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The Sunrise Newsletter written and created by the service users of Northampton Aquarius, Bridge, and other agencies of Northampton supporting service users recovery from addictive behaviour.
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Issue 11 Mar 2014
Page 1
H ello and welcome to
the new look
SUNrise. Since
our first
publication in Sept 2011 we
have come a long way, learnt a
lot and had a whole heap of fun.
And now its time to change!
SUNrise is becoming an
independent constituted group.
SUNrise wants to involve anyone
using any of the services which
involve the harms caused by
drink, drugs (illegal, legal,
prescription and over the counter)
and gambling.
SUNrise would love to work
alongside all of the agencies
in Northampton.
We will continue to advertise
all of the services, so
anyone picking the
newsletter up for the first
time can see at a glance
where the help is.
SUNrise would like its contents
to be up-to-date, relevant and
informative, so anyone who
receives it will have the latest
information on what help is
available to themselves or
family members or for
professionals looking to refer
anyone they are concerned
about. This information would be
updated at every publication (i.e.
every 3 months) .
Make sure your voice is heard,
come and meet with us at one
of our weekly meetings,
Service Users NNNewsletter Created by Service Users, for Service Users
held every Thursday at
10:30am at Aquarius 36-38
Abington Square, NN1 4AA.
You can contact us on
0300 456 4292.
We look forward to meeting
you .
Service Users Newsletter
Northampton is launching it’s very own
Service User Forum.
This is an exciting time for anyone using Treatment and/or
Recovery Services in Northampton. This is your chance to get involved and be heard.
The Forum would like to invite anyone using any of the
local treatment and recovery services to get involved. The next meeting is on Wednesday 26th March 2 till 3pm
At Bridge
For more details contact Adam on
07771771451
Issue 11 Mar 2014
Page 2
THE PROGRAMMED MIND - BY BOB
Service Users Newsletter
A seemingly "
separate"
subdivision of the
mind, the conscious
and the subconscious are
interdependent. The conscious
mind - which represents the base
(seat) of our personal identity,
source, or spirits - is the creative
mind. It can see into the future,
review the past, or disconnect
from the present moment as it
solves problems in our mind
(head). In its creative capacity,
the conscious mind holds our
wishes, desires, and aspirations
for our lives. It is the mind that
conjures up our "positive
thoughts".
In contrast, the subconscious
mind is primarily a store room
repository of stimulus - response
tapes derived from instincts and
learned experiences. The
subconscious mind is
fundamentally habitual, it will
play the same behaviour
response to life's signals over and
over again, much to our chagrin.
How many times have you
found yourself going ballistic
over something trivial like an
open toothpaste tube? You have
been trained since childhood to
carefully replaced the cap. When
you find the tube with its cap off,
your "buttons are pushed" and
you automatically fly into a
rage. You've just experienced the
simple stimulus - response of a
behaviour programme stored in
the subconscious mind.
When it comes to sheer
neurological processing abilities
the subconscious mind is more
than a million times more
powerful than the conscious
mind. If the (desires) wants of
the conscious mind, conflict
with the programs in the
subconscious mind, which
"mind" do you think will win
out? You can repeat the positive
affirmation that you are lovable
over and over or that your
cancer tumour will shrink. But if
as a child, you repeatedly heard
that you were worthless and
sickly, those messages
programmed into your
subconscious mind will
undermine your best conscious
effort to change your life.
Remember how quickly your
last new year's resolution to eat
less food fell by the wayside as
the aroma of the baking turkey
dissolved your resolve?
Since subconscious programmes
operate without the necessity of
observation or control by the
conscious mind, we are
completely unaware that our
subconscious minds are making
our everyday decisions. Our life
events are essentially a printout
of our subconscious
programmes, behaviours that
were (fundamentally) originally
acquired from others (our
parents, family and community)
before we were six years old. As
psychologists recognise, the
majority of these developmental
programs are limiting and
disempowering (even negative).
These programmes in the
subconscious mind can be
rewritten!
On one of the Wednesday night
drop in sessions at Aquarius, in
Abington Square, we had a
hypnotherapist, Gary, from the
Northants Hypnosis Clinic,
come in and give a talk which
was very instructive and
amusing a lot of which was
about reprogramming the
subconscious mind of negative
traits. We hope to have him
back soon. The drop ins run
from 5-30 to 8-30 every
Wednesday and we put on
something different each week
from quizzes, film nights, games
nights, even cake decorating. It's
a clean and sober environment
where you can get support and
fun with peers and staff. Come
along.
Bob M
How many times have you found yourself going ballistic over
something trivial like an open toothpaste tube?
Issue 11 Mar 2014
Page 3
Service Users Newsletter
I WISH I LIKED READING
I wonder how many people have picked
up their remotes and frantically scanned
up and down the whole contents of their TV
guide only to utter the words" there's just nothing
worth watching", finally you find something to
your liking, and just as you are getting into it, on
come the adverts, they really do my head in. I'm
not interested in confused.com, all the wonderful
things achieved by wearing "tenna lady". I was
just about to eat for god's sake. Anyway I
digress, after what seems like an eternity, the
programme's back on and "I've forgotten what
happened now" "never mind I'll soon get back
into it" just as I do back come the adverts.
I suppose I could watch BBC, at least there are
no adverts, just the extortionate licence fee of
£145.56 a year to subsidise it." You can't win".
Why are there so many repeats? Especially on
sky, you can even watch repeats repeated on their
+1 channel. Maybe we should have hung on to
our video recorders and tapes, especially box sets
of "only fools and horses".
I've had enough of television now, I think I'll pop
the radio on," I don't believe it, what can I hear",
"is it music" no! "It's bloody adverts".
Richard
RA
NT
ER
S C
OR
NE
R
DDN CONFERENCE
BY ROB
Rob and Rachael
attended the 7th annual
DDN (Drink & Drugs
News) Conference on
February 20th held at
the Second City
Conference hall in
Birmingham. It was a
fantastic venue and
there must have been
several hundred people there. It was a great at-
mosphere with lots of interesting speakers with
some sharing their stories of recovery and others
being more educational.
From one talk by Alistair Sinclair I learned that
the concept of ‘recovery’ from the perspective of
being mentally well and free from addictions is a
quite recent one. Phillipe Pinel a French physician
almost 200 years ago is credited as being the
founding father of a model of recovery which took a
more humane approach and viewed mental
disorders as treatable and curable. Pinel regarded
mental illness as the result of excessive exposure
to social and psychological s t re sses and, in some
measure, of heredity and physiological damage. Before
that mental illness was thought to be caused by being
possessed by deamons and it was treated by such things
as bleeding, purging and blistering!!
But that’s enough history and academia! On a
lighter note me and Rachael had a wonderful
lunch of Indian curry which was provided by
caterers.
We met some people from Aquarius Coventry
and Birmingham and spent some time at their
stand. I also bumped into some people I had met
at Bridge’s User Services meeting the previous
week. They were
from the Lancaster
Users Forum and the
Red Rose Recovery. I
had a chat with Lexi
who creates their
newsletter and we
swapped ideas.
All in all it was a
great day and thanks
to Aquarius Northampton for sending us.
Rachael waiting for the talks
to start—Billy no mates!
Rachael at the Aquarius
stand
Issue 11 Mar 2014
Page 4
RACHAELS
BISCUITS
W here to start, this
is the second
Sleep Out I have
done. The last time about
four years ago. I got there at
5.15 PM. I was first to
arrive, to get a good spot.
Not that good in the end.
The first time I did the Sleep
Out I knew lots of people this
year not as many. Although
I enjoyed doing the Sleep
Out (it wasn't that good for
reasons). Things are not any
better than four years ago but
my reasons for doing it were
a bit different to the others
this year. I was there to
show gratitude rather than
solely to collect money. It
was wet and windy. I didn't
get much sleep, about 1
hour. The banter was very
good. Things are very
political nowadays. Which
is a shame, it's not about
people. There was 98 doing
it plus volunteers and
helpers. The night went
okay till the last hour which
seemed like 3 hours. There
was plenty of Tea, coffee and
food if needed, the hall was
open all night for anyone. I
did feel very safe. The
downside of things which I
thought was there was drink
on show which is not a part
of all homelessness and the
two people should have been
told. Next year should be
two weeks rather than one
day I shall be in Scotland.
People bought lots of things
for cover for some it was like
a home from home, I saw
one person with a hot water
bottle, and someone in PJ's.
It finished at six AM. The
organizers from the Hope
Centre gave everyone who
attended the event a
certificate. I left for a well
deserved shower and sleep
with a sense of achievement.
The fundraising target was
£ 20,000. (at the time of
writing £16,000 had been
raised).
Reg
THE BIG SLEEP BY REG
ORANGE FORK BISCUITS
4 oz (100g) butter, softened
2oz (50g) caster sugar
Grated rind of 1 small orange
5oz (150g) self-raising flour
Pre-heat the oven to 180 C/350 F/160 Fan/Gas 4. Lightly grease 2 baking trays.
Measure the butter into a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon. Gradually beat in the sugar and
orange rind and then mix in the flour. Bring the mixture together with your hands to form a dough.
Form the dough into balls about the size of a walnut and place well apart on the prepared baking
trays. Dip a fork in a little water and use this to flatten the biscuits.
Alternatively, throw all the ingredients into a food processor and wiz together.
Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 15-20 minutes until very pale golden. Lift off the baking tray
and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
The biscuits will be a little soft when taken from the oven, so I leave on the baking trays for about 1
minute then lift off with a palate knife.
Good Luck and Happy Baking, Rachael
Service Users Newsletter
Issue 11 Mar 2014
Page 5
Service Users Newsletter
Changing Minds
01604 893451
Solve-It Worried about solvents
misuse?
Contact Solve-It
01536 414690
The Glass I Hold
The glass I hold controls
my mind – Its contents keep my
will confined; This amber fluid charms
the blood –
And drowns the brain in drunken mud;
Around the system flows the seed –
Produces calm – then fosters need;
Just one it takes to grasp
the helm – To strip self-will and
overwhelm; Such bad behaviour
must be changed – Our thoughts and
actions re-arranged;
Instead of one take none instead –
Drink water with your daily bread;
Ignore the glass and shun the booze –
Thence learn to win and
not to lose.
Alistair
Story from Wolverhampton I was made redundant from Corus Steel in 2009. Having no interest in
any kind of work I started drinking quite heavily. Not worrying about
anything – the drinking got hold of me. I became alcohol dependant needing a drink as soon as I got up
because I was shaking so much. Only after I had my first drink in the
morning I could have a wash. At that time I was drinking 10 cans of
super lagers and half a bottle of whiskey every day. I didn’t realise I had a problem until
my daughter said “Dad you have to stop drinking or you will be by
yourself because we will kick you out of the house”.
When she said that I went to the Doctor I said to him I had a drinking problem. He sent me to
have blood tests when the results came back he said “you are lucky to
be alive”. That was the wake up call I needed to address my
problem. He sent me to Horizon House who deal with alcohol and drug abuse. After being assessed I
was told to go to Aquarius. At Aquarius I went to the ‘cutting
down drinking’ group. When I was asked how much I drank I felt
ashamed of the amount I was drinking. The key worker advised me not to stop drinking because it
would be dangerous because I could have a fit. In May 2010 I went to
Carlton House in Strafford for a detox – I spent 10 days there. Now
I can’t thank Aquarius enough because I have got my life back. On 28 September 2011 we (wife)
had an appointment at the bank where my wife said to the manager
“My husband can’t work because he is an alcoholic”. I wished the
ground opened up and swallowed me. That made me feel like “What the hell – all the hard work for
nothing”. Next day I went to the local shop got a couple of strong
lagers because I was feeling low. On 30th September 2011 I thought I
would take my life, I went to the
shop again got 4 cans. When I got back I had 2 cans with painkillers
(Tramadol). The next thing I knew I was in New Cross Hospital. From
New Cross they took me to Penn Mental Hospital where I was told
what happened. While in Penn Hospital someone came to see me from the Housing
Consortium where they help Asian men with mental health problems.
The person I spoke to was Arun, he was understanding where he said
when I leave hospital there is help if you want it. I got discharged in October 2011 and went to see him.
The support I got from him was that I was not by myself – there are lots
of Asian men with the same problems. I was advised to be
honest with any problems that I have and those in the future. I also realised that talking about my
problems was one of the best medicines out, you don’t have to
bottle things up. Just talking about how I was feeling helped me so
much – what I was trying to do was run before I could walk. I don’t stress myself anymore I just talking
about my feelings. I found the help very useful and I
have been attending the Asian men’s group every Friday and the
support I have been given has got me more to my normal self with the thanks of Arun.
I am happy with what I have
achieved. The support I have had
has helped me and I look forward to
the future. I have got my
motivation back and my daughter is
happy with plus the wife too. Now
I am granddad I have more
motivation not to drink. All I can
do is give advice to people who
have a drink problem because I can
relate to them because I’ve been
there, done it, got the Tee-shirt. I
am now working with Arun to set
up a group for Asian men with
mental health and alcohol problems
Iqbal
VoiceAbility
Northampton Advocacy
Service
0203 3358846
Issue 11 Mar 2014
Page 6
I hurt myself today To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain The only thing that's real The needle tears a hole
The old familiar sting Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything
What have I become my sweetest friend Everyone I know goes away in the
end
And you could have it all My empire of dirt
I will let you down I will make you hurt
I wear this crown of thorns Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts I cannot repair
Beneath the stains of time The feelings disappear You are someone else
I am still right here
What have I become my sweetest friend
Everyone I know goes away in the end
And you could have it all My empire of dirt I will let you down, I will make
you hurt
If I could start again A million miles away
I would keep myself I would find a way Performer: Johny Cash
Songwriter(s): Michael Reznor, Trent Reznor
Copyright: Penny Farthing Music
Tony's 180 days Clean Song
HURT
Conference Poem 2014
As Individuals make their way
To Conference – a change is made; Connections made and masks removed –
No longer lone – together strong –
The company of addicts come; Recovery for many rests
In hours or days for many – years –
But Binding all this special day – A shared experience of tears;
All tread the path to abstinence –
With stories traded on the way – All aid their fellow travellers -
With words of comfort – helping hands;
We come alone but leave as friends.
Alistair
Tony shared these words with us as they have
inspired him during his recovery journey
Service User
Conference Friday 14th March 2014
Service Users Newsletter
We all went to the 3rd Aquarius Service User Conference in Birmingham.
It was an interesting, and fun day. We got to meet loads of people in recovery from across the Midlands.
Issue 11 Mar 2014
Page 7
NHS Direct
111
The Samaritans
08457 90 90 90
MIND
01604 634310
Victim Support
0300 3031947
Women’s Aid
0845 123 2311
NSPCC
0808 800 5000
Maple Access
01604 250969
AA National:
0845769555
Al-Anon:
0207 403088
CA:
0800 6120225
NA:
0300 999 1212
CAN Housing
01604 250678
Community Law
01604 621038
Citizens Advice
Bureau
01604 235080
CAN
Young People
08450 556246
Service Users Newsletter
Piece of cake!!
Agggghhhhhhh
HELP somebody!!
It was time to take the Xmas
decorations down at Aquarius.
SOME EVENTS THAT HAPPENED
OVER CHRISTMAS
On Christmas morning Rob and Richard decided
to do the Northampton fancy dress Park Run.
They thought it was a good idea to get up bright
and early and get some exercise. Xmas day can be
a tricky time for people who are trying to abstain
from alcohol. They decided to do the run, to feel
good and to get up a bit of an appetite so they
could enjoy their Xmas dinner.
Richard wanted to run at a steady pace and Rob
said he would run with him. Although Rob is
younger and a bit quicker runner he said he would
run with Richard for the first lap and then go on
ahead for the second lap.
When Rob indeed run on
ahead, Richard had the
embarrassment of being
overtaken by a Snowman
and a Fairy! Richard
couldn’t understand why
the snowman had not
melted!!!!…..
Northampton Park Run at the Racecourse 09.00 Xmas
What Steve didn’t know was
there was a missing step in the
ladder...
Richard to the rescue with some
CPR…...
THE COMIC STRIP: THE ADVENTURES OF STEVE AND RICHARD…..
Issue 11 Mar 2014
Page 8
Fully equipped gym
And other activities
Mon, Tue, Thurs,
Fri & Sun
63c Gold Street,
Northampton
01604 621259 / 07877 041360
01933 227078
Opening hours :
Mon-Fri 9am to 5pm
Tel: 10am to 4pm Mon –Fri
Oasis House
35-37 Campbell Street
Northampton
NN1 3DS
Tel: 0845 206 8646
RELAPSE PREVENTION GROUP Ongoing support for people in recovery from
alcohol, drugs or gambling issues
Call 03004564292
NA Meetings
Sunday 12:30pm Step Meeting, Anchor House 6-7 Regents Square Northampton NN1 2NQ
Monday 20:00 Basic Text, Anchor House 6-7 Regents Square Northampton NN1 2NQ
Wednesday 2pm Aquarius36-38 Abington Sq, Northampton NN14AA
Thursday 2:30 Bridge 63c Gold St Northampton NN1 1RA
Friday 20:00 Just For Today, Church of Christ Shadowfax Drive NN3 8DE
Corby: Freedom, Thursday 19:30, St Columbus Church Studfall Avenue NN17 1LG
Corby: Newcomers Meeting, Tuesday 12:30, URC Church Building Elizabeth St NN17 1RE
For details of local AA meetings, 0845769555 or www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk
Drug & Alcohol Services Northamptonshire
01604 211 304
Aquarius in partnership with Gamcare offer a free counselling
service for people who have issues with problem gambling,
(minimum age 16). This service is also available to family members.
We offer day and evening appointments.
For more information or to self-refer contact Aquarius on 03004564292 or email on
[email protected] to speak to one of the gambling counsellors.
Healthy Futures New service targeting people aged 45 and over, we offer support for people concerned with their alcohol or drug use, including prescription and
over the counter medication. Contact Aquarius to discuss.
36-38 Abington Square
Northampton NN1 4AA
03004 564 292
Tuesday 10:30– 12noon
Cafe St Mary’s Hospital
Kettering 07530988004
Tuesday 6-7:30pm CRi Spring House,
39 Billing Rd, Northampton,
NN1 5BA 07530 988 004 03004 564 292
Thursday
1pm—2:30pm Aquarius,
36-38 Abington Sq Northampton
NN1 4AA 07530 099 004 03004 564 292
Saturday
10:15—11:45am Friends Meeting
House Wellington St, Northampton,
NN1 3AS 07860682487
Service Users Newsletter