I first met Sarah when she came to ask whether she could take my substance misuse finals paper in the afternoon as the morning exam clashed with her grandfather's funeral. I was really pleased to find out later that, despite her obvious anguish, Sarah had ended up with the best marks in the exam.
I offered Sarah a three month position with WIRED after her finals and somehow or other we managed to keep her consultancy work going over the next four years. Mind you, she sometimes did not know whether she would be working the following week.
Sarah has worked with people with substance use problems, their families and practitioners in a wide variety of engagement projects. She has conducted research studies, written Personal Stories and agency profiles, and been involved in one of our filmed Personal Stories. She has also prepared treatment and training manuals, as well as an education programme on binge drinking, for major UK service providers.
Sarah has been poorly over the past year and has been unable to work with us. However, she remains committed to our initiative and will be back when she gets better. She's been amazing over the past year - how she has coped with her problems I will never know - and we have missed her greatly. But we keep her in touch with what we are doing and still meet regularly.
