NETWORKRECOVERY MONTH SPECIAL

PEDDLING FOR PHOENIX STEPPING OUT WITH THE UKRW

recovery month special

OUR BIGGEST EVER RECOVERY MONTH CELEBRATIONS

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION SETTING SAIL WITH TECTONA

SEPT 2014

ISSUE 24

EDITOR’S LETTER

Welcome to September’s edition of Network. This month’s issue is all about recovery and our Recovery Month celebrations. We’ve been hearing about what’s happening around Phoenix to raise funds for our events and celebrate recovery.

In this Recovery Special issue:

• Fundraising A’hoy! For the Voyage of Recovery• Lights, Camera, Action at the Recovery Street Film Festival• Julie’s Great North Run Hattrick

Also in this issue:

• Travelling and training with ECEtt• Introducing our Reader in Residence and...• Phoenix in Focus: What’s happening in Phoenix Scotland?

In the next issue of Network we’re focusing on Supporting Families. We want to hear your stories about supporting families and affected others. Keep reading for more information.

Deborah Mackay - Editor

We’ve chosen Recovery Month as the ideal time to launch our new logos. At the Phoenix Roadshows in March Karen launched our redefined Purpose and, Values and Beliefs. Our values are important because they define what’s unique about Phoenix Futures, it’s our passion for recovery, our belief in being the best provider we can be, and our shared history.

In the busy environment we work in where it seems there is always more we should be doing, we should occasionally reflect that Phoenix staff, volunteers and partner organisations have been giving their passion and expertise for over 40 years, fuelled by the achievements of many thousands of our services users and through some tough times, to ensure that today we’re better at what we do than ever before. We don’t often talk about it, because we’re often too busy supporting the next person in need, but we know that many people are alive and enjoying life today because of the contribution you make today and the contribution many others have made in the past. That’s why we’re reminding people we are ‘Experts in Recovery for over 40 years’ and in Scotland we’re proud to be celebrating over 20 years of bringing our expertise to help transform lives. As the Phoenix Futures Group grows and shares the achievements of NORCAS and Foundation66 we’re proud to remind people that as one Phoenix Futures Group we’re better equipped than ever to fulfil our purpose.

EXPERTS IN RECOVERY

We’ll be rolling out the new logos and straplines over the next few months. Don’t throw anything away with the old logo on, we know there are more important things to spend money on than replacing logos, but as you need to replace and reprint you’ll start seeing the new logos and straplines.

James Armstrong, Head of Marketing and Communications

RECOVERY MONTH AT PHOENIX

This September we’re hosting and supporting an array of projects and events to make this year our biggest ever Recovery Month celebrations. Continue reading to find out what we’ve got planned...

STEP UP... and show your support for this year’s UK Recovery Walk. We’re proud to be a sponsor of this terrific event again this year. Phoenix Futures service users and staff will also be taking part in the walk in Greater Manchester on 13th September.

Find out more at www.ukrecoverywalk.org

GET INTO GEAR... over 90 of our service users are taking on the challenge to cycle across Scotland and England. We start on 24th September in Glasgow and end on 4th October at our Hampshire Residential service.

Come and join the ride by following updates on Facebook and Twitter.

SET SAIL... this September the Tectona will take to the seas again with 6 crews from across Phoenix taking part. It promises to be another life-changing experience!

You can help support the voyage at www.justgiving.com/VOR2014 and follow the adventure on Twitter and Facebook.

FOLLOW THE ACTION... with the first Recovery Street Film Festival. People affected by addiction across the UK have shared their stories based on the theme of ‘Deserving a Future’. The final 10 short films selected by the judges will be screened at our street film festivals around the UK. The winner will receive £1,000 of film related prizes.

Follow the action at Facebook.com/recoverystreetfilmfestival and @RecoveryFilms on Twitter.

RECOVERY STREET FILM FESTIVAL

With the Recovery Street Film Festival underway, Marketing and Communications Officer, Courtney Allen, talks us through the action on and off the screen.

What is the event’s Unique Selling Point?

The event shows real human interest stories, that show a generally positive side to addiction and recovery. How does the event celebrate recovery?

The event celebrates recovery showing that it is possible. It shows that recovery has a different meaning for everyone and they can all have a positive outcome.

What is the Recovery Street Film Festival?

A series of film festivals shown at a number of cities around the UK focusing on people living in recovery, meeting the challenge of finding a place in society. The festival’s films were generated as the result of a competition to find the best stories around the theme ‘deserving a future’. 10 films were chosen by our judging panel and will be shown at all our events.

How did the event come to fruition?

The event follows the idea that recovery is something everyone can relate to while there is still being a lot of stigma attached. We got in touch with other providers of treatment services to see if we could come together to create an event that would be a lot bigger than our current sector so we can show people on a national level a more humane side to addiction and recovery.

How does the event celebrate recovery?

The event celebrates recovery showing that it is possible. It shows that recovery has a different meaning for everyone and they can all have a positive outcome.

What impact does the event have on service users and graduates?

The competition has brought filmmaking to a whole new audience in many cases. It has given people a platform to share their stories with a wide audience, at our festivals and online if they didn’t make the final 10. It also offers service users and graduates the opportunity to volunteer at our events and tell people about their recovery face to face, raising awareness of services in the local areas.

What are your hopes / aims for this year’s event?

We hope that as many people as possible come to our events, to view our films and meet people in recovery. We also hope that people will go on to use the library of films we develop to give people an insight into addiction and recovery, proving a cautionary tale or a route to moving in the right direction.

Since speaking to Courtney about the Recovery Street Film Festival it’s been announced that two Phoenix Futures’ films have been shortlisted. Congratulations to the HMP Pentonville team for their film ‘On Road’ and to our service users in Doncaster who were featured in ‘Leila’.

Service User Involvement Manager, Stuart Plant, first took to the seas for the Voyage of Recovery in 2012. Here he tell us all about this year’s Voyage.

What is the event’s Unique Selling Point (what makes it stand out)?

The process of sailing training with clients in treatment, building confidence, self esteem and social skills is the Voyage’s USP. We have seen that 86% of clients that participate in the voyages go on to complete treatment; this is substantially higher than the national average which is 47% (NTA 2011-2012)

VOYAGE OF RECOVERY

What is the Voyage of Recovery?

The voyage of recovery is an opportunity for our service users and staff to experience a unique therapeutic environment. Voyagers will stay on board for five nights and learn essential sailing skills as well as have the opportunity to build on their social skills and confidence.

Each participant will achieve a competent crew certificate by the end trip.

How did the Voyage come to fruition?

The voyage of recovery came from sailing trips that were facilitated at Hampshire residential and an idea that was put forward to the innovation factor in 2011.

How does the Voyage celebrate recovery?

It celebrates everything that I believe recovery stands for: freedom, unity, partnership and self belief. It allows service users to achieve something they may never have ever imagined possible before, which can then inspire them to stay in recovery.

What impact does the event have on service users and graduates?

It allows them to realise dreams and take part in anactivity that may have been out their reach beforehand. It promotes confidence, self worth and team work. It acts as a lasting positive memory of recovery.

How did the Voyage come to fruition?

The voyage of recovery came from sailing trips that were facilitated at Hampshire residential and an idea that was put forward to the innovation factor in 2011.

You can help support the voyage at www.justgiving.com/VOR2014

8th - 12th Sept: Greenwich to Portsmouth

14th - 19th Sept: Portsmouth to Plymouth

21st - 26th Sept: Plymouth to Plymouth

28th - 3rd Oct: Plymouth to Portsmouth

5th - 10th Oct: Portsmouth to Plymouth

12th - 17th Oct: Plymouth to Plymouth

On 24th September staff and service users from our Scottish services will take to the road for the first leg of the Cycle4Change. Sheffield Family Service’s Emma Aley talks us through this ambitious event that’ll have us peddling for recovery.

At Phoenix Futures’ we consider ‘recovery’ from drug and alcohol dependence as being about much more than simply achieving abstinence. This one-off event aims to raise awareness of recovery in the towns and cities it passes through and celebrate the achievements of our clients and graduates.

Recovery is not something that happens to an individual in isolation. The organisers of Cycle4Change will work with the communities which it is passing through to ensure that this is a whole community event, involving other local health and fitness organisations.

The aims of the 500 mile journey are to:- Encourage mental and physical wellbeing in our clients though taking up cycling- Bring people in recovery together to support each other- Break down stereotypes of people in recovery in local communities

Eleven teams of eight service users and two staff members from each Phoenix service will take part in each 50 mile leg of the Cycle4Change in a relay style. The event will start at our Discover Service in Preston and end at The Hampshire Residential Service in the beautiful New Forest village of Droxford in Hampshire.

LEG 1 24th Sept: Glasgow - circular route LEG 2 24th Sept: Preston to Wirral

LEG 3 25th Sept: Wirral to Manchester LEG 4 26th Sept: Manchester to Barnsley

LEG 5 27th Sept: Bransley to Sheffield LEG 6 29th Sept: Sheffield to Derby

LEG 7 30th Sept: Derby to Leicester LEG 8 1st Oct: Leicester to Birmingham

LEG 9 2nd Oct: Birmingham to Oxford LEG 10 3rd Oct: Oxford to Reading

LEG 11 4th Oct: Reading to Hampshire.

CYCLE4CHANGE

The Cycle4Change project will see 110 Phoenix Futures’ service-users and staff cycle over 500 miles between our services across England and Scotland in a relay down the country.

This is a big challenge for us and our service users, and gives opportunities to engage in activities that may never have been offered to them before in their lives. We believe that cycling is a fun, cheap and accessible sport to introduce to clients to enable them to build confidence, get well, and build new, positive social networks. We will work with our local community to challenge some of the popularly held misconceptions that people often hold about recovering substance misusers.

FUNDRAISING A’HOY!

Since the Voyage of Recovery first launched we’ve been encouraged by how Phoenix service users and staff, with help from their friends and family, have stepped up to help raise money for this life changing adventure. This year has been no exception...

Our Hampshire Residential Service hosted a Gala Meal to raise money for the Voyage of Recovery. Guests were asked to make a minimum donation of £20 for the Gala which included a three course meal. Overall Hampshire Residential Service raised in the region of £800 for the voyage.

Earlier this year our Wirral services held a Recovery Gig in aid of the Voyage of Recovery. Through donations from the gig they raised £500 for the Voyage.

With more plans for fundraising events at our services, such as raffles, sponsored runs and walks, and bag packing, we can’t wait to share Phoenix’s fundraising efforts in future editions of Network. Watch this space!

If you’d like to get involved in fundraising for the Voyage of Recovery 2014 we have some handy tips and advice on Connect. Click here to access our Local and Community Fundraising guide.

JustGiving

The JustGiving page for this year’s Voyage is now up and running. As

well as donating offline you can now easily donate online or via text.

Through the Voyage of Recovery 2014 JustGiving page you’ll also be

able to keep up to date with what’s happening on the Tectona, see

how much we’ve raised so far and share our fundraising with others.

Find out more about JustGiving by clicking here.

TO DONATE:

VISIT: WWW.JUSTGIVING.COM/VOR2014 ORTEXT: TECT62 followed by the amount to 70070

Since the Voyage of Recovery first launched we’ve been encouraged by how Phoenix service users and staff, with help from their friends and family, have stepped up to help raise money for this life changing adventure. This year has been no exception...

In July 13 year old Jamie, grandson of NORCAS team manager Cynthia Pointon, singlehandedly raised a fantastic £414.31 (before gift aid) for the Voyage of Recovery by carrying out a 72 hour silence. The silence took place in school on a Friday, and then all weekend, Jamie even had the support of his teachers who signed to say he had been silent in his classes.

GIVING BACK

“I love giving back to those who helped me through my journey of recovery.”

To celebrate his own journey through recovery and help others in their recovery, Phoenix Futures Graduate Leon Gallagher donated his painting of the Tectona to auction to raise money for the Birmingham leg of this year’s Voyage of Recovery. This is Leon’s story.

“I have been one of the lucky few to go on the Voyage of Recovery twice now. I found the experience one of the best things that has happened to me in this lifetime. I met some wonderful people that really cared and showed us the way to work in teams, getting sails up and down, cleaning decks, cooking great food, and my most memorable thing, the boat.

I love painting and do volunteering workshops, and love giving back to those who helped me through my journey of recovery. I have just won a volunteer of the year award, which was a great achievement for someone that had no schooling apart from 26 years of prison system life and addiction.”

Since completing his second Voyage of Recovery Leon has written a business plan to continue helping others in recovery. His new venture ‘See Change’ looks to support service users in recovery through encouraging them to take part in activities to improve their self-confidence and develop team building skills. Activities will include painting trips on canal boats, conservation and land regeneration in the community, and learning how to grow food and eat healthily.

“This has all come from me sitting on that boat painting and I thank you all for giving me this chance in life to fulfill my dreams.”

Leon now wants to give others the opporuntity to set sail on the Tectona and gain from some of the valuable experiences he’s had. At Leon’s request, our Birmingham Community Rehabilitation Service auctioned his paiting of the Tectona setting sail to the highest bidder.

On Tuesday 19th August the painting was sold for £50.

The money raised will be donated to the Birmingham leg of this year’s Voyage.

The Recovery Film Festival is coming to a city near you!

This September the 10 films shortlisted by our expert judging panel will be showcased in festivals around the country.

Visit www.recoverystreetfilmfestival.co.uk for more information.

The Recovery Film Festival is coming to a city near you!

This September the 10 films shortlisted by our expert judging panel will be showcased in festivals around the country.

Visit www.recoverystreetfilmfestival.co.uk for more information.

When it comes to fundraising there are few people who can rival Barnsley’s Julie Sutton’s devotion to taking on a challenge in the name of a good cause. This year Julie will be took on her third Great North Run to help raise the profile of Phoenix Futures.

JULIE’S GREAT NORTH RUN HATTRICK

I have always done, to some degree, volunteering or fundraising. This started mainly when I worked at Barnsley Hospice as an auxiliary nurse and volunteer where I was involved in a lot of the fundraising activities. These included three fire walks (no burns), an abseil, It’s a knockout, and sponsored walks. I loved them all and raised lots of money for the Hospice.

When we were asked to raise funds for the Voyage of Recovery I welcomed the challenge as the fundraising champion for Barnsley. This has carried on since and I love taking part in any fundraising with service users. This year I have done various fundraising, cake baking, lots of car boots, red nose day, anything really that I can involve service users in. If I have the time I will do it.

doing it. Everyone one of the 56,000 runners are running for a charity, running in memory of a loved one, it just overwhelms me with emotion and brings tears to my eyes, so inspiring…amazing. Two miles into the run and crossing the Tyne bridge and the fabulous red arrows are above your head, all you can see is red white and blue smoke as they trail away, it makes me tingle and very proud that I am originally from the north east.

On this day the spirit of northern folk comes out, people plan all year to stand and watch till the last runner crosses the finishing line. People bake and have little stalls around the route, one lady at the corner of turning down into South Shields hands ice lollies to everyone. It really is a family day out, finishing at the beautiful sea front at South Shields.

I do believe if everyone gave even an hour of their time to help others the world will be a better place. People who do this well get so much out of it. I also think it is really important that service users are involved in fundraising, it gives them a sense of achievement taking part as well as raising their confidence around others.

I took part in this year’s Great North Run firstly to raise funds for two worthwhile charities, secondly to try and raise the profile of the fantastic organisation I work for, Phoenix Futures. The Funding and Innovation Team (FIT), which I am a member of, has been going just over 18 months now and have funded some really wonderful innovative ideas, which staff members throughout the organisation have put forward. By raising more funds more of these ideas will become reality.This is the third year I have done the Great North Run. The first year I lost two toe nails and tore my ligaments in my knee and was taken back to my car by the St John’s Ambulance. Painful? Yes. Funny? Yes! Last year I completed it with no injuries. This year I made it to the finish line, despite the uncharacteristic North East heat, in 3 hours and 57 minutes.

The Great North Run is the world’s biggest half marathon with 56,000 runners. I stand with them all on the starting line, some as old as 90 years old, and I know why they are

If you’d like to show Julie your support you can visit her JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/julie-sutton6/

READER IN RESIDENCE

‘It ain’t what you do, it’s what it does to you’ by Simon Armitage

The Reader Organisation brings people together in weekly groups to read poems and stories aloud. Thoughts and experiences are shared; personal and social connections are made. We aim to bring great literature to everyone, working in hospitals, care homes, prisons, supermarkets, homeless shelters, community centres, corporate board rooms, and mental health day centres.

We will be working closely with Phoenix Futures to allow staff, service users and their families to take part in shared reading with the aim of improving health and wellbeing. All are encouraged to attend – ravenous and reluctant readers alike. If you prefer to simply sit and listen, there is never any pressure to speak.

In celebration of our planned inaugural groups in Trafford, I present a poem from one of Manchester’s adopted sons. It is also the poem that made such an impression on Head of Operations for London and South East, CJ Williams, recently that it is pinned to his noticeboard in London.

Please get in touch if you would like more information about the project; I would be especially interested in your responses to the poem.

I have not toyed with a parachute cordwhile perched on the lip of a light aircraft;but I held the wobbly head of a boyat the day centre, and stroked his fat hands.

And I guess that the lightness in the throatand the tiny cascading sensationsomewhere inside us are both part of thatsense of something else. That feeling, I mean.

I have not bummed across Americawith only a dollar to spare, one pairof busted Levi’s and a bowie knife.I have lived with thieves in Manchester.

I have not padded through the Taj Mahal,barefoot, listening to the space betweeneach footfall, picking up and putting downits print against the marble floor. But I

skimmed flat stones across Black Moss on a dayso still I could hear each set of ripplesas they crossed. I felt each stone’s inertiaspend itself against the water; then sink.

Tom Youngtomyoung@thereader.org.uk

www.thereader.org.uk

GET INTO GEAR AND JOIN THE RIDE BY FOLLOWING UPDATES ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER

24TH SEPTEMBER - 4TH OCTOBER

ROOTS FOR THE FUTURE

Since 2012 Phoenix has been a partner of the European Companionship in Education, training by travel (ECEtt) programme. Through this partnership we are able to send staff to international locations to share expertise and learn from other organisations around Europe. This month’s update comes from Liam, Megan and Nuno who visited substance misuse service Dianova in Portugal as part of their ECEtt travels.

The structure of the TC follows three stages; stage one lasts for approximately one month and involves an initial admission followed by a period of settling in. Stage two lasts for around three months and features an individual care plan and goal setting. What impressed us was the individual approach offered at Dianova. Stage three is the reinsertion phase. This stage appeared to us to be the most important phase for the TC and was focused around a successful return to the service user’s community. Dianova places great emphasis on empowering the service user

Day 3

We spent the day at Dianova, working with the service users. We started the day with a presentation about the impact of Dianova on the local community. We were very impressed with their ‘Mocktails’ initiative which seeks to challenge people’s attitudes around drinking. These nights are held once a year and all the team at Dianova are actively involved. Local organisations sponsor the event and it has been very successful. Local people are given a free mocktail in one of the nightclubs and discos and are encouraged to consider having a night out which is alcohol free.

Day 1

And so our journey begins… The first day of our ECEtt experience started with the lovely Susanna picking us up and driving us through the ‘fantastico’ countryside surrounding Torres Verdas. We arrived at Dianova and were taken to the Palace (yes, palace!) which was as beautiful as it sounds.

We had three presentations which detailed the ethos of Dianova and also their best practice alongside quality management systems. It was obvious to us that the paramount concern was for the service users and this formed the basis of the day. The quality

systems they strive to implement ensure the service users receive the utmost care and attention whilst engaging with Dianova.

The welcome we received and the hospitality extended to us has been amazing, we left on the first day stuffed with cake and natas, filled with enthusiasm for the work they are doing.

Day 2

We spent the day in the Therapeutic Community at Dianova. We had three presentations from the TC staff looking at the structure of the TC, how Dianova supports and includes family members and the Reinsertion programme.

To find out more about Liam, Nuno and Megan’s ECEtt travels visit their blog: http://raizesroots.tumblr.com/

What are your main focuses for Phoenix Scotland?

The main focus for me since starting in post is creating a strong identity for Phoenix Scotland. We’re working with the staff teams, and bringing the staff together from across the services, so that Phoenix Scotland shows a united front. It’s a priority that our staff are aware of the work going on throughout Scotland so that they can call on each other for support and have a greater understanding of what’s happening in across Scotland. We’ve seen the benefit of this over the last three to four months, not only internally within Phoenix, but also externally with our work in the community and with other organisations and partnerships.

How are the wider staff working towards creating a united Phoenix Scotland?

It’s about staff leadership and empowerment. We are encouraging the management team to take on more leadership and have created full staff meetings for the whole of Scotland on a quarterly basis. These meetings allow everyone to get together and see where we’re at and what we’re working on. It’s about giving the staff a voice and staff being valued and rewarded for what they’re doing and the contributions they’re making.

What are your plans for the future?

Moving forward we’re looking to increase business across Scotland; increase the occupancy at the residential and the quality of what we’re delivering on the ground. I’m pleased to say the residential currently has 33 residents which is the highest it’s been since March 2009, so our staff there have been working really hard. And in Quarter 1 we got a ‘successful discharge / positive trsansfer’ rate of 92%, which is excellent.

Final words?

I’d like to thank the staff and managers who have supported Scotland during this period of transition. We have received great help and support from support services from across England to help Phoenix Scotland feel a part of the wider organisation and their work on key projects have made a significant contribution to Scotland services moving forward.

PHOENIX IN FOCUS

How is this new way of working impacting on your work with the community?

We are striving to create more of a partnership approach across Scotland; being amenable and offering free training and the use of our services at evenings and weekends. We’re listening to Commissioner and service user needs and what’s needed in certain areas.

What steps have been taken to bring about this change?

We’re working closely together as a management group, hosting monthly management meetings so we can support each other with targets and the work plan for Scotland. From this we’ve been able to focus more on Customer Relations Management (CRM). We’ve developed a CRM sub-group made up of managers and staff that

And how does the CRM sub-group work?

It’s about staff leadership and empowerment. We are encouraging the management team to take on more leadership and have created full staff meetings for the whole of Scotland on a quarterly basis. These meetings allow everyone to get together and see where we’re at and what we’re working on, and have a say in service delivery to improve the quality of our services. It’s about giving the staff a voice and staff being valued and rewarded for what they’re doing and the contributions they’re making.

Ahead of Phoenix Scotland’s 20th Anniversary in November I caught up with Lyndsey Hague, Head of Operations for Scotland and the North East, to find out her plans for the future of our Scottish services.

Next month, to tie in with Adfam’s 30th Anniversary campaign ‘tackling stigma’, Network is going to be a Supporting Families Special. We want to hear about any projects, campaigns or work happening around Phoenix to support families of those affected by addiction.

If you’ve got an event planned, an on-going project , or would like to highlight the work being done at your service to support families please drop me an email (deborah@phoenix-futures.org.uk) with details, photos and any other information you would like including in this special edition of Network.

If you’re interested in holding an event to support the ‘tackling stigma’ campaigns here are a few tips to get you started:

1. Read our Promotion Toolkit and the Local / Community Fundraising Pack on Connect. (if you can’t access Connect get in touch for a PDF version of these packs)

2. Hold a focus group with your team to discuss how you can engage with families at your service.

3. Visit the Adfam website for ideas on events, promotional material, and to add your event to their activity tracker.

4. Contact local family groups in your area – there may be opportunities to work together on events and projects.

5. Check out our Hurt by Addiction campaign for inspiration.

NEXT MONTH...