Our faces

Meeting a growing recovery community in the North-West of England

2008-06-19T22:53:00.007+01:00

Jacquie Johnston-Lynch and myself

Kevin, Stuart (the tall one) and on either side, Jason and Paul

from THOMAS, Blackburn (now who was who?)

Recovery in Pizza Express: (from left) John Hopkins, Ian Wardle, Geoff Allman, Colin Wiseley, Lucie, Kevin and Mark Gilman

'Trust the Process" supported housing, with Tom Kirkwood, Warrington DAT and us.

Wired In team with Tom Kirkwood of 'Trust the Process'

Lucie and Kevin on way home: shattered, but happy!

Sarah Davies

2008-04-23T13:35:00.003+01:00

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.

Out for lunch with Pavel

2008-04-18T11:54:00.008+01:00

Out for lunch with Pavel Nepustil (bottom right) who was visiting us from the Czech Republic. Pavel shares a strong belief with us in the value of Personal Stories. You’ll shortly be hearing more about Pavel in ‘the prof speaks out’ Blog.

Also in this picture are DC, Lucie, Laura Williams (who worked with us for a few months), and three of our volunteers, Mark Saunders (top) Kevin Manley (left) and Chris Hobbs.

And below, Mark, Kevin and Chris decide they are the team for the first Wired In table football tour of the Czech Republic. Pavel is sorting!

Wired In film-maker

2008-04-04T21:08:00.005+01:00

Jonathan Kerr-Smith has filmed and edited the first three Wired In Personal Stories and other material.

Jon received a First Class Honours degree in Digital Video Design. He has freelanced as a cameraman and editor for various production houses, and has produced a film for a major UK private treatment provider. Jon has also made a feature length film with the last person to leave the World Trade Centre on September 11th in collaboration with this person, William Rodriguez. He has won Best Music Media, Ffresh Awards 2005, and D&D awards 2005, commendation, Film Titles.

Daily Dose editor

2008-03-31T06:24:00.006+01:00

Jim Young, otherwise known as Sniffer Dog, in his DD suite

Jim spends his early mornings and evenings running our Daily Dose, the world's leading news portal on substance use. A trained nurse, Jim works in molecular biology research at the Medical School at Swansea University. He is also a freelance medical writer, his work including a regular monthly column in the Southern Medical Journal, USA. Jim is curator of the research bibliography for the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy. He also collates a well-visited photo blog, Jim's World.

Lucie and David

2008-03-24T21:20:00.002Z

Lucie and David celebrating his birthday last year, with 'Thing'.

Lucie graduated in Psychology, winning the Student of the Year Prize in her department in Swansea. She writes content for our website and the multimedia guides we are developing, and works closely in the community with people affected by substance use problems.

Lucie also produces and helps edit the Wired In film material with our film-maker Jonathan Kerr-Smith. She has conducted several large research studies, including a project on treatment in prison, which involved a detailed qualitative analysis, for a major service provider.