Richard Hopper is a recovery worker at WithYou North Lincolnshire. We asked him about his career path and role.
WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO WORK IN THIS FIELD?
I’ve been a service user myself and the staff were really supportive and a big part of my recovery. I have a really good work ethic, I think of how much people have given to me, and I want to pay that forward and do anything I’m able to.
Towards the end of my treatment journey, I got myself involved in setting up and running a recovery cafe for service users, a safe space. For that work, I received a High Sheriff’s Award at Lincoln, which meant going to Lincoln Castle to receive the award and meeting the High Sheriff at the time – it was amazing.
In 2010 I became a volunteer for Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust, and, towards the end of coming off my prescription, I did a peer mentoring programme – so I was actively involved with work going on within drug services in the area. After coming out of treatment and doing all of this work I thought, that’s what I’d like to get into. In 2012, at the end of the peer mentoring training, a role came up in Scunthorpe for a recovery champion, which was paid employment, and I got that role. As part of that I was attached to an aftercare worker, so I was working a lot with aftercare clients, but also those hard-to-reach clients who were taken into one to ones with the staff as part of the drug intervention programme. I actually ended up running the aftercare service myself.
Then in 2016 two staff members went on maternity leave and a chance came up for me to express my interest in the recovery co-ordinator role, which I got. So I’ve been doing that ever since. I still remember the very first meeting in the morning, and all these acronyms were being thrown all over, and I felt like a fish out of water. But the staff have been amazing, management as well. I’ve been quite lucky. It’s a fantastic place to work, and I absolutely love it every day.
WHAT DOES A TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE?
In the morning I come in early and prepare myself for the day. At 9:15 we have the flash meeting where we discuss who’s attending appointments, any safeguarding issues that have arisen, or any clients who are in hospital or having any issues. Then usually 9:30 is my first appointment of the day with a client.
Recently I was supporting a client who had been needing to visit the GP for a while to address his health concerns. I picked him up and took him to his GP appointment, and soon I’ll be taking him to another for a blood test. He just needed support to actually go and be seen.
On a Monday and Tuesday, I work with colleagues at a satellite service near the Humber Bridge. The location makes it a lot easier for clients to access treatment. I have one to ones with clients and a prescriber and a nurse come out once every two weeks.
I also work with other organisations. Recently our community engagement worker and I visited The Forge Project, which supports homeless people, to deliver training and distribute naloxone to staff and volunteers at the project. On a recent Saturday, I went to a festival raising money for mental health where we hosted a stall. A colleague and I also gave a talk about alcohol to the fire brigade, and we’re working with the police and probation on naloxone training.
WHAT DO YOU FIND MOST REWARDING?
The engagement with the clients. A lot of the ones I work with, I’ve had past, lived experience with those clients as well. So it’s nice to be able to see them move forward with their journey, with their own recovery, whatever that looks like. We’ve got a lived experience worker who works here, who happens to be one of my clients as well. Actually seeing them come through treatment, then working here and being so successful within their new role – that’s just fantastic as well.
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO CHANGE?
People’s perception of our clients. Not just the general public, but also the other services they access. Sometimes our clients struggle with hospitals, pharmacies and the GPs. In some places you get treated like a second class citizen. I know they have met some clients who might be a bit more vocal, but there isn’t always an understanding of what that client might have been through that morning or that day, and the frustration they’re experiencing, especially when they can see they aren’t being treated the same as others. Substance users are human beings. They’ve got mothers, brothers, sisters and uncles. It would be great if we could change people’s perceptions.
WHAT’S YOUR ADVICE FOR ANYONE CONSIDERING A SIMILAR CAREER?
For anyone, I think it’s a very rewarding job. It can be hard and frustrating, but even seeing just those small little wins, that’s enough to inspire you to keep going. You may be the only contact your client has, and it could make their day coming into that appointment, having someone to offload to, someone to listen to them. Everyone deserves that.
See opportunities like Richard’s on DDN Jobs