It’s four months to the day that I visited ARC Fitness Recovery Community in Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland. I still think fondly of that amazing visit. In fact, I miss that vibrant city and the wonderful people I met at ARC. It’s amazing how I’ve been so affected by my visit.
I hadn’t originally intended to visit ARC when I made my original plans to go on a ‘recovery community tour’ during my last UK visit. However, after seeing and editing Wulf’s amazing conversation with ARC’s Founder Gary Rutherford, my mind was made up and I decided to visit Northern Ireland for the first time. I flew into Belfast from Manchester and was picked up at the airport by Gary. During the drive to Derry, I was reminded of the beautiful countryside of my old home on Gower, South Wales.
Gary is 12 years in recovery from an addiction to alcohol and other drugs. He founded ARC Fitness in 2019, to support individuals and families struggling with addiction using access to physical activity, professional support, community, and the provision of hope. Gary is a registered mental health nurse, an addiction nurse therapist, and quite simply an amazing person. In 2022, he was awarded the Royal College of Nursing ‘Nurse of the Year Award’. ARC Fitness are proud winners of the Northern Ireland Healthcare Awards 2024.
After meeting lovely Maggs Campbell, who is Operations Manager of the organisation, and a Mindfulness Coach and Recovery Coach Professional, Gary took me to my hotel and on a tour of Derry. In the evening at dinner, I met Gary’s lovely wife Sarah, who is an Accredited Cognitive Behavioural Therapist and works at ARC, and his gorgeous daughter Zoey. A number of other team members joined us for an excellent dinner. I was buzzing!
On the following morning I gave two talks, one entitled Healing in Community: From Pain Into Power and the other Aboriginal Child Artists of Carrolup. [You can see slides from the talks in the two links below.] I was really pleased with the reception the talks received. I also met various other members of the ARC team, along with other people who were working in the field in Northern Ireland.
I also met Gary’s father-in-law, Bernard Murray-Gates, who is a great character and very passionate about ARC Fitness. He is Chair of the ARC Board of Trustees. Gary, Bernard and I went out for dinner. Following dinner, I attended an ARC Family Support Group evening during which five group members shared deeply moving stories about their experiences with family who were addicted to drugs.
Everyone I met in the ARC gym and offices was full of passion and commitment, and wanting to spread the message of hope in the community. Sadly, I had to leave the next morning. Gary drove me back to Belfast and we made plans to ensure that we collaborated in the future. And that we will do, as you will see.
Why not check out my two earlier blog posts about my visit, which provide much more detail about my visit. And also check out details of the ARC Fitness ‘Recovery in Motion’ conference on Tuesday, 10 September in Derry. You can see details of keynote speakers on ARC’s Facebook page.