In these five films, James Deakin covers a wide range of topics with Wulf and David, from The King’s Shilling (drug and alcohol treatment money) and North Wales’s trauma legacy, through to James being ‘ballsy’, and the need for treatment providers to realise the huge potential role of recovery communities.
1. The King’s Shilling [7’07”]
Wulf starts a discussion about how a peer-led, independent recovery group obtains funding such that it is not working to the agenda of the funder. In the early stage of NWRC’s development, James has ‘zero trust and zero faith’ in the commissioning process in the North Wales substance misuse field. He has seen too much control and tokenism in the field, and fears that his community’s work will be undermined by the system. He receives funding from outside the field which allows him to control the community’s housing. The building he and his colleagues acquire hosts mutual aid groups which work with members of the recovery community.
2. The Space [5’14”]
James and Wulf have been talking about the concept of The Space for a number of years, both in terms of the physical and human interaction space. It is a space that is in large part agenda-free and allows for an organic development. James describes how community members have told him that they have never previously felt part of anything, other than a using community. The bonds that are forged between members are sometimes closer than those with an intimate partner, particularly if that partner is a ‘normie’. Bonds are often forged through the adversities that members experience on some of the community’s expeditions.
3. Hand Them Over To Us [2’39”]
Wulf and James discuss the nature of the treatment system, and the role of large statutory services, and the need for them to recognise the huge potential role of recovery communities. In relation to the latter, ‘it is probably one of the only examples there are of a genuinely altruistic society where we don’t want anything from anybody. We just want you to get well.’ Treatment practitioners need to get people ‘clean and sober, detoxed and counselled, and what happens then, don’t worry about that.’ Just connect clients to their recovering peers.
4. On Being ‘Ballsy’ [3’31”]
James is often accused of being an ‘ego-merchant’. He think there’s a fine line between ‘being ego’ and ‘being ballsy’. He believes he is the latter. He says to his community members, ‘I’m not afraid to fail. I’m afraid of not trying.’ David points out that we need people who are ‘ballsy’ in the recovery field.
James believes that, in general, addicts are driven by fear… ‘whether it is the fear of withdrawal, the fear of having to deal with the consequences of our addiction, the fear of [dealing] with the psychological trauma that underpins it in the first place. I think we’re just fearful people in general.’
North Wales Recovery Communities (NWRC) is all about leading by example. James emphasises to community members that you have to push yourself for growth to occur. And growth occurs outside your comfort zone. ‘You’ve got to stretch yourself on a regular basis. You’ve got to take yourself to places where you feel uncomfortable…’
James points out that many ‘lived experience’ recovery communities are driven by the influence of one person. The principles that underlie that community are the principles that underlie that person’s own recovery. In a sense, the person sets an ethos. Interviewer David Clark says that when he views these communities from the outside, he sees one person starting the recovery community and the infectious nature of recovery then driving things forward. Community members respond to what that person emanates… including their ‘ballsy’ attitude.
5. A Trauma Legacy [4’09”]
James emphasises that there are far too few resources devoted to tackling trauma, particularly in North Wales where there has been a history of institutional sexual abuse. He points out that there are numbers of men who were affected by this abuse who are ‘basically full-on addicts’ and have been for years. Everyday people only see these men’s addiction; they don’t see the traumatised children who sit behind it all.
James points out that these abused men received small amounts of money as compensation years ago, far less than they should have received. He has worked with 15-20 of them over the years. He emphasises that they don’t sleep at night—they wait for the daylight hours when they will be safe. This is over 40 years after the abuse occurred. Their number is dwindling and James feels that the system will never do anything proper to help the survivors. This is North Wales’s legacy of trauma.