We had a big group at the Hub this weekend. New friends and old including Sue, the Mum of Sarah, one of our recovery volunteers, popped in for a cup of coffee, a slice of cake and a chat. She was really pleased to meet us all as she’d heard so much about us. As a group, we were really glad to meet her too – we always welcome and encourage friends and family to our Saturday get-together as it really helps to break down the taboo and stigma of addiction and helps them to understand what we, as people in recovery, get up to.
The lovely Emma from Sacred Senses Holistics also popped in to bring us an epic cake – there was much talk around the table about baking and cooking. Our Fare Share To Go table was full of delicious fresh fruits, veg and eggs so there may be lots of baking and cooking ideas in the weeks ahead!
Deli, one of our fabulous volunteer coordinators, was thinking on her feet and put a recipe ideas shout out on Facebook and got lots of delicious recipe ideas including pineapple, kiwi and pepper salsa, pineapple upside-down cake, okra in tomato sauce and roasted veggies. Jo (pineapple on her head) reported that she’d made a delicious spicy soup, with the fresh soup mixes she’d taken the week before, which was a hit with her kids and hubby.
Sarah brought some clothes for our ongoing clothing swap rail. Donations of clothes are always welcome to this, dear reader!
No yoga this week as the wonderful Teresa had family visiting, but with a homeopath, (our very own volunteer coordinator Emma who also runs her own holistic business Everyday Homeopathy Brighton), and an aromatherapist with us we talked about the absolute importance of our mental and physical wellbeing in recovery. Emma and Emma (yes really) are looking at ways to bring us regular sessions to promote and encourage natural ways of maintaining good health and mental wellness.
Our healthy lunch was delicious (thanks Emma – no not aromatherapy Emma, our Emma the homoeopath) with Clare’s zingy homemade pesto dressing – we all want the recipe for that as well. Emma’s cake (aromatherapy Emma) was a highly satisfying dessert with strawberries and cream – some people came back for a second slice but we weren’t counting – honest.
Once again the conversation turned to the difficulties family members have when they try to find greetings cards for their loved ones in recovery. So many depict bottles and glasses of alcohol and/or refer to getting drunk. We’ve yet to see ones showing drugs and quotes encouraging people to get wasted as a celebration but alcohol is legal so there are no restraints! We are pondering making our own clean and sober range so let us know if that’s something you would like – we did scribble down a couple of ideas for future use so watch out for developments.
We talked about how family members experience the despair of seeing an addict suffer and their feelings of helplessness. One person who’d been in rehab commented about one of the first and deepest regrets people share in rehab can be about parents – seldom a dry eye in the room during these discussions.
We also chatted about the prospect of having our own recovery hub premises in the future. Possibility Place has been a great location over the past few months and our deepest thanks go to them for their support.
