Getting to know you... in Tunbridge Wells

It’s Week 4 of the RSA’s most recent expedition into the world of recovery which sees us taking forward our vision of a Whole Person Recovery System across West Kent. The last few weeks have come with the usual ups and downs linked to changing providers, TUPE procedures and settling into new buildings, but the momentum is growing and it's all starting to take shape.

Yesterday was the first get together of service users in Tunbridge Wells to discuss what they would like to see within the Everyday Activities Programme. This is one of the set pieces that the RSA’s Recovery Community Organisers will be taking forward around each of the three main hubs (Maidstone, Gravesend and Tonbridge).

The Everyday Activities Programme is everyday stuff done every day. It’s about opening up opportunities for people in recovery to fill their time, have a laugh, learn some news skills, share their skills and meet other people in their local community. There will be activities to join morning and afternoon and at those times that can be the most difficult: evenings and weekends. The activities will be run by people in recovery, local community members, and practitioners and will be out in the community, away from the treatment centres.

The ideas generated from the discussion yesterday were plentiful. They ranged from boxing to cooking to hair and nails. Paintballing got a mention too. But by the end of the fevered brainstorm the group decided that the thing they most wanted to do was get to know each other. Simply have a place to go for a few hours every week where they knew they could relax, have a cuppa, play some games and get to know the people that they have been bumping into for years in the treatment centre waiting rooms. With a solid foundation that this could generate, the group felt they could do anything.

So that’s what we’re going to do in Tunbridge Wells. For now.  I’m meeting a group in Maidstone tomorrow… I wonder what they will want to get started?

If you live or work in West Kent and would like to know more about the Whole Person Recovery programme and how you can get involved please contact [email protected]