We had fantastic day visiting Dot Smith and her team over in Darlington & Middlesbrough at Recovery Connections.
Recovery Connections is a fellow LERO (Lived Experience Recovery Organisation) founded by members of the local recovery community and has grown into an organisation that offers outstanding support for drug and alcohol recovery. They also now have several social enterprises including the Connections Community Café, which provides meaningful work experience and a supportive environment for volunteers and the community.
Our aim of the meeting was to understand how Getting Clean could become an addiction service in our community, and we were grateful for the opportunity to learn from those that have forged the way before us and that have become recognised as a reputable and respected organisation on the landscape of addiction service providers.
Image Descriptions:
Image 1. Chris and Dot Smith stand indoors in front of a painted white wall with a Recovery Connections sign above them and branding artwork behind them. They are both smiling at the camera
Image 2. The Getting Clean team and Recovery Connections team sit around a round office table. They are writing in notepads and talking, and there are drinks mugs on the table and bottles of water.
Image 3. Getting Clean members Emma – Louise Taylor, Richard Ives and Cheryl Robson stand outside in front of the Connections Community Café. There is a blue and white shop sign above the door and intricate tiles on the floor. They are wearing getting clean branded t-shirts and hoodies, and looking at the camera and smiling
Image 4. Three baristas stand behind a coffee bar inside the Connections Community Café. There is a metallic coffee machine behind them and there is a shiny industrial style display shelving unit fixed to the back wall with tea & coffee bags and a sign reading “Eat cake” in colourful letters. The baristas are dressed in black, standing together and smiling at the camera. One barista has their thumb up.
Image 5. Shows the window display of the Connections Community Deli. There is white writing on the window in a handwritten style, with the white Deli logo sitting in the centre. There are crates and tables full of produce inside the window.
Image 6. Shows the produce on the inside of the window display. Large brown paper sacks sit on the floor in front of tables with crates of fresh, tinned and boxed produce.