12-Step, Christian-based, methadone, medication-assisted, co-occurring, family members, and community members – or, as Phil put it “all non-denominational groups!” But their main purpose is to provide an opportunity for people to come in and to talk about recovery.

Phil described the set-up in a 2007 interview with Bill White as “such a simple concept, it’s brilliant, and it’s helped a lot of people”. I would also add from what I’ve seen that – it works, it’s practical and it’s comparatively cheap from a legislator’s point of view!

He goes on, “We serve a broad spectrum of people, but I think we have a special mission of serving people who don’t feel fully accepted in mainstream AA or NA.

We don’t place judgments on people. We say, “You’re in recovery if you say you are. Is there some way that you think you might be able to improve your recovery, and how can we help you do that?”1

Tomorrow’s another full and busy day and begins with a staff meeting at CCAR at 9am, another visit to Deep River and an invitation to a Rotary Club meeting where I hope to speak about The Living Room Cardiff project. Then I’ve got to rearrange my schedule in Vermont next week because Mark Ames has suggested that I attend a 5 day recovery coach academy at Spofford, New Hampshire. I think it’s a brilliant idea because it’ll give me a much better understanding of what being a Recovery Coach is all about. And, of course, there’s the dinner at Susan’s. But all that’s tomorrow!

What music am I listening to now? The Blower’s Daughter, sung by Damien Rice. Not to my taste really!

And that’s that.

Cysgwch yn dawel pawb. Sleep tight everyone.

1 WHITE, W.L., (2007). Perspectives on Systems Transformation: How Visionary Leaders are Shifting Addiction Treatment towards a Recovery-Oriented System of Care. Illinois: Great Lakes attc.

An early morning appointment with Dr Marcus McKinney, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Mark Twain

2010-10-01T19:54:00.000-07:00

On Thursday morning I had an appointment with Dr Marcus McKinney, Director of Community Outreach and Pastoral Counselling and Assistant Professor in the department of Psychiatry at Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Centre, Hartford, Connecticut, New England, USA.

Dr McKinney has run for many years a Pastoral Counselling Training Programme that reaches out to virtually anyone that’s doing helping work for people who are struggling with emotional issues - be they recovery or mental health issues.

About 5000 people have gone through his classes to date. Half are people of colour coming from urban settings where churches and other agencies and people that were providing help, were asking for something that would blend spiritual depth and meaning with psychological understanding.

Sometimes, people in the religious community didn’t have that opportunity or sometimes, people in the psychological world or recovery world had not been exposed to spiritual ideas.

Based on a kind of depth psychology and a sense of meaning, he has provided training that uses everyday language and is supported in his work by the state of Connecticut and by lots of people from all walks of life who, tonight, and every other night, will be out there trying to help people in their struggle towards recovery.

My meeting with Marcus went on for most of the morning and it was an absolute joy for me as I support the same kind of ideas.

Marcus might even make it to the launch of our day-care centre, The Living Room Cardiff, on 22nd June, 2011 – and to William (Bill) White’s lecture at the Welsh Assembly building in Cardiff Bay on 21st June, 2011.

I was introduced to many of Marcus' staff and will meet his colleague Mary Green, who does faith-based recovery work, next Thursday. We also exchanged books: mine for one he had contributed towards: MOORE. T., (2010), Care of the Soul in Medicine – Healing Guidance for Patients, Families, and the People who care for them. USA: Hay House, Inc. I’ll start reading it tonight.

Today, Friday 1st October, I decided to take the day off to do some sightseeing with Laurie Fresher, CCAR Recovery Community Centre Manager, who had kindly offered to show me around. Alas, the weather here was dreadful. Hartford was feeling the effects of a far-off hurricane apparently! It was even worse here than at the Ryder Cup in Wales which I watched whilst enjoying lunch at the Tisane, a Euro-Asian restaurant on Farmington Avenue.

Before that we had visited the Connecticut State Capitol and enjoyed a fascinating tour of the centre with some very well-informed German students. Particularly impressive was the restored model of the GENIUS OF CONNECTICUT, which stands majestically on her small gold dome. The original bronze statue, which once crowned the Capitol dome, was cast from this model. Sculptured by Randolph Rogers in 1877, she is the symbolic protector of Connecticut.

We also visited Connecticut’s Hall of Fame. Its inductees were Katherine Hepburn, Mark Twain, Igor Sikorsky (aviation pioneer and designer of the first helicopter), Marian Anderson (the first black opera singer to perform with the Metropolitan Opera), Harry J. Gray (philanthropist and one of the most outstanding business managers in the United States, the cancer centre at Hartford Hospital is named after Mr Gray and his wife), Jackie Robinson (civil rights advocate and the first black man to play major league baseball), Chief Ralph Sturges (lifetime leader of the Mohegan tribe who helped them gain federal recognition), and Paul Newman.

After that we toured the home of Harriet Beecher Stowe who wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the most controversial book of the 19th-century. Her book changed Americans’ views and incited international pressure on the U.S. to abolish slavery. Stowe’s life and work shaped the values of a nation and continues to resonate in contemporary society.

Next door is the home of Mark Twain. (You’ll never find an oak tree growing alone, but in the company of other oak trees!) We didn’t have time today to join the tour of the house as Laurie had to be back at work, but we did visit the museum and watched a 20 minute film about the great man’s life. Mark Twain was one who had it all; lost it all; but then regained his self-respect and restored his standing among the American people.

Tomorrow I’ve been invited out to lunch by Susan Davies Sit from the Welsh Society here in New England. In fact, I’ve got two further dates next week with Susan and members of the Welsh Society, and I’m looking forward very much to meeting them all. Susan apparently comes from Colwyn Bay in North Wales and that’s not too far away from Llansannan, where I was born.

The music I’m listening to right now as I finish this blog is: ‘From Here You Can Almost See the Sea’ sung by David Gray (Live from London – EP).

Incidentally, you can see photographs of some of the people I’ve been writing about in these blogs by visiting: www.welshcouncil.org.uk

Oh! And I bought new shoes today! Posh!

Nos dawch pawb. Good night everyone.

A long and tiring day

2010-09-29T21:24:00.000-07:00

I spend the best part of yesterday (28th) and today (29th) speaking with Phil Valentine the guy behind the Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (CCAR). We clicked from the outset and it’s been as if I’ve always known him. We’re both of us at critical stages in our spiritual developments and we’re being challenged in differing ways to ‘let go absolutely’ and to trust the process come what may. I think we’re helping each other in this and being true to the basic precept of the 12 Step programme: i.e. that recovery occurs when two alcoholics sit down and talk to each other. Before retiring to the On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina for lunch we’d long conceded that beneath us both were God’s everlasting arms bearing us up and that all distractions, all temptation, all evil thoughts and desires, all our anxieties and hidden fears would be cast out by His perfect love.

And what did we eat? Phil had a chicken Fajita and I ate a steak one. Bliss!

Earlier I’d recorded Cheryle Pacapelli, the Director of Operations at CCAR, who gave me an overview of the services they provide. Cheryle it is, incidentally, who has helped plan my itinerary whilst in Connecticut; she’s also arranged for me to hire a car; provided me with a BlackBerry; treated me to lunch yesterday; has escorted me hither and thither and has generally mothered me! I don’t know where I’d be without Cheryle!

Curtis Kolodney is Recovery Housing Manager at CCAR, and he recorded a piece for me about the Recovery Housing Coalition of Connecticut. At a time when access to affordable, quality recovery options has been significantly diminished, the Recovery House movement is a bright light on the horizon. Across the state individuals in recovery have quietly created a number of dignified, safe recovery environments where people in early recovery as well as those who have a history of recovery, are given the time needed to rebuild their lives. Recovery Houses not only help to develop the tools necessary to embark on a life of recovery, but also positively impact on the quality of that recovery.

Curtis also introduced me to the writings of Steven Levine and, in particular, a piece that had been and still is of great comfort to him following the recent death of his beloved mother. Meetings at the Edge: Dialogue with the Grieving and the Dying, the Healing and the Healed. The piece which Curtis read out to me was a letter written by Lobellia’s mother’s best friend at the time of Lobellia’s mother’s death. The letter ends:

“Your mother and my mother can never leave us; the temple of their lives may change, but the theme of their vast love, still throbbing in us, will only be continuing somewhere, and it is my simple, strong faith that we are never, never to lose contact with that love motif. Somewhere again our hearts are to stand still in ecstasy as we recognise those familiar, lovely notes of our beloveds and find them – a little farther along in their scores than we, perhaps, but intrinsically the same fine symphony.”

I then drove to Willimantic to appear in a live TV public service broadcast by CCAR. Before that, however, I met Diane Potvin, Director of the Willimantic Recovery Community Centre (WRCC) and Kathy Wyall, Volunteer Coordinator at WRCC. They seemed fascinated by my Welsh accent – in particular, Kathy who began imitating me! Suffice to say I had the time of my life with these two wonderful ladies. Two who are totally dedicated to recovery advocacy and are grateful, living examples of what can be achieved when we surrender our self-will to a Power greater than ourselves.

As Diane concluded “A grateful drunk will never drink again. And I truly believe that. I was homeless; I was unemployable. I came into recovery with black eyes, cracked ribs and I have not had one single day that I have not been grateful. And it’s as simple as.... not gagging when I brush my teeth. It’s all of these little things ….that I still, every day, when I go to brush my teeth, I realise that…I’m not gagging, where before I used to do that all the time.”

I was privileged to present Diane and Kathy with a Sir Winston Churchill Commemorative Crown and a tea towel, a gift from Churchill Fellows Wales, in appreciation of the wonderful work they are doing in Willimantic and as a thank you from me to them.

As I finish this blog at the end of a long and tiring day I’m listening to the dulcet tones of Michael Buble singing Cry me a River.

Incidentally, Markus, Kathy's boyfriend, has invited me to go fishing with him next week. It can't get any better can it?

Nos dawch pawb, a diolch am ddarllen y blog. Good night everyone and God bless.

Frankie Giammonta and the medicine drop-offs that could save lives

2010-09-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

I caught an earlier than expected Amtrak train from Newark Airport, New Jersey to New Haven Connecticut yesterday (26th) where the 1st stage of my Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship begins today when I meet up for lunch with Cheryle Pacapelli, Director of Operations to the Connecticut Community of addiction Recovery (CCAR) and Curtis Kolodney, CCAR Recovery Housing Manager.

Since 1998, CCAR has been organizing the recovery community to do two things: to put a face on recovery and to provide recovery support services. In order to achieve these two goals CCAR run the following programmes: Telephone Recovery Support; Recovery Housing Project; Volunteer Management; Recovery Orientated Employment; Recovery community Centres; Recovery Coach Academy; Recovery Training Series and Advocacy.

I hope to look at their Addiction Recovery Housing Project whereby Recovery House owners are invited to participate in the Recovery Housing Coalition of Connecticut which, evidence suggests, elevates recovery outcomes. I’ll be fascinated to learn how the Recovery Housing Coalition of Connecticut has ‘become a group of very passionate owners who want to ensure the quality of recovery houses in CT’.

I’m also interested in learning how their Recovery Community Centres serve a clubhouse function in terms of recovery fellowship, but also how they offer a much wider spectrum of recovery support services than would be available in a typical AA clubhouse, and how they serve as an organizing place for recovery advocacy activities.

But more of these matters on another day and in a future blog.

Whilst travelling yesterday I read an interesting article in the New York Times, which cost me $5 and the environment a whole forest-full of trees, I’d say. It described an initiative in Worcester, Massachusetts whereby residents were offered a drug amnesty and invited to empty homes of legal but dangerous drugs that the authorities say are driving addiction and crime around the country.

According to the NY Times reporter, some of the people who showed up did not want to identify themselves or discuss what brought them out, silently dumping their pills into boxes provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration and hurrying off. Others said they were dropping off drugs that had belonged to relatives who were now dead, or elderly people who had let medicines pile up in their homes for too long

This is an initiative that could so easily be replicated in Wales and throughout the wider U.K. and at little cost. In my book, No Room to Live, (see www.welshcouncil.org.uk or www.amazon.co.uk!) I describe how, when I was younger, I became a friend of the elderly in my village. This was when I was 12 or 13 years old and already psychologically addicted to my mother’s strong sleeping pills. I’d visit these old women late at night and, while they’d be out the back preparing tea and biscuits for “the kind minister’s son”, I’d be frantically rummaging through their cupboards looking for any drugs I could get my hands on.

During this period, I swallowed all kinds of pills – for high blood pressure, low blood pressure, water retention, kidney, bladder, bowel problems, etc – and suffered all kinds of side effects!

I don’t think many youngsters today begin their journey to oblivion and misery by doing what I did. But I’m sure that some of them at least begin experimenting with drugs by stealing them from their own parents’ medicine cabinets. Providing drop-offs, similar to the ones in Worcester, Massachusetts, could be an effective and long overdue way of clearing out all medicine cabinets in Wales and beyond. And who knows, an initiative of this kind might even end up saving lives.

On the train, I got chatting to Frankie Giammonta, a 17 years old New Yorker who was travelling up to Boston where she’s a High School pupil at a public school there. Frankie plays for the Boston Shamrocks, a women’s ice hockey team, so her place of education kind of followed her chosen sport. Next year she hopes to major in Physical Education at one of the many U.K. universities who specialise in her subject.

Frankie’s dad, a fire-fighter, was killed in the 9/11 terrorist atrocity, and most of Frankie’s spare time is taken up with helping others whose lives are or have been affected by terrorism acts. Frankie herself refused all counselling offers of help at the time. She hated that “formal” relationship which sometimes exists between therapist and client. She hated also the language used and the therapist’s inability to empathise properly. “Nobody could possibly comprehend what we went through” she said. “So why pretend they could?”

She organises weekend camps for young people affected by terrorism from all over the world. “We encourage them to engage in all kinds of sports activities: water skiing, soccer, playing pool, gymnastics and tennis. We even play Gaelic football!”
“Gaelic football!” I said rather surprisingly.
“Yes, one of the counsellors comes from Ireland and he taught us how to play the game.”
“But I thought you said you hated counselling.”
“Oh I do” she said. “But his type of counselling is different and it definitely works. You see, we’re not even aware that it’s going on. It happens naturally whilst we’re engaged in other activities. We also surround these kids with people who’ve had similar experiences to them – with people who can genuinely empathise.”

We then talked about drug use in her sport. “The use of performance enhancing drugs definitely does not go on in ice hockey sport!” she retorted.
“What about your friends?” I asked rather gingerly, “do they take drugs?”
“My friends come from New York where there’s plenty to do – they don’t take drugs. It’s the people who live in places like Billerica, for example, where there’s nothing to do – that’s where drug taking is rife.
I’ve been lucky” she went on. “I have a very good group of friends: I don’t do drugs; they don’t do drugs. We’re all pretty active kids doing all kinds of other things: sport, going to the movies, eating out – I like Italian food” and she laughed and pointed to a pack of spaghetti protruding from a bag above our heads on a rack.
“Who’s your favourite actor?” I asked.
“Ryan Reynolds…..he was in Proposal and Just Friends….?”
“Never heard of him” I said.

And with that the train pulled into Hartford and our conversation had to end. As I exited the train she shouted after me, “It’s our involvement in sport - that’s been our biggest saving grace from drugs.”
“I’ll tell everyone about it” I said. And I have.

And what piece of music am I listening to right now? It’s Wild Horses (Susan Boyle Tribute Version) from Emotional Moment. Exquisite!

Good night everyone.

Mae'r tywydd wedi oeri'n arw ers nos Sadwrn gyda'r glaw yn syrthio'n gyson yma drwy'r dydd heddiw. Mae popeth yn mynd yn dda yma a minnau'n setlo yn y gwesty. Am logi car yfory. Mae'n amhosib teithio yma heb gar. Rydw i wedi cael ffon symudol (lleol) arall hefyd gan fod costau'r un sydd gen i mor uchel. Un cysur yw fod y cyswllt rhyngrwyd i'w gael am ddim yn y gwesty hwn. Nos dawch.

Sadness, Bed Bugs and deep foundation drilling

2010-09-26T07:49:00.000-07:00

I felt very sad saying goodbye to Meira my wife and Rwth, my youngest daughter, at Heathrow airport yesterday. It reminded me of the countless times when, as an actor in a previous career, I would stock up on new clothes and toiletries and leave the family home to live in hotels and bed-sits whilst touring and performing in halls and theatres up and down the country. I’d miss out on home comforts and the warm secure feeling of having a loving family around me. It’s so much easier for everyone if we stick to the familiar and stay in our comfort zones, isn’t it? However, recovery involves risking; taking life by the horns and learning to confront the burden of being human. And, for me, it involves using the fear I’ve experienced lately as I prepare for this Winston Churchill Fellowship as a reason to DO things rather than as an excuse NOT to. I did allow myself to cry, incidentally, as I kissed Meira and Rwth goodbye. Showing such feelings of vulnerability is the biggest risk of all for me – demolishing that façade of invulnerability that I hid behind for so many years takes courage and is imperative, I believe, if recovery is to flourish. I have to accept my humanness else I’ll always be in hock to some or other mood-altering substance or behaviour. I’ll also miss seeing Bethan, my eldest daughter and, in particular, my two darling granddaughters, Begw and Efa. Saying goodbye to them was something else and I best not remind myself of it now or I’ll start crying again…..!

My flight (number V5001) from Heathrow to Newark in New Jersey was faultless. I’d splashed out an extra £50 for a seat by one of the exits so that I could have more leg-room. Well, I am over 6 feet tall after all and, damn it, I’m worth it! I also had the company of Jide Bada who was sitting next to me, a London-based solicitor who works for one of the leading banks, and was heading for New York for a 9 day break with his wife, who would join him later. We discussed the world-wide financial crisis and how more and more people were suddenly waking up to the awful reality that ‘people, places and things’ (money in particular, he said) would never satisfy their needs and provide them with that sense of security that they so obviously craved. A religious man, Jide proffered that only some kind of spiritual interference in these peoples’ lives would ultimately satisfy those needs. In the main they craved wholeness, he believed (as did Carl Jung), and it was this sense of separateness - from themselves, from their fellow men, and from God - that accounted for the spiritual bankruptcy and the resulting emotional pain which he said so pervades society these days. Jide had a dilemma, however: how to get these people to recognise their need of God without them having to suffer too much first.

I told him that we in the Substance Misuse field had much the same problem: how to get people who are dependent on alcohol, drugs (prescribed or illicit), or other dependencies and problematic behaviours to recognise their need of help without them also having to suffer too much first and, in many tragic cases, dying.

It is very hot here in Newark. New England is currently experiencing a heat wave. And what clothes have I brought with me? You’ve guessed it!

Before retiring for the night at my hotel in Elizabeth, New Jersey, I went for a short walk just to unwind after the long journey. Outside an IHOP Restaurant I met Adam and had a coffee with him. Adam is working in nearby New York as part of a team drilling test bores for a proposed new bridge spanning the Hudson River. He’s going to be away from his partner and two children for 4 months and that sense of separateness was beginning to get to him as well – that natural human condition of loneliness. We talked for a while and both of us felt better for it. Adam was also concerned about bed bugs! There is an infestation of bed bugs in New York hotels apparently and he’s been spraying his room and all his bed clothes in an effort to avoid being attacked by the mites. I checked my bed linen when I returned to my room but couldn’t find any evidence of bed bugs. When I got up this morning after a long, restless night, however, I can tell you what I do have - jet lag!

Maybe listening to some music will help. Courtesy of my friend Colin Macdonald, who’s a member of the Policy Advisory Group at the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs and who leads our ‘Love and Forgiveness’ retreats (there’s another one from 3rd to 5th December at Trefeca in the stunningly-beautiful Brecon National Park, incidentally – so book early, places are limited!), I’m currently listening to music on an iPod he sent me. And the piece that’s massaging all the right emotional spots for me at this moment is the Adagio in G Minor played by the Limar Lapinsch & Latvian Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. It’s exquisite, and it’s quickly restoring me to my usual, peaceful state of mind.

Later today (26th) I’ll be catching a train from Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey to Hartford, Connecticut. And tomorrow I’ll be having lunch with Cheryle Pacapelli, Director of Operations at the Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (CCAR), who has been my contact there. That’s when we’ll schedule out the first two week stage of my 2 months visit to the States.

That’s all for now folks. I’m now going out to treat myself to a full American breakfast with four strips of bacon, two eggs (sunny-side up), golden hash browns and two cinnamon-apple compote pancakes with whipped topping!

***********************

Hoffwn ddiolch i'r holl bobl sydd wedi cysylltu yn anfon eu dymuniadau gorau i mi ar gyfer y Gymrodoriaeth hon. Diolch arbenning i'r nifer ffyddlon sy'n gweddio drostaf a thros lwyddiant y daith hon a'n gwaith yn y Cyngor.

Winston Churchill Fellowship supports Cardiff-based Drug & Alcohol Recovery project

2010-09-23T13:54:00.000-07:00

I will begin my Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship on Saturday as I fly out to New York. The Fellowship will enable me to visit a number of new recovery community centres in the US. These centres stand out as they have achieved long-term recovery from severe alcohol and other drug related problems.

A network of such centres exist in Vermont, Connecticut, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and Virginia and visiting these centres will provide me with ideas on how to better build a strong "peer culture" into the services I am establishing as part of The Living Room Cardiff project which hopes to open its doors in 2011.

The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust is the national memorial and living tribute to Sir Winston, who died in 1965. The Trust’s objectives are to encourage the advancement and propagation of education in any part of the world for the benefit of British citizens of all walks of life. The aim is such that this education will make its recipients more effective in their life and work, whilst benefiting themselves and their communities, and ultimately the UK as a whole. Each year approximately 100 Fellowships are awarded for wide range of projects.

The reason I'm visiting this particular part of America is because there have been some extraordinary success stories emanating from these centres and if their successes can be replicated in Wales it would significantly relieve the huge social problems currently being experienced as a consequence of drug and alcohol misuse.

Getting a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship is a fantastic boost for The Living Room project in Cardiff. My itinerary will expose me to a broad spectrum of recovery advocacy activities in the US including many of the faith-based programmes. I owe a debt of gratitude, incidentally, to William (Bill) L White MA, a world renowned academic and expert in the field of substance misuse, who has mentored me and been a great source of wisdom and support as I've planned my itinerary.

The benefits obtained by this Fellowship will enable me to establish a recovery centre in Cardiff by 2011. This will establish sustained recoveries, free from cross-addiction. I will also be filming a video diary which I hope will be a permanent and valued resource to testify to the effectiveness of these innovative approaches.

You can follow my progress over the next two months on this blog and on the Wired-in Community Blog, www.wiredin.org.uk, and on the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust website, www.wcmt.org.uk.

Wish me luck!

Art Exhibition Launch a big success

2010-09-22T01:33:00.000-07:00

Agoriad ardderchog i'r arddangosfa gelf yn y Senedd yng Nghaerdydd ddoe. Y teitl yw: DIBYNIAETH. Mae'n werth ichi fynd i'w weld.

The launch of the art exhibition at the Senedd building in Cardiff Bay yesterday was a big success.

Dr Dai Lloyd AM, who hosted the event, welcomed everyone and Wynford Ellis Owen, CEO of the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs, who sponsored the event, chaired proceedings.

Heulwen Thomas gave a recital on the violin and Jenny Randerson AM spoke about The Living Room Cardiff project, a free, bilingual day-care centre offering treatment to people experiencing difficulties relating to alcohol, drugs (prescribed or illicit), or any other dependency or problematic behaviour. The 1st stage of this exciting new initiative will open on 22nd June, 2011, and the art work on display will, eventually, be auctioned to raise money for this new Centre.

Sally Varrall, a lecturer at UWIC, directed Louise, Cherie and Katherin, in their silent dance interpretation of the late Angharad Jones' poem, Negative Print. Denzil John, chair of the Welsh Council then said a few words, before Wynford announced the names of the 9 Trustees who will steer The Living Room Cardiff project to its successful conclusion. The 9 are:

Jenny Randerson AC; Angharad Mair; Dr Morfudd Keen OBE; The Rt Hon Alun Michael MP; Jeff Zorko; Maldwyn Pryse; Mr Dai Lloyd AM; Ifan Roberts and Denzil I John.

Wynford gave a special thanks to the artists who contributed so readilly to the exhibition: Nia Jones; Kathy Williams; Dewi Tudur; Karen Jones; Elfyn Lewis; Ingrid Pett; Iwan Bala; Eugene Sullivan; Ogwyn Davies; Carwyn Evans, Dewi Glyn Jones and Aneurin Owen.

These art works will be taken around schools and libraries in the new year and will enable the Welsh Council to approach the difficult subject of addiction from an entirely new perspective.

The event ended with everyons enjoying a lavish buffet.

S4C's Wedi 7 programme recorded the event and an account of the launch was broadcasted last night.

The exhibition will be at the Senedd building until 23rd September.

2010-09-13T15:23:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends/Annwyl Ffrindiau,

Please come and view this exhibition. More importantly, please come to the launch at 12.00 on 21st September at the Senedd building in Cardiff Bay. There'll be a buffet as well!

Dewch i'r arddangosfa. Yn bwysicach dewch i'r lansiad am 12.00 ar y 21ain o Fedi yn adeilad y Senedd, Bae Caerdydd. Bydd bwffe yno ar eich cyfer hefyd!

ELFYN LEWIS / CARWYN

EVANS / CARWYN

EVANS / IWAN BALA /

OGWYN DAVIES /

EUGENE SULLIVAN /

DEWI TUDUR / BRIAN

DAVIES / HEULWEN

THOMS / KAREN JONES /

INGRID PETT / KATHY

WILLIAMS ET AL...

cyngor cymru ar

alcohol a chyffuriau eraill

the welsh council on

alcohol and other drugs

FE’CH GWAHODDIR GAN DR DAI LLOYD A.C. I LANSIAD

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED

BY DR. DAI LLOYD A.M. TO ATTEND THE LAUNCH OF

DIBYNIAETH/ADDICTION

ARDDANGOSFA GELF ARBENNIG GAN RAI O ARTISTIAID ENWOCAF CYMRU I GEFNOGI

PROSIECT YR YSTAFELL FYW CAERDYDD

A SPECIAL ART EXHIBITION BY SOME OF WALES’ LEADING ARTISTS IN SUPPORT OF

THE LIVING ROOM CARDIFF PROJECT

Y SENEDD, BAE CAERDYDD, CF99 1NA

12.30YP DYDD MAWRTH Y 21ain O FEDI

BYDD BWFFE CYMREIG A CHROESO TWYMGALON YN AROS AMDANOCH

Y SENEDD, CARDIFF BAY, CF99 1NA

12.30PM TUESDAY 21st SEPTEMBER

A WELSH BUFFET AND A WARM WELCOME AWAITS YOU

Mae’r arddangosfa ar agor i’r cyhoedd o’r 21ain – 23ain o Fedi 2010

The exhibition is open to the public from 21st – 23rd September 2010

R.S.V.P. ERBYN MEDI 15ED 2010

Cyngor Cymru ar Alcohol a Chyffuriau Eraill, 58 Richmond Road, Caerdydd CF24 3AT

R.S.V.P. BY 15th SEPTEMBER 2010

Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs, 58 Richmond Road, Caerdydd CF24 3AT

T. 02920 493895 E. info@welshcouncil.org.uk

Addiction as seen through the eyes of artists

A number of Wales’ leading artists are contributing works to a unique exhibition to be unveiled at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay at 12pm on Tuesday, September 21st 2010

Dibyniaeth – Addiction will display new works by some of the country’s finest creative talents including Iwan Bala, Ogwyn Davies, Elfyn Lewis, Carwyn Evans, Kathy Williams, Karen Jones and Dewi Tudur. Most of the artworks have been created specifically for the exhibition using the theme of addiction in the widest sense. The exhibition, hosted by Dr Dai Lloyd AM, will be at the Senedd until September 23rd before embarking on a tour of other venues in Wales in January and February 2011. Proceeds from the sale of the artworks will be donated to The Living Room Cardiff Project. The Living Room Cardiff is a free, bilingual day-care centre that will offer treatment to anyone experiencing difficulties relating to alcohol, drugs (prescribed or illicit), or any other dependency. The first stage of this exciting new project will be officially opened in June, 2011.

The story of one artist in particular who worked closely with an addict in recovery is particularly inspiring. Ingrid Pett composed a poem which was subsequently taken up by Ogwyn Davies as the inspiration for his particular piece.

Ingrid Pett, said, “I would never have though in a million years that something I had written would eventually end up as a piece of art on display in the Senedd. It is quite something and has given me an incredible sense of achievement. I hope my experience will inspire others looking for a way out of their addictions. There is light at the end of the tunnel.”

Wynford Ellis Owen, Chief Executive of the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs who sponsor the event, added, “I am very grateful for the support I have been given by these fantastic artists. I have been looking for a long time for a creative way to get the message of what addiction means and what it can do to people. I hope this exhibition will get people thinking and Ingrid’s example is testament to what is possible with positive thinking and the right type of support.”

Dibyniaeth drwy lygaid artistiaid

Mae nifer o artistiaid mwyaf blaenllaw Cymru yn cyfrannu gwaith i arddangosfa unigryw yn y Senedd ym Mae Caerdydd sy’n cael ei lansio am 12pm ar ddydd Mawrth 21ain o Fedi 2010.

Fe fydd Dibyniaeth - Addiction yn arddangos gwaith newydd gan rai o artistiaid mwyaf talentog Cymru gan gynnwys Iwan Bala, Ogwyn Davies, Elfyn Lewis, Carwyn Evans, Kathy Williams, Karen Jones a Dewi Tudur. Mae rhan fwyaf o’r gwaith celf wedi cael eu creu yn arbennig ar gyfer yr arddangosfa gan ddefnyddio’r thema dibyniaeth yn ei ystyr ehangach. Cynhelir yr arddangosfa, sy’n digwydd ar wahoddiad Dr Dai Lloyd AC, yn y Senedd tan 23ain o Fedi cyn cychwyn ar daith i ganolfannau o gwmpas Cymru ym misoedd Ionawr a Chwefror. Bydd holl elw o werthiant y gwaith celf yn mynd at brosiect Yr Ystafell Fyw Caerdydd, canolfan driniaeth ddyddiol, ddwyieithog sy’n cynnig triniaeth am ddim i unrhyw un sy’n cael anhawster gydag alcohol, cyffuriau (ar bresgripsiwn neu yn anghyfreithlon) neu unrhyw ddibyniaeth arall. Agorir yn swyddogol rhan gyntaf y datblygiad cyffrous hwn ym mis Mehefin, 2011.

Mae stori un artist sydd wedi cydweithio yn agos â rhywun sy’n brwydro dibyniaeth yn hynod o ysbrydoledig. Ysbrydolwyd darn celf Ogwyn Davies gan gerdd a gyfansoddwyd gan Ingrid Pett.

Dywedodd Ingrid Pett, “Wnes i fyth gredu y bydda rywbeth wnes i ysgrifennu yn ysbrydoli darn celf mewn arddangosfa yn y Senedd. Mae’n dipyn o beth a dwi’n teimlo fel fy mod i wedi cyflawni rhywbeth nawr. Gobeithio y bydd fy mhrofiad i yn rhoi gobaith i bobl eraill sy’n brwydro dibyniaeth. Mae ‘na olau ym mhen draw’r twnnel.”

Ychwanegodd Wynford Ellis Owen, Prif Weithredwr Cyngor Cymru ar Alcohol a Chyffuriau Eraill sy’n noddi’r digwyddiad, “Rwy’n ddiolchgar iawn am y gefnogaeth gan yr artistiaid bendigedig yma. Dw i wedi bod yn meddwl am amser hir am ffordd greadigol i esbonio beth mae dibyniaeth yn ei olygu a beth yw ei effaith ar bobl. Gobeithiaf y bydd yr arddangosfa yn cael pobl i feddwl ac y bydd enghraifft Ingrid yn destament i’r hyn sy’n bosib trwy feithrin meddwl cadarnhaol a derbyn y gefnogaeth gywir.”

So, what's a spiritual experience like?

2010-09-02T01:10:00.001-07:00

Having a spiritual experience feels as if we are 'floating in the womb of the universe and being taken care of always at every moment'.

Cael profiad ysbrydol yw teimlo fel eich bod yn arnofio yng nghroth y bydysawd ac yn cael eich gofalu amdanoch yn wastadol a bob amser

No benefits from Governmernt plans to withdraw welfare benefits

2010-08-21T01:46:00.000-07:00

We at the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs are opposed to the Government plans to withdraw welfare benefits from addicts who refuse treatment primarily because we have to work with the grain when dealing with people suffering from alcohol dependency syndrome and not against it. Using the stick of compulsion rarely works with these people. They might comply with the requirements in order not to loose out on benefit payments but, in truth, they are rarely motivated enough to change their addictive behaviour and little if anything is achieved in the long term apart from a great wastage of money and resources. These people need to want to change and that want seldom results from government legislation. It result when they become sick and tired of being sick and tired. That's why suffering is potentially the greatest creative force in nature. THAT's quite often what gets people to change their ways. The other possible consequence of this proposal is that those whose benefits are withdrawn might be sent back into crime in order to feed their addiction. Now that benefits no one.

Adroddiad o'r Dinesydd

2010-08-15T05:47:00.000-07:00

Llyfr y Mis
Llyfr y Mis Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru y mis hwn yw No Room To Live gan Wynford Ellis Owen. Lansiwyd y gyfrol ddiwedd Mehefin ac mae eisoes wedi gwerthu’n dda yng Nghymru a thu hwnt. Nid rhyfedd bod yr apêl yn eang gan fod cynnwys y gyfrol hon yn cyffwrdd â bywydau cymaint o bobl.
Addasiad yw’r gyfrol o hunangofiant yr awdur, Raslas bach a mawr, ond estynnwyd y cynnwys i ymwneud mwy â’r broblem sydd wedi dod yn un mor gyffredin yn ein cymdeithas erbyn hyn, sef problem dibyniaeth ar alcohol neu gyffuriau – neu, yn wir, sawl peth arall sy’n gallu caethiwo corff ac enaid. Neges fawr yr awdur, a fu ei hunan yn gaeth i alcohol a chyffuriau eraill, yw bod modd gwella o’r salwch (ac mae’n pwysleisio mai salwch yw e). Er mor ddu y gall y sefyllfa fod, does dim rhaid aberthu popeth – mae modd cael dihangfa, ac mae modd byw bywyd normal, cyflawn unwaith eto.
Mae cyhoeddi’r gyfrol hon yn gysylltiedig â’r bwriad gan Gyngor Cymru ar Alcoholiaeth a Chyffuriau Eraill i sefydlu Yr Ystafell Fyw yng Nghaerdydd yn y dyfodol agos. Canolfan fydd hon lle gall unrhyw un sy’n gaeth i ddibyniaeth o unrhyw fath (a’u teuluoedd), alw i mewn a chael cyngor, cymorth a chynhaliaeth i’w helpu i ymdopi â’r sefyllfa. Bydd y gwasanaeth hwn, dan ofal arbenigwyr yn y maes, ar gael yn ddwyieithog bob dydd o’r wythnos - ac am ddim. Mae’r holl elw o werthiant y llyfr hwn yn mynd tuag at gynnal Yr Ystafell Fyw.
Cyhoeddwyd No Room To Live gan Gyngor Cymru ar Alcoholiaeth a Chyffuriau Eraill; pris £11.95. Gellir cael copïau yn eich siopau lleol neu oddi wrth y Cyngor ei hun ar www.cyngorcymru.org.uk (02920 493 895).

Motivated through suffering

2010-08-13T14:24:00.000-07:00

I'm now getting a better insight into suffering. Apart from getting me to recognise my need of help, the difficulties I got myself into when I was drinking were the main motivation for change in my life. My huge debt, for example, was what motivated me to get my career back on track to earn the money that eventually cleared them. Similarly, the fact that I'd caused such harm to my wife through my affair, etc, was what provided the resolve and sticktoitiveness that ultimately salvaged the marriage and gave us the wonderful and blessed relationship that we have together these days. I'm more convinced than ever that there are no wrong decisions. Apart, possibly, from picking up a drink. But then, again, there might be a blessing in that too - especially if I hadn't yet conceded to my innermost self that I was alcoholic.

Next Love & Forgiveness Retreat

2010-08-09T01:04:00.000-07:00

Dal i fyny heddiw a pharatoi at ein harddangosfa o dan y teitl DIBYNIAETH/ADDICTION yn y Senedd o 21ain i 23ain Medi.

Ein hencil yn Nhy Ddewi y penwythnos diwethaf yn llwyddiant mawr.

Beth am ymuno yn ein hencil nesaf ar 'Gariad a Maddeuant' yn Nhrefeca o'r 3ydd i'r 5ed o Ragfyr?

*********************************

A day of catching up and preparation for our Art exhibition at the Welsh Assembly from 21st to 23rd September Theme is: ADDICTION/DIBYNIAETH.

Our retreat in St David's last weekend was a joy.

Why not join our next 'Love & Forgiveness' Retreat in Trefeca from 3rd to 5th December?

Cysylltwch drwy'r wefan/ Contact us on our website: www.welshcouncil.org.uk

AN EXTRAORDINARILY BUSY PERIOD FOR WALES' OLDEST ALCOHOL & DRUGS CHARITY

2010-07-25T06:29:00.000-07:00

Later this week a video recording of the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs’ 2010 Annual Lecture held on 23rd June will be placed on its website: www.welshcouncil.org.uk

This year’s lecture – How we choose to live and die lives on – was delivered by Professor Baroness Ilora Finlay of Llandaff and dealt with the controversial topic of assisted suicide – yet another way in which drugs can be used creatively or destructively, depending on your attitude towards assisted suicide.

Professor Baroness Finlay is also Patron to another of the Welsh Council’s initiatives – The Living Room Cardiff – a free, bilingual day-care centre offering help for anyone experiencing difficulties relating to alcohol, drugs (prescribed or illicit), or any other dependency, such as eating disorders, love and sex addiction, gambling and self-harm. The first stage of this exciting initiative will be officially opened next June to coincide with Bill White’s visit to the UK to deliver our 2011 Annual Lecture at the Welsh Assembly.

This weekend (30th, 31st July & 1st August) also sees the Welsh Council’s third retreat being held at St. Non’s Retreat Centre in St David’s, Pembrokeshire. This retreat’s theme is Recovery and Forgiveness and our objectives are as follows: 1. to create an environment to promote recovery and healing from alcoholism and other addictive illnesses for the sufferer, their families and friends; 2. to help identify the issues that prevent people from living life to the fullest; and 3. to create positive lifestyles through personal responsibility and the release of emotional baggage. The retreat will be led, as usual, by Colin Macdonald, a much valued friend to the Welsh Council and a member of its Policy Advisory Group. Our next retreat will be held at Trefeca College in the Brecon Beacons National Park from 2nd to 5th December, 2010. Those wishing to attend the December retreat should contact us to book a place as soon as possible via our website: www.welshcouncil.org.uk

The Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs will also have a colourful presence at this year’s National Eisteddfod held in Ebbw Vale from July 31st to August 7th. We’ll be giving out free, non alcoholic drinks from our new Pink bar to all visitors to the Cytûn stand. We’ll also be selling my new book, No Room to Live – a journey from addiction to recovery. Written as a self-help book it's been described as 'hard-hitting and thought-provoking, poignant yet suitably sobering'. The road to recovery is not an easy one. It requires determination and commitment, strength and support. This book is one of many tools available to people to help them rebuild their lives. There is a range of support organisations out there too, including the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs. So while life for sufferers might seem a lonely and depressing place, there is hope, comfort and support.

All proceeds from the sale of No Room to Live (the Welsh Books Council’s book of the month) will be donated towards setting up the free, bilingual day-care rehabilitation centre, The Living Room Cardiff/Yr Ystafell Fyw Caerdydd. Our book is intended, therefore, to help others to rebuild their lives.

But this is only the half of it: as well as assessing service users, offering group therapy and one-to-one counselling sessions, we’re also busy instigated a major research project; setting up an Art Exhibition on the theme of Addiction at the Senedd building in Cardiff Bay from September 21st to 23rd; and on September 25th I fly to America to observe and record peer-based recovery support systems in five US States as part of my 2010 Winston Churchill Fellowship Award. What I learn will hopefully be an adjunct to the services we’ll be providing at The Living Room Cardiff from 2011 onwards. Yes, I think we are justified in describing this as an extraordinarily busy period for our charity!

The best kind of exercise in personality health

2010-07-03T03:35:00.000-07:00

The Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs welcomes Edwina Hart’s avowed intent to increase alcohol prices in Wales if the Westminster Coalition Government fails to curb problem drinking.

This would be a very encouraging first step in addressing Wales’ current drinking crisis and would, according to compelling evidence, most likely alleviate the symptoms and lead to a reduction in alcoholic deaths.

However, in order to treat the causes of the social malaise of binge drinking we must look at the underlying reasons that are motivating so many of our population to misuse alcohol to such dangerous levels.

When asked why they drink to excess many revellers tend to claim they like being ‘out of it’ or ‘out of themselves’. Why is it that, in this time of unparalleled prosperity and affluence, people are so uncomfortable with themselves and prepared to negate themselves? If this question could be adequately addressed a whole host of real and lasting solutions to our current crisis with alcohol and other drugs would likely present themselves.

The psychotherapist Rollo May argues that one of the main attractions of alcohol is the absence of other means of self expression, that people have no other way of ‘being themselves’ so they choose alcohol to flee from themselves.

I would like to ask the minister to consider how best to create meaningful alternatives to drinking in which young people can learn to be themselves and get satisfaction from it. Mr May has concluded that ‘such social functions would be the best kind of exercise in personality health’.

Any measures to affect pricing will work in the short term but must be allied with long term initiatives to address the underlying cause of problem drinking and produce lasting change.

The Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs would be enthusiastic to support the minister in instigating policies that would lead to people finding satisfaction in being their authentic selves.

Y Farwnes Finlay i gyflwyno'r ddarlith flynyddol

2010-06-22T09:48:00.000-07:00

Bydd ail ddarlith flynyddol Cyngor Cymru ar Alcohol a Chyffuriau Eraill yn cael ei thraddodi gan yr Athro y Farwnes Ilora Finlay o Landaf ddydd Mercher 23ain o Fehefin am 6.30pm yn Ystafell Gynhadledd C a D, Tŷ Hywel, Bae Caerdydd. Bydd bwffe Cymraeg ar gael am 5.30pm yn Oriel y Senedd, Bae Caerdydd.

Fe fydd y ddarlith, How we choose to live and die lives on…, sy’n cael ei llywyddu gan Gareth Jones OBE, AC, a’i chadeirio gan y gyflwynwraig teledu boblogaidd Angharad Mair, yn trin y pwnc llosg help i hunan-ladd.

Mae’r Farwnes Finlay yn Noddwraig i brosiect arloesol y Cyngor, The Living Room Cardiff/Yr Ystafell Fyw Caerdydd. Mae’r Farwnes hefyd wedi ysgrifennu’r rhagair i gyfrol newydd gyhoeddedig Wynford Ellis Owen No Room to Live - llyfr hunan-gymorth a hunangofiant sy’n dilyn brwydr bersonol Ellis Owen gydag alcohol.

Mae Ilora Finlay yn Athro mewn Meddygaeth Liniarol ac wedi gweithio gyda Gofal Canser Marie Curie ers 1987. Roedd hi’n Is Ddeon yn yr Ysgol Feddygaeth, Prifysgol Caerdydd, rhwng Awst 2000 a Hydref 2005. Mae’r Athro Finlay yn Gyn Lywydd y Gymdeithas Feddygaeth Frenhinol. Roedd yn aelod o’r Pwyllgor Cynghori Arbenigol ar Ganser i Brif Swyddogion Meddygol Cymru a Lloegr. Y pwyllgor hwn gynhyrchodd Adroddiad Calman Hine ym 1995. Ar hyn o bryd, mae’n gadeirydd bwrdd gweithredol y strategaeth gofal lliniarol yng Nghymru. Bu’n weithgar yn hybu ‘dyniaethau meddygol’ fel modd ointegreiddio’r celfyddydau i mewn i ystyriaethau gofal iechyd.

Dywedodd Wynford Ellis Owen, Prif Weithredwr Cyngor Cymru ar Alcohol a Chyffuriau Eraill, “Rydyn ni’n falch iawn bod y Farwnes Finlay wedi cytuno i draddodi ein hail ddarlith flynyddol. Mae e’n gyfle gwych i drafod y mater pwysig hwn ac rwy’n gobeithio y bydd llawer o bobl yn dod i wrando ar yr hyn sydd ganddi i’w ddweud.”

“Mae’r Farwnes yn Noddwraig i’n prosiect Yr Ystafell Fyw Caerdydd, y gobeithir ei agor yn 2011. Canolfan driniaeth ddyddiol, ddwyieithog am ddim fydd Yr Ystafell Fyw gyda’r bwriad o dorri cylch dibyniaeth. Mewn amser, gobeithir y bydd y gwasanaeth yn cael ei ymestyn i bob prif dref ar draws Cymru.

“Fe fydd y cysyniad Yr Ystafell Fyw yn chwyldroi y ffordd o drin dibyniaeth ar alcohol a chyffuriau ac ymddygiadau tebyg yng Nghymru. Mae’r pwyslais ar wellhad yn hytrach na rheoli dibyniaeth syml. Mae cael profiad, sgiliau a brwdfrydedd Barwnes Finlay yn gaffaeliad anferth i’r Ystafell Fyw ac rwy’n edrych ymlaen at gydweithio â hi dros y misoedd nesaf i wireddu ein breuddwyd.”

DIWEDD

Am wybodaeth bellach cysylltwch â Rhodri Ellis Owen Cysylltiadau Cyhoeddus Cambrensis ar 029 2025 7075 neu rhodri@cambrensis.uk.com neu ewch i www.cyngorcymru.org.uk.

Mae’r llyfr No Room to Live ar gael i’w brynu yn uniongyrchol o’r Cyngor, drwy ei wefan www.cyngorcymru.org.uk neu drwy www.gwales.com

Baroness Finlay to deliver annual lecture

2010-06-10T07:14:00.000-07:00

The second annual Welsh Council on Alcohol and other Drugs lecture will be delivered by Professor Baroness Ilora Finlay of Llandaff on Wednesday 23rd June at 6.30pm at Conference Room C&D, Tŷ Hywel, Cardiff Bay. A Welsh buffet will be provided on arrival at 5.30pm at Oriel y Senedd, Cardiff Bay.

The lecture, How we choose to live and die lives on…, hosted by Gareth Jones OBE, AM, and chaired by Angharad Mair, the popular television personality, will discuss the controversial topic of assisted suicide.

Baroness Finlay is Patron of the Council’s groundbreaking project The Living Room Cardiff/Yr Ystafell Fyw Caerdydd. The Baroness has also written the foreword to Wynford Ellis Owen’s newly published book No Room to Live - a self help book and autobiography which follows Ellis Owen’s personal battle with alcoholism.

Baroness Finlay is a Professor of Palliative Medicine and has worked with Marie Curie Cancer Care since 1987. She was Vice Dean in the School of Medicine, Cardiff University, between August 2000 and October 2005 and is the immediate past-President at the Royal Society of Medicine. She was a member of the Expert Advisory Committee on Cancers to the Chief Medical Officers of England and Wales, producing the Calman Hine Report in 1995. She currently chairs the implementation board for the palliative care strategy in Wales. She has been actively involved in promoting ‘medical humanities’ integrating the arts into health care thinking.

Wynford Ellis Owen, Chief Executive of the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs, said, “We are delighted that Baroness Finlay has accepted our invitation to come and deliver our second annual lecture. It’s a great opportunity to debate this important issue and I hope many people will come to hear what she has to say.

“The Baroness is Patron of our Living Room Cardiff project, which we hope to open in 2011. It is a free, bilingual day-care rehabilitation centre in the capital which aims to break the cycle of addiction and in time, we hope to extend the service to all major towns throughout Wales.

“The Living Room concept will revolutionize the treatment of alcohol and drug dependence and other addictive behaviours in Wales. The emphasis will be on recovery rather than simple addiction management. Having the experience, skills and enthusiasm of Baroness Finlay is a tremendous coup for the Living Room and I look forward to working with her over the months to come to make the centre a reality.”

ENDS

For further information please contact Rhodri Ellis Owen at Cambrensis Communications on 029 2025 7075 or rhodri@cambrensis.uk.com or go to www.welshcouncil.org.uk.

Notes to Editors

No Room to Live is available to purchase directly from the Council, via their website www.welshcouncil.org.uk, and from www.gwales.com.

No Room to Live - a Sobering Experience

2010-05-18T08:15:00.000-07:00

Popular Welsh actor Wynford Ellis Owen’s first ever English language book, No Room to Live, was launched last night at The Temple of Peace, Cardiff. Written as a self-help book, it’s hard-hitting and thought-provoking, poignant yet suitably sobering.

Hosting the launch was popular TV presenter Angharad Mair while actors Mark Lewis Jones, whose TV appearances include 55 Degrees North, Bench and Con Passionate, and John Pierce Jones, famous for playing Mr Picton in S4C’s C’mon Midffild read passages from the book. Musical entertainment was provided by violinist Heulwen Thomas and The Bethlehem Chapel Quartet.

It was his successful Welsh language autobiography, Raslas Bach a Mawr, published in 2005, which gave Ellis Owen the initial idea to adapt the publication for an English audience. However No Room to Live has since developed to be far more than an autobiography of the actor’s life and his personal battle with alcoholism.

As chief executive of the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs and a qualified addictions councillor, Ellis Owen has turned his experiences around and in doing so he saw the need for a self-help book with a difference. No Room to Live took shape and it will be essential reading for people and families struggling to cope with the plague of modern day society – alcoholism and dependency on drugs in its many guises.

A self-help book it may be, but given Ellis Owen’s engaging narrative style, it makes compelling reading. The narrative is based on anecdotes - some comical, some serious – influenced by the author’s own experiences. As a well-known and respected actor, Ellis Owen’s addiction to alcohol shook the foundations of Welsh society, especially for those who associated him as the character Syr Wynff ap Concord y Bos in the ground-breaking children’s TV programme, Teliffant, of the 1970s.

No Room to Live will retail at £11.95, with all proceeds being donated to a new charity established by the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs, called The Living Room Cardiff/Yr Ystafell Fyw Caerdydd. This brand new charitable venture aims to set up a free, bilingual day-care rehabilitation centre in the capital to help people break the cycle of addiction. In time, the service will be extended to all major towns throughout Wales.

Ellis Owen’s success in beating his addiction and regaining his reputation in Welsh life, both on and off screen, put him in a unique position to write this self-help book.

Ellis Owen explains, “Alcoholism and dependency on drugs, both prescription and illicit, ruin lives. It’s a slippery slope into despair and despondency. You risk losing everything, your self-respect, your home, your family. I know because I’ve been there. My book, No Room to Live, focuses on how to regain control of life and find happiness once again.

“The road to recovery is not an easy one. It requires determination and commitment, strength and support. My book is one of many tools available to people to help them rebuild their lives. There is a range of support organisations out there too, including the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs. So while life for sufferers might seem a lonely and depressing place, there is hope, comfort and support.

“I’m delighted to reveal that all proceeds from my book will be donated towards setting up a free, bilingual day-care rehabilitation centre in Cardiff. The Living Room Cardiff/Yr Ystafell Fyw Caerdydd, will offer help for anyone experiencing difficulties relating to alcohol, drugs (prescribed or illicit), or any other dependency, such as eating disorders, love and sex addiction, gambling and self-harm. My book is intended, therefore, to help others to rebuild their lives.”

Actor Mark Lewis Jones commented, “It was a pleasure to support my fellow actor Wynford Ellis Owen as he launched his first ever English language book and an honour for me to be reading passages from his work at the event.

“No Room to Live depicts Wynford’s recovery from alcoholism and tells of his struggle to face his demons. It is written as a self-help book and I’m sure it will be an inspiration to others who find themselves trapped to an addiction of one kind or another. The book is testament to the fact that there is light and hope at the end of the tunnel.”

Actor John Pierce Jones, added, “It takes great courage to write a book like this and I was delighted to support Wynford as he launched No Room to Live. It’s an absorbing account of Wynford’s journey from addiction to recovery, told with warmth and humour.

“The book is positive and inspiring, and makes recovery a reality for even more people across the UK and beyond. It reaches out to alcoholics, addicts, their families and provides them with new hope that there is a way out of one of the most invidious illnesses known to mankind.”

From May 2010, the publication No Room to Live will be available to purchase directly from the Council, via their website www.welshcouncil.org.uk, and from www.gwales.com.

ENDS

For further information please contact Rhodri Ellis Owen at Cambrensis Communications on 029 2025 7075 or rhodri@cambrensis.uk.com or go to www.welshcouncil.org.uk.

Notes to Editors
*The Living Room Cardiff/Yr Ystafell Fyw Caerdydd, is based on the ‘Living Room’ concept operational at 8 - 10 The Glebe, Chills Way, Stevenage SG2 0DJ. A registered charity: No. 1080634, more information can be accessed at www.thelivingroom.me.uk. Janis Feely (its Director and Founder) will advise, act as consultant to the Cardiff venture, and be responsible for all staff training.

New thinking on addiction recovery focuses on honesty and openness to combat wall of shame and stigma

2010-05-14T03:33:00.000-07:00

As a new self-help book on addiction, No Room to Live, is launched next week, its author and chief executive of the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs, Wynford Ellis Owen has come out in support of the UK Recovery Foundation’s (UKRF) aim to make recovery from alcohol and drug dependency a reality for many more people across the UK. The author himself has been very public about his recovery and believes too many people in a similar position to himself have tended to hide their recoveries from addiction - thus perpetuating the secrecy and shame of it all.

The UK substance misuse field is currently experiencing change on a profound level, mirroring significant changes within society as the political, social and financial landscape shifts and adapts to challenging new priorities and agendas. However, according to the UKRF there needs to be a major change in how society helps people overcome substance misuse and related problems. These recovery solutions should focus on the individuals themselves as honesty, self awareness and openness lie at the heart of healthy recovery movements.

Ellis Owen believes, as does UKRF, that it is only by ‘coming out’ can the wall of shame and stigma be broken down, as it is this which keeps people from finding their route to recovery. The signs are encouraging as the first UK Recovery March was held in Liverpool in 2009 and will be followed by a similar march, the UK Recovery Walk, in Glasgow in September. The first UK recovery Federation conference was held in Preston in May 2010 and affirmed that there were tens of thousands of men and women across the UK who were ready to speak out about their recovery experiences.

Wynford Ellis Owen, said, “In America alcoholism is regarded as a disease. In this country, however it is still regarded as a disgrace. We can all work together to change that perception by making our recoveries more visible. After all, is there a family anywhere in the country that hasn’t in some way been affected by the misuse of alcohol or drugs?

“People in recovery can offer hope to a world whose people are becoming increasingly dependent on alcohol and other substances. They can reach out to alcoholics, addicts, their families – providing them with new hope – and educating policy makers. People can begin this important advocacy work by talking with each other or friends or neighbours about their recoveries and what it means to them. It is not easy, but as people become more comfortable, they can expand their audience.”

No Room To Live will be launched at The Temple of Peace in Cardiff at 18.30 on Monday 17 May. The book depicts Ellis Owen’s own battle with alcoholism and offers hope and advice for others struggling to cope with alcoholism and addiction in its many guises.

Ellis Owen’s engaging narrative style makes compelling reading. The narrative is based on anecdotes - some comical, some serious – drawn from the author’s own experiences. Ellis Owen’s success in beating his addiction and regaining his reputation in Welsh life, both on and off screen, has put him in a unique position to write this self-help book. All proceeds from the book will be donated towards setting up a free, bilingual day-care rehabilitation centre in Cardiff. This unique project, known as “The Living Room Cardiff/Yr Ystafell Fyw Caerdydd” is in its infancy and, once up and running, will offer help for anyone experiencing difficulties relating to alcohol, drugs (prescribed or illicit), or any other dependency, such as eating disorders, sex addiction, gambling and self-harm.

UKRF Conference and a definition of Recovery

2010-05-08T03:09:00.000-07:00

I co-facilitated a workshop with Brendan Georgeson treatment coordinator of Walsingham Houise in Bristol, on 'Regional Representation & Recovery' at the brilliant UK Recovery Federation Conference in Preston yesterday (7th May, 2010). Rowdy Tates and Mark Gilman were inspirational speakers and got everyone going. Let's tell the world about the wonder of Recovery I say!

Thanks to Michaela, Anne-Marie and Alistair for arranging the do.

Read a fine definition of Recover in The Little Red Book this morning: 'Recovery' it said is when 'we attain spiritual strength, understanding, humility, emotional stability, peace of mind and contented sobriet'. Amen I say.

Disease versus Disgrace

2010-05-03T03:32:00.001-07:00

In America alcoholism is regarded as a disease. In this country, however, it’s still regarded as a disgrace. So who perpetrates this shameful attitude? Is it the general public? Not a bit of it. They are fully aware that it takes courage and stick-to-itiveness to recover from alcoholism and extend an extraordinary amount of goodwill towards those who are prepared to confront their problems. Besides, they know full well from bitter experience, that there isn’t a family in this country that hasn’t in some way been affected by the misuse of alcohol and/or drugs

So who’s responsible? I’m afraid it’s some of the recovering alcoholics themselves. These are people who have misunderstood the concept of anonymity. Anonymity was never intended to protect the alcoholic. It was intended to protect the Fellowship from the alcoholic. Alas, many hide fearfully under the bushel of anonymity and their recoveries become invisible to the rest of the world. Sad that - when so many people out there need our help.

People in recovery can offer hope to a world whose peoples are becoming increasingly dependent on alcohol.

And the hope is this: that there is a way out of one of the most invidious illnesses known to mankind – one of the only illnesses that tells you there’s nothing wrong with you; that man is capable of confronting the ‘burden of being human’; is able to stay sober one day at a time, and is able to live a life beyond his wildest dreams.

Recovering alcoholics are living examples of this. We are indeed privileged people.

Please don’t invisibilize that privilege, that’s all I’m suggesting.

Nid rôl yr Urdd yw cynnal arbrawf er mwyn i rieni gael ymarfer dysgu eu plant sut i yfed yn gyfrifol.

2010-04-15T07:33:00.000-07:00

Parthed erthygl Cris Dafis ‘Trafod alcohol yn gall a synhwyrol’ (Golwg Ebrill 8fed). Diolch am ei gyfraniad i’r drafodaeth. Rwy’n cytuno â phopeth mae’n ddweud ac yn cymeradwyo a chefnogi’r dystiolaeth mae’n dyfynnu ohoni - mae’r ymchwil yn ddibynadwy a safonol. Mae’n bwysig iawn fod rhieni yn gosod esiampl dda i blant a phobl ifanc ar sut mae yfed alcohol - y pumed lladdwr mwyaf yn y byd - yn gyfrifol.

Y drafferth yw bod Cris Dafis wedi cymysgu dau beth yn ei erthygl a thrwy wneud hynny, fel sawl un arall, mae wedi cymylu’r ddadl.

Nid sôn am yr esiampl y dylai rhieni ei gosod i blant a phobl ifanc ydw i - mae hynny’n rhywbeth sy’n digwydd beth bynnag, fel y dyfynna Cris, in the home environment. Sôn yr ydw i am yr esiampl (neu ddiffyg esiampl yn yr achos hwn) y mae’r Urdd fel sefydliad yn ei gosod.

Er mwyn deall fy ngwrthwynebiad i benderfyniad yr Urdd yn well, mae’n hanfodol gwahaniaethu rhwng y ddau beth. Does â wnelo beth mae rhieni yn ei wneud ddim oll, yn yr achos hwn, â beth mae’r sefydliad yn ei i wneud (neu beth ddylai’r sefydliad ei wneud).

Nid rôl yr Urdd yw cynnal arbrawf er mwyn i rieni gael ymarfer dysgu eu plant sut i yfed yn gyfrifol. Gallant wneud hynny ar y maes carafannau a.y.b. Mae’r awgrym y gallai’r Urdd wneud cymwynas â phlant Cymru trwy gynnal y fath arbrawf yn beryglus o naïf ac anghyfrifol. Trychinebus fu arbrawf cyffelyb yn Ffrainc - fel mae’r Ffrancwyr yn canfod nawr gyda 20 miliwn o Ffrancwyr yn dioddef problemau iechyd hirdymor o ganlyniad. Rôl yr Urdd, sy’n fudiad plant a phobl ifanc, yw trefnu a llwyfannu’r Eisteddfod er budd yr iaith Gymraeg a diwyllant y genedl, a gwneud hynny mewn awyrgylch sy’n rhoi iechyd, lles a diogelwch plant a phobl ifanc o flaen popeth arall.

Y sefydliadau sy’n elwa o’r “arbrawf” hwn, sut bynnag, yw’r bragwyr a’r gwerthwyr alcohol sydd wedi treiddio i’r Urdd. Fydd yr Urdd yn ddim bellach, iddynt hwy, ond ffordd arall o feithrin marchnad newydd. Does ganddynt hwy ddim diddordeb mewn helpu rhieni i ddysgu eu plant sut i yfed yn gyfrifol. Eu blaenoriaeth hwy yw hyrwyddo gwerthiant alcohol. A sut maent yn llwyddo i wneud hynny? Drwy gyflwyno alcohol mewn cyd-destun iachusol, hwyliog a theuluol braf neu, fel mae’r Urdd yn ei wneud, drwy gyflwyno “gwydriad bach o win mewn cyd-destun pryd o fwyd”. Nid yw normaleiddio alcohol fel hyn yn arwain at yfed cyfrifol ymhlith plant a phobl ifanc. Mae tystiolaeth yn awgrymu ei fod yn gwneud y gwrthwyneb.

Mae’n hysbys fod y bragwyr yn targedu chwaraeon a digwyddiadau diwylliannol o bob math er mwyn creu delwedd fwy derbyniol i’w gwenwyn. Hyd y flwyddyn hon yr Urdd oedd un o’r ychydig sefydliadau diwylliannol i beidio cael eu temtio i’r fagl. Mae hynny wedi digwydd bellach. Tristwch pethau yw nad yw’r Urdd na’i Gyngor yn ymwybodol eto o’r ffordd sinigaidd y meant wedi cael eu defnyddio.

Gyda llaw, gweithio i Gyngor Cymru ar Alcohol a Chyffuriau Eraill ydw i ac nid i Alcohol Concern - er mod i’n cydweithio’n glos â hwy.
Pam gadael i ffaith sefyll yn ffordd stori dda ynte, Cris? Yn enwedig pan mae’n creu’r argraff ’mod i’n gweithredu’n groes i bolisi'r Elusen sy’n fy nghyflogi.

Some other ways to combat that feeling of impending doom

2010-04-02T00:41:00.000-07:00

None of you have suggested the techniques I have used successfully to overcome that gnawing feeling of impending doom.

1) I used positive affirmations. At every available opportunity I’d self-talk using statements like, “I have good health, vitality and prosperity. I am at one with my Higher Power and trust absolutely” “If God is for me, who can be against me?” “I have enough money not to have to worry about money”
“I love myself and my fellow man” “I keep my life simple”, etc.

2) Every night before going to sleep I’d read to myself statements like, “I wake up in the morning and solve all my problems” “I wake up in the morning and feel positive and ready and eager to face the day” “I wake up in the morning and I know that everything will work out exactly as they’re meant to”, etc.

3) I recorded a tape of my favourite songs and, interspersed with the songs, I recorded positive statements about myself, like, “I love myself” “I’m successful and have loads of friends” “I’m popular and treasure my friends” “I’m a fantastic guy and I’m bubbling with life” “I have a passion for life” “I’m a survivor and am on my way to achieving my full potential”. Having recorded the tape I’d then play it to myself first thing in the morning.

4) I also set myself realistic, achievable goals. Now you’ve got to get this right. The goals MUST be set in the present tense, as if you have already achieved the goal. For example, “I am earning £15,000 a year” Note that I don’t say, “I will earn £15,000 a year” but “I AM earning £15,000 a year”.

The goal must also be realistic. You can’t, for example say “I am earning £50,000 a year” when you’re only earning £10,000 at present. That’s unrealistic, and the subconscious won’t accept it. Adding 50% to your present income IS realistic however. You’re achievable, realistic goal would therefore be “I am earning £15,000 a year”. Gedd it?

It’s OK, incidentally, to set materialistic goals. Quite often the lack of money can be the cause of that feeling of impending doom.

That gnawing feeling of impending doom

2010-04-01T01:58:00.000-07:00

Have you woken up this morning with that feeling of impending doom? That horrid feeling that things aren’t going to work out as they should, and that you’re going to end up a cropper before the day is out?

This is a consequence of negative thinking whereby we believe our own lies about ourselves. It can destroy each day and mar the enjoyment of our newfound recoveries.

So how can we stop doing this?

The sad news is that nobody else is going to do it for us – not even God.

There was a gardener friend of mine once who was paid a visit by a government official. The government official marvelled at my friend’s garden. “Wow!” he said, “God’s been good to you giving you this beautiful garden!”
“You should have seen it when God was in charge of it” said my friend, “It was a jungle then!”

God, you see, won’t do for us what we can do for ourselves. Similarly with these negative thoughts – we ourselves have to train ourselves to develop a positive outlook on life.

So how do we do that? That’s your task for today – to suggest ways of combating these negative thoughts.

I’ll start you off: how about making a gratitude list of things we can be grateful for? That, surely, is one way to get us into a better, more positive frame of mind.

Over to you…………any other suggestions?

Internal locus of control

2010-03-30T14:15:00.000-07:00

Often, painfully, we get to learn that our needs are never going to be met by people, places and things. When that happens we are at a loss what to do or where to turn. The sense of disappointment and despair can be crippling, often making suicide an attractive option. Out external locus of control has failed us.
So what do we do?
We obviously need to find an internal locus of control.
But how do we do that?
Simple! By recognising our need for help.
That recognition of our need for help accesses us to an internal locus of control – a control that will always satisfy our needs and never let us down.

What does it take?

2010-03-30T10:41:00.000-07:00

When we make a big deal of things - that’s what we get: A BIG DEAL

That’s why we try and avoid ‘black & white’ thinking or ‘catastrophe’ thinking. Our problems are caused by not what happens to us but by the way we react to what happens to us. So, we ‘engage brain before opening mouth’; challenge negative thoughts (always based on lies) and replace them with rational thoughts (always based on truths). We also have to ‘toughen up’ and, paradoxically, become vulnerable all at the same time. And what does ‘toughening up’ mean? It means accepting that I’m a survivor and not a victim. And becoming vulnerable? That means showing people who I am – the authentic me, warts and all. We have to be brave, therefore, in order to recover. It takes guts. It takes stick-to-itiveness too. What else? Well a belief that recovery is possible.

All of a sudden, however, things had changed

2010-03-27T06:09:00.000-07:00

One aspect of my recovery that worried me very much was my self-seeking. I was still envious of other peoples’ success; wanted to earn more money than anybody else; and wanted to be more successful than other people.

This self-seeking, incidentally, was totally outside of my control and all I could do was accept it. After all, I’d long ago learnt that I had to accept myself ‘warts and all’ – that’s how I overcame my alcoholism in the first place, by accepting what I was and recognising my need of help. But thirteen years down the line and my self-seeking was as potent as ever and immune, it seemed to me, even to ‘acceptance’.

All of a sudden, however, things had changed. Once my decision was made to access a college course on Addictions Counselling and to become a "giver" instead of a "taker" – I felt different, somehow. The best way I can explain it is that I felt as if I’d come off the back of a wild horse that I’d been riding for the past 57 years. All of a sudden I knew I wasn’t in competition with anyone else any more; and what had seemed so important to me once – money, prestige, success - had, all of a sudden, lost their lustre.

Miraculously, my whole outlook on life had changed. That’s one of the promises that’s made to alcoholics like me if we work hard at our recovery – ‘Self-seeking will fade away’ –; but I genuinely never thought for one moment that it would happen to me – after all I was no saint. Out also, finally, went my fear of people – no longer tied to this inhibiting fear of ‘what people thought of me’, I could now begin to enjoy the exquisite freedom to be the authentic me - to be true to nature.

The illness can work for us

2010-03-16T15:04:00.000-07:00

The illness can be my friend. It keeps me on the rails of my recovery.

How come?

The pain of holding a resentment gets worse year on year. Therefore, I choose not to hold a resentment. Instead I choose to confront the issue head on and deal with it.

Likewise, the emotional pain of loosing my temper gets worse year on year. Therefore, I choose to deal appropriately with my anger.

And the pain of lying gets worse year on year as well. Again I choose to be honest.

See how the illness keeps us getting well?

Now it’s your turn. Can you think of other examples where the illness becomes your friend and ally?

A risk worth taking

2010-03-15T03:57:00.001-07:00

The juiciest, ripest fruits are always to be found on the highest, most difficult branch to get to. We have to always risk in order to get to them.

The same is true about recovery. The biggest risk in recovery is showing people who we really are. That’s the biggest risk of all - showing people that we’re human. That we don’t always know all the answers; that we sometimes don’t even know what the questions are; that we’re frightened; insecure; lonely; shy; that we make mistakes and that sometimes we fall flat on our faces – and that’s it’s OK to be all these things. ‘Confronting the burden of being human’ as Eric Fromm puts it – that’s what constitutes Recovery from addiction.

I am going to be vulnerable today and show others the authentic me? It’ll be a risk well worth taking.

Laughter is the best medicine

2010-03-12T01:21:00.001-08:00

Taking myself too serious1y can get me into trouble. I have to loosen up; lighten up; and have a laugh at myself. When I don’t – nothing seems to go right somehow; no one else does what I want them to do; and things tend to not work out for me either.

I can’t really put my finger on what’s wrong. It’s just that I don’t feel a 100 percent; that I’m not firing on all cylinders. It’s as if a dark cloud has suddenly appeared in the otherwise blue sky of my recovery.

This is when I need other recovering alcoholics and addicts the most. They can see in me things I can’t see for myself – that maybe I’m taking life a little too seriously.
“I’m sure God’s having a right old laugh looking at you now” they say. “If you could only see your behaviour through His eyes, you’d collapse laughing as well!”

So, let’s all of us stand back today and put things in perspective by having a laugh at ourselves, our struggles, our stubbornness, our defiance, and our desires. I’ll promise you one thing: you’ll feel much, much better if you do. Laughter, after all, IS the best medicine.

Try taking a good dose or two of it today.

I've had a shitty day today - and that's OK

2010-03-11T09:42:00.000-08:00

I’ve had a shitty day today. Then I remembered to take my friend’s advice! I have to learn to take the rough with the smooth; the tears with the laughter; the richness with the poverty. That’s what being sober is about.
A friend of mine once took a coin from his pocket and showed me the “heads” and the “tails”.
“Were you like me as a child?” he asked, “always wanting the coin to land on “heads” and being disappointed if instead it landed on “tails”?
“Too right I was” said I. “I used to get really annoyed when that used to happen to me.”
“Well, look”, he said. “If I want to own this coin and put it in my pocket then I have to take the “heads” with the “tails. I can’t own it unless I do that.” And he pocketed the coin, adding “The same is true about life. If you want to own your life you’ll have to learn to take the bitter with the sweet, the bad with the good; the “heads” with the “tails.”
“How do you manage to do that?” I asked
“By asking for nothing” he said “expecting nothing; and accepting everything that comes my way!”
And that’s how I live my life today as well - accepting life on life’s terms; not as I want it to be but as it really is. Today was a shitty day. And that’s OK by me.

The dangers of knee-jerk reactions

2010-03-10T03:31:00.000-08:00

What gets into trouble is when we give a knee-jerk reaction to specific events, comments or behaviours.

It’s not what happens to us that gets us into trouble; it’s how we react to what’s happening to us. In our drinking days our reactions would be “black or white” – we’d go to that “catastrophe thinking” mode where the things that had happened to us would be the worst ever. Alternatively, we’d enter that sublime, exquisite mode where the things that had happened to us would be the best ever and we’d be in our 7th Heaven. Both reactions, of course, were unrealistic and, inevitably, got us into trouble – particularly the former when I would metaphorically (and sometimes physically) lash out without thinking to “punish” the perpetrator of whatever action that had upset or threatened me.

We have to learn to avoid knee-jerk reactions. Instead, we need to learn to respond. And that means learning to be responsible for our actions, words and thoughts – leaning to look at the whole picture; trying not to personalise things; and realising that life, in the main, exists in the grey area – neither too white nor too black. The word compromise comes to mind. The secret of a long and happy marriage I’ve found!

So, we need to engage the brain before opening our mouths. That gives us precious seconds during which time we can choose how to react. Do I hit out, hurt others and have to suffer the inevitable uncomfortable fall-out, sometimes for weeks on end? Or, do I bite the bullet, think things through, and then respond in a calm and measured way? The latter doesn’t preclude us from dealing honestly with hurt feelings incidentally. But it does preclude us from dealing inappropriately with hurt feelings.

Today, am I going to react with a knee-jerk reaction? Or will I be good to myself and others and respond in a mature fashion? It’s my choice. And we must remember that: we do have a choice.

Return to blogging/ dychwelyd at y blogio

2010-03-08T23:49:00.000-08:00

I have finished my new book, No Room To Live, a journey from addiction to recovery. The book will be published on 17th May. I can now return to my regular blogging.

Wedi gorffen y llyfr newydd, No Room To Live, a journey from addiction to recovery. Bydd y llyfr yn cael ei gyhoeddi ar y 17eg o Fai. Byddaf yn dychwelyd at y blogio rheolaidd yn awr.

Dydd Gwyl Dewi hapus/Happy St David's Day

2010-03-01T07:01:00.001-08:00

Dydd Gwyl Dewi hapus i bawb ohonoch.
A happy St. David's Day to you all.

Being true to nature - that is, being able to be your true, authentic self, and being able to accept the way you feel; the way you think and the way you are, warts and all - is the perfect antidote to all addictions.

Bod yn chi eich hun - y gallu i dderbyn y ffordd 'rydych yn teimlo' y ffordd 'rydych ym meddwl; a'r ffordd yr ydych, y da a'r drwg - yw'r ateb i bob dibyniaeth.
Ewch i'n gwefan i ddarganfod mwy/ Visit our website to find out more: www.welshcouncil.org.uk

YMCA Seminar

2010-02-26T00:53:00.000-08:00

Spoke yesterday at a YWCA Seminar in Cardiff on 'Young Women and Binge Drinking'. Fascinating discussion afterwards. Looking forward now to their final report and recommendations.

Siarad mewn seminar ddoe wedi ei drefnu gan YWCA ar 'Merched Ifanc a Sbri-yfed', Trafodaeth ddiddorol iawn wedyn. Edrych ymlaen yn awr at yr adroddiad terfynol a'r argymhellion.

The benefits of people and organizations cooperating and working together were quite evident yesterday. The concensus reached was inspiring! Cooperating together is the only realistic way forward

Winston Churchill Fellowship supports Cardiff-based Alcohol Recovery Project

2010-02-19T04:58:00.000-08:00

Wynford Ellis Owen, Chief Executive of the Cardiff-based charity, The Welsh Council for Alcohol and other Drugs, has been selected to receive a prestigious Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship to enable him to visit a number of new recovery community centres in the US. These centres stand out as they have achieved long-term recovery from severe alcohol and other drug related problems.

A network of such centres exist in Vermont, Connecticut and Philadelphia and visiting these centres will provide Wynford with ideas on how to better build a strong after-care culture into the services he is establishing as part of The Living Room Cardiff which hopes to open its doors in 2011.

The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust is the national memorial and living tribute to Sir Winston, who died in 1965. The Trust’s objectives are to encourage the advancement and propagation of education in any part of the world for the benefit of British citizens of all walks of life. The aim is such that this education will make its recipients more effective in their life and work, whilst benefiting themselves and their communities, and ultimately the UK as a whole. Each year approximately 100 Fellowships are awarded for wide range of projects.

Wynford Ellis Owen, said, “There have been some extraordinary success stories emanating from the US centres and if their successes can be replicated in Wales it would significantly relieve the huge social problems currently being experienced as a consequence of drug and alcohol misuse.

“Getting a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship is a fantastic boost for The Living Room project in Cardiff. My itinerary will expose me to a broad spectrum of recovery advocacy activities in the US including many of the faith-based programmes. I hope also to be able to work alongside William L White MA, a world renowned academic and expert in the field of substance misuse who has agreed to mentor me.

“The benefits obtained by this Fellowship would enable me to establish a recovery centre in Cardiff by 2011. I would then. In collaboration with others, hope to provide similar centres in every major town in Wales. This would establish sustained recoveries, free from cross-addiction. I will also be filming a video diary which I hope will be a permanent and valued resource to testify to the effectiveness of these innovative approaches.”

ENDS

For further information please contact Rhodri Ellis Owen at Cambrensis Communications on 029 20 257075 or rhodri@cambrensis.uk.com.

Pre order 'No Room To LIve - a journey from addiction to recovery

2010-02-19T04:55:00.000-08:00

You can now pre order my new book 'No Room To Live - a journey from addiction to recovery'. go to www.welshcouncil.org.uk

Andy Powell and Booze

2010-02-15T05:53:00.001-08:00

Why is it that we have rigorous testing of athletes for performance-enhancing drugs, yet when they are in the grips of alcohol or illegal drugs there is almost a tacit understanding that it's merely "a bit of fun"? No doubt, as with Freddie Flintoff, Andy Powell's encounter with alcohol will be normalised and justified, and the serious implication of this incident conveniently igored. The gulf of hypocrisy between the measures designed to regulate doping (and thus maintain confidence in the sports' industry) and the behaviours of some players that are sanctioned and even encouraged, grows ever wider with each high profile incident involving sportsmen. Can we not now have an uniformed policy that addresses ALL inapropriate drug use?

"What on earth are they thinking?"

2010-02-05T02:27:00.000-08:00

“What on earth are they thinking?”
Former judge supports e-petition against Urdd’s decision to sell alcohol on the Maes

Former High Court Judge Dewi Watkin Powell has expressed his grave concern following the Urdd’s decision to supply alcohol to drink for the first time at the Urdd Eisteddfod in May. He argues the decision goes totally against its founding principles and is “unwise and extremely dangerous”. He calls on the organisation to not take advantage of the granted licence to sell alcohol on the Maes as it is not too late to do so.

Following the decision of Urdd Gobaith Cymru to allow alcohol to be sold on the Eisteddfod site for the first time in Llanerchaeron, Ceredigion in May 2010, an e-petition has been launched to ask the Welsh Assembly to consider only funding future Urdd Eisteddfodau on condition that alcohol is not sold on the Eisteddfod site..

In supporting the e-petition, Dewi Watkin Powell, said, “This decision by the Urdd is completely against its founding principles which are to be faithful to Wales, fellow man and Christ. The decision to sell alcohol on the Maes does not tally with any of these.

“It is pretty simple, the more sources of alcohol available, more the drinking and more the offences. Around 90% of the cases of attacks on people at home and on the street that came before the courts 25 years ago, occurred as a result of the effects of drink. All the evidence points to the fact the situation is even worse today. It is also clear the vast majority of offences which take place in the home at night arise because of drinking, which serves not only to undermine the family unit but also the wider community eventually.

“The message the Urdd now portrays to the youth of Wales is that it is a good thing to drink. As a result, the Urdd is undoubtedly creating a danger that there will be a further increase in the numbers who become dependent on alcohol. The children will see older people drinking and get the impression it is completely acceptable to follow their example.”

Wynford Ellis Owen, Chief Executive, The Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs, said, “Dewi Watkin Powell’s support is a great boost for our campaign and through this e-petition we hope we can persuade the Welsh Assembly to reconsider its funding for this event until the Urdd reverses its decision to serve alcohol at the Eisteddfod.”

Instigated by the Welsh Council for Alcohol and Other Drugs, the e-petition is an opportunity for anyone who has concerns about the decision to register their concerns with the Assembly. The petition No alcohol on the Urdd National Eisteddfod site can be accessed at http://www.assemblywales.org/gethome/e-petitions/eform-sign-petition.htm

"Beth ar y ddaear maent yn ei wneud?"

2010-02-05T02:24:00.000-08:00

“Beth ar y ddaear maent yn ei wneud?”
Cyn-farnwr yn cefnogi e-ddeiseb yn erbyn gwerthu alcohol ar faes yr Urdd

Mae’r cyn-farnwr, Dewi Watkin Powell wedi datgan gofid mawr am benderfyniad yr Urdd i ddarparu alcohol i’w yfed ar y Maes am y tro cyntaf eleni. Mae’r penderfyniad “annoeth ac eithriadol beryglus” yn gwbl groes i’w hegwyddorion sylfaenol. Mae’n ymbil arnynt i roi stop ar y cynllun nawr drwy beidio cymryd mantais o’r drwydded i werthu alcohol gan nad yw’n rhy hwyr i ailystyried y mater.

Yn dilyn penderfyniad Urdd Gobaith Cymru i ganiatáu gwerthu alcohol ar faes yr Eisteddfod am y tro cyntaf yn Llanerchaeron, Ceredigion ym mis Mai 2010, mae e-ddeiseb wedi ei lansio yn galw ar Gynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru i annog Llywodraeth Cymru i ddarparu cyllid i Eisteddfod yr Urdd yn y dyfodol ar yr amod na werthir alcohol ar faes yr Ŵyl.

Wrth gefnogi’r e-ddeiseb dywedodd Dewi Watkin Powell, “Mae’r penderfyniad hwn yn gwbl groes i egwyddorion sylfaenol yr Urdd sef i wasanaethu Cymru, Cyd-ddyn a Christ. Nid yw’r penderfyniad i werthu alcohol ar faes yr Urdd yn ateb yr un o’r rhain.

“Y mae yn amlwg, mwya i gyd y ffynonellau, mwya i gyd yr yfed a mwya i gyd y troseddu. Yr oedd tua 90% o’r achosion o ymosod ar bobl yn y cartref neu ar y ffordd a ddaeth gerbron y llys chwarter canrif yn ôl , wedi digwydd o ganlyniad i effaith y ddiod feddwol. Ac yn ôl pob tystiolaeth mae’r sefyllfa yn waeth fyth heddiw. Does dim amheuaeth bod y rhan fwyaf o droseddau yn y cartref gyda’r nos yn deillio o yfed, ac felly yn tanseilio nid yn unig y teulu, ond hefyd y gymdeithas sydd ohoni.

“Y neges y mae’r Urdd yn ei roi nawr i ieuenctid Cymru yw ei bod yn beth braf i yfed ac oherwydd hyn, yr hyn y maent yn ei wneud yw creu perygl diamau y bydd cynnydd pellach yn y nifer sydd yn gaeth i alcohol. Fe fydd plant yn gweld rhai hŷn yn yfed ac yn cael yr argraff ei fod yn dderbyniol i bobl ifanc ddilyn eu hesiampl hefyd.”

Dywedodd Wynford Ellis Owen, Prif Weithredwr Cyngor Cymru ar Alcohol a Chyffuriau Eraill, “Mae cefnogaeth Dewi Watkin Powell yn hwb fawr, a gobeithiwn, gyda’r e-ddeiseb hon, berswadio Llywodraeth y Cynulliad i ailystyried ariannu’r digwyddiad hyd nes bydd yr Urdd yn gwrthdroi ei benderfyniad i werthu alcohol yn yr Eisteddfod.”

Ar anogaeth Cyngor Cymru ar Alcohol a Chyffuriau Eraill, mae’r e-ddeiseb yn gyfle i unrhyw un sydd yn poeni am y penderfyniad i gofrestru eu pryderon gyda’r Cynulliad. Gellir arwyddo’r ddeiseb Dim Alcohol ar Faes Eisteddfod Genedlaethol yr Urdd ar: http://www.cynulliadcymru.org/gethome/e-petitions/eform-sign-petition.htm.