Derry is set to celebrate the journey of addiction recovery in its first ever recovery walk taking place this weekend.
In association with the Feile, the Bogside & Brandywell Health Forum and Old Library Trust Healthy Living Centre, the recovery walk will support local organisations that help those through the process of recovering from addiction such as ARC Fitness, Northlands and White Oaks rehabilitation centre.
Gary Rutherford from ARC Fitness, which helps those in the recovery process, spoke to MyDerry about the importance of this walk.
He said: "The recovery walk has happened every year in Dublin and in Scotland and England but they ever had anything like it here in the north. There are so many people here in the north in recovery or struggling or affected by this and we wanted to do something here in Derry.
"We usually hear about a lot of the negative stories, about people who do not make it. But we also need to realise we need to celebrate the people who do make it because that gives hope to other people."
Gary believes that talking about addiction recovery will benefit those struggling.
He added: "The more visible you make recovery the better. The more people that talk about it, the easier it is for people to access people and support.
"It is also for the families involved and affected by this too. It is acknowledging it is a difficult challenge but it is possible with the right help and support.
"The walk falls in national recovery month so the recovery colour is purple, wear something or bring something and we are starting from our ARC Fitness base in the Bay Road, leaving at 11am to walk to the peace bridge and back again.
"We will have some tea and refreshments here and a sound system to have a conversation and acknowledge why we are doing this. It will be community focused and family friendly. We hope to be able to do this every year."
Several organisations have been sharing the poster for the recovery walk, and many people have been voicing their support. Tamzin White, who is leading the campaign for a detox centre in Derry, is encouraging people to come and join the walk.
She said: "I think people should come out and show their support because it is for a great cause. The event will be great for the community as it is feet on the street and most importantly we are celebrating recovery. It will be a fantastic event."
Gary spoke to MyDerry about why this walk is important for him personally. He said: "Recovery is one of my biggest achievements. It is the hardest thing I have ever had to do.
"I make a point of celebrating it yearly because it is hard. I think celebrating people who work hard at changing something really difficult. It is difficult to be a sober person in this culture. The more we do this the more acceptable it is.
"We do not heal in isolation. We heal better around other people, so something as simple as a recovery walk to build connections could be the start of stepping into recovery and improve relationships, and being part of a community.
"It does not just affect one person it affects the whole community."
Gary had some words of encouragement for people to come out this weekend. He said: "Derry has a lot of good recovery organisations and addiction treatment organisations and we work really hard to try and help people get through really difficult times.
"Come out and support us, we want to make an impact and continue to do the best that we can."
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