An inspiring, moving and heartwarming daytime event brought the Forward Trust’s recovery community together for its annual event in the north on 24th May.
Despite the wind and rain outside, Forward saw rays of sunshine indoors welcoming over 150 attendees to the Jubilee Central conference venue in Hull city centre.
Our community travelled from all over – Margate, Ashford, Liverpool, Norwich – and of course Hull!
Donuts, hot drinks and sweet treats were available throughout the event, with stalls advertising a number of Forward services – both in the region (The Bridges residential rehabilitation and ReNew, a CGL and Forward co-delivered service), and nationwide (Forward’s digital and hub services).
Kicking off at 11am, the event was opened and hosted throughout by Josh Thetford, Forward’s incredible recovery support team leader and event organiser bringing light, humour and colour from the stage throughout this vibrant event.
Josh was followed by Forward’s CEO, Mike Trace, who explained the importance of Forward’s mission to help anyone impacted by addiction, crime, homelessness, mental health or long-term unemployment to turn their lives around to achieve both mental and physical wellbeing.
Mike explained the key component to Forward’s work is our ‘caring’ ethos. His speech neatly reinforced our charity’s goal which is to support people through addiction (alcohol, drugs or gambling), break the cycles of criminality and prison, and help those wanting the opportunity to live a positive life that fulfils their potential.
We then heard a trio of inspiring shares from Laura, Sarah and Liam – each with their own unique story and challenges – that eventually led them to recovery through a Forward drug and alcohol treatment service.
While their individual stories all varied enormously – different places, upbringings and family dynamics – each shared the same common elements of chaotic lifestyles, denial, shame and ultimately recovery. We’re extremely grateful to Laura, Sarah and Liam for accepting the invite to share their journey with everyone.
This was a fitting segway into a demonstration of how to use naloxone effectively. This life-saving medication helps to revive anyone in the case of accidental drug overdose. We’re proud that we could use this event to not only show the correct way to use but also hand-out a batch of free naloxone kits.
Lunch was an incredible array of curries for all tastes and preferences (served with all the essential extras including bhaji’s, naan breads, poppadom’s and pickle tray) – needless to say this was a big hit! Our thanks to the incredible catering team for a restaurant-level taste experience!
The event then included two further shares by Chris and then Alan, who both provided moving accounts of supporting their respective sons through addiction. Their emotional stories unpacked the complex challenges of supporting loved ones but also the barriers in gaining access to addiction services within the health system. Both related their gratitude in finding Forward support services and our recovery community.
These poignant family shares also highlighted the ripple effect of addiction; all too often family members, children, friends, work colleagues and significant others of individuals in active addiction can be affected. Forward is pleased to be able to also provide more support for this community through Reach Out confidential online chat and also our new specialist programme, Recovering Families UK (RFUK) – now accepting self-referrals.
The final part of the day culminated in live acoustic performances, a raffle and the Serenity Prayer.
Our thanks to everyone that made the journey to Hull and our gratitude to the staff at Jubilee Central. Special thanks to our team of event organisers and live event technicians – here’s to next year!
Finally, do keep an eye out for videos from the event – including shares – in the coming weeks!
If you are interested in more stories about addiction and recovery, you can find these on our campaign site, Taking Action on Addiction, where we help to share the message that Addiction Affects Everyone BUT Recovery Is Possible.
This blog was originally published by the Forward Trust. You can read the original post here.
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