Weekly Update

In this week’s update

As we head into the May bank holiday, please note there will be no weekly update next week—we’ll be back the following week with our usual updates.

In the meantime, we’re pleased to share our featured article highlighting our Recovery College Editorial Group, a team of volunteers and staff working together to shape our courses. The piece captures the value of lived experience in ensuring what we offer remains accessible, compassionate, and meaningful—especially as we look ahead to Volunteer Week in early June.

We also have a number of upcoming courses with spaces still available, so please share these with others and book on!

Alongside this, we’re continuing to highlight a range of community offers from local organisations, giving people even more opportunities to connect, build skills, and support their wellbeing.

As we look ahead to Volunteer Week the week after next, we’re taking a moment to celebrate the incredible contribution of our volunteers—people who bring energy, insight, and lived experience to everything we do. We’ll be marking the occasion with a small get-together on 2nd June, with tea, cake, and a bit of fun and games as a way of saying thank you. It also feels like the perfect time to share an update on our newly formed Recovery College Editorial Group.

We’re excited to share an update on our newly formed Recovery College Editorial Group—a collaborative team of six volunteers (Jade, Paul, Jan, Sinead, Ann, and Joy, a mix of learners and volunteers) and three staff members (Sara, Karen, and Erika), working together to shape the future of our curriculum.

The group meets regularly to review courses, explore new ideas, and ensure that everything we offer reflects the real experiences and needs of those who attend our College. Their role is simple yet powerful: to make sure our courses remain accessible, compassionate, and genuinely useful for anyone on a recovery or wellbeing journey.

Paul, our Chair, says, ‘I joined the Editorial Group because I’ve got so much from being a learner at the college and I wanted to give something back. So far I’m enjoying the chance to connect with other people in the college, the opportunity for personal development through chairing meetings, and reviewing the exciting course proposals we’ve seen’.

The group brings together lived experience, insight, and a strong commitment to ensuring every learner feels heard. As Jan said, “I understand how important it is to feel heard, supported, and able to learn at your own pace… I hope to play a small part in creating something that helps others feel empowered and less alone.”

Our Creative Practitioner, Sara Rose, says, ‘Creativity has been a steady support in my own wellbeing, allowing ideas to develop gradually and finding value in the process, not just the outcome. I’d love our work as an Editorial Group to reflect that same approach: collaborative, thoughtfully paced and shaped with care through lived experience’.

We are incredibly grateful to all our volunteers for helping the College grow in such a thoughtful and collaborative way. Watch this space to see how the Editorial Group helps us achieve the highest quality courses.

Once again thank you to all our amazing volunteers!