Dear Colleagues,
Wolverhampton 2025 UK Recovery Walk at West Park
You may remember that almost one year ago, local people and organisations saw off stiff competition and voted for Wolverhampton to host the 2025 UK Recovery Walk.
FAVOR UK (Faces and voices of recovery UK) started in 2009 and through the UK Recovery Walk celebrates recovery from drug and alcohol addiction, uniting people in recovery and their families and friends, through a public walk and celebration.
A partnership including The Good Shepherd, City of Wolverhampton Council, WVCA’s SUIT (Service User Involvement Team), and Recovery Near You, has worked together over the last year to organise this important milestone event for Wolverhampton.
The event starts with the Annual Conference 2025 on Friday 12th September 2025 from 9.30am – 4pm at the Molineux Stadium, WV1 4QR. Tickets can be found here. This is followed by a Recovery Walk Spiritual Service Friday 12th September 6-7pm at St. Peter’s Collegiate Church, Lich Gates, Wolverhampton WV1 1TY
The Recovery Walk (2 miles) starts at 12 noon on Saturday 13th September 2025 at the Recovery Village in West Park. A shorter route is planned for 12.15pm from outside of St Peter’s Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton WV1 1TY. Details are here, but check the website in case there are any last-minute changes.
Please come out and show your support for everyone’s life that has been touched by drug and alcohol addiction and recovery.
Visit to The Haven Wolverhampton
This week I had the pleasure to catch up with Laura Rogers, CEO at The Haven, which has been in the city for many years.
It’s worth reminding ourselves every now and again of the Haven’s vision which is ‘for all women and children to live in a society free from oppression, homelessness, violence, and abuse, and to promote and uphold human rights.’
Laura Rogers, CEO of The Haven, with Sharon Nanan-Sen, WVCA CEO
How do we start to measure the real impact and value of services that exist to help desperate women and their children when there is nothing and no one else there?
So many of our services in the VCSEF sector grow and develop from, are run by and rely on volunteers and people with lived experience who go the extra mile, every hour of every day and keep services going in the face of reducing budgets and greater demands. Let’s not take our services for granted. Partners and funders need to work together to support local services for local people and communities.
As always, please remember to check out our website and newsletter regularly – there is always new information, and opportunities are always presenting themselves.
If there are any issues that you would like to raise or anything that you would like to hear more about, please contact me.
Thank you,
Sharon Nanan-Sen
Chief Executive Officer