As many of you know, I visited the amazing ARC Fitness, a Recovery Community based in Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland, in May this year. I so enjoyed myself and was humbled by the manner in which I was received and the kindness I was offered. If you haven’t seen my earlier posts about my visit, you can see them here and here.
I follow what is happening at ARC on their Facebook page and continue to be excited and inspired by all that I see. At times, I get quite emotional about what I view (like the film below) and read. Here is a recent post on the ARC Facebook page, from Police Derry City & Strabane.
‘Strabane Neighbourhood Teams are delighted to be in a position to continue our partnership work with ARC Fitness, Derry.
As a result of charity events, funding applications and money awarded from successful convictions at court, we have been able to support ARC Fitness financially by contributing in excess of £11,000 so far this year. This money will be used to enable front line officers to identify and refer individuals ‘with their permission’ onto ARC Fitness. As a result of this, local people within our community will be able to benefit from the first class services and facilities on Bay Road at the earliest possible opportunity. We hope that this early intervention will have a positive influence on their situation.
Neighbourhood Police have witnessed first hand the hard work, dedication, positivity and hope that the ARC Fitness community bring to the city via their daily work, initiatives and conferences. For this we would like to thank them and are only too glad to help and support them in any way we can.’
Please check out the following short film about the 2024 Recovery Walk NI (Northern Ireland) which took place on Saturday, 28 September, a Walk organised by ARC Fitness and their local partners. I was so moved by what I viewed! Please also check out the photos from Derry Now, the website of the newspapers Derry News and Derry Post.
