Our blog

    A Day in the Life of...Darren Williams

    Image shows a man in glasses on a light grey and green background. In the bottom left hand corner is the Newcastle United football logo, and to the right is bold white text with smaller black text below.

    At the Recovery College volunteers play a huge part in shaping courses, providing feedback and bringing their lived experience to inform the College's policies and approaches. Today we are speaking to Darren Williams! 1) What is your job role? I'm Darren, 33 and a volunteer at the recovery college since 2021, and I help facilitate the Men's Wellbei...

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    A Day in the Life Of...Ed Wakefield

    Image shows dark green background with a lighter green cloud. In the foreground Ed is smiling, wearing a green shirt and black bow tie. To the right is bold white text with smaller coloured font below.

    At the Recovery College our team has expanded rapidly over 2023. It is a really exciting time at the College with lots of new projects, initiatives and bases growing. And the marketing team is no exception, so without further ado here's Ed!1) What is your job role and what subjects do you cover?I am Digital Officer at the Recovery college - what th...

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    A Day in the Life Of...Hazel Cummings

    Image shows mint green background with Hazel Cunningham in the foreground. Behind her head is a stippled pink curve shape. To the right is bold white text, with smaller purple and white fonts below.

    At the Recovery College our team comes from a range of diverse professional backgrounds. Everyone brings their own lived experience into their roles, creating bridges of knowledge and understanding between themselves and students. Today we celebrate the super duper Hazel Cummings with a few questions: 1) What is your job role and what subjects...

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    A Day in the Life Of...Neil Farrington

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    At the Recovery College our team is really tightly knit, with plenty of understanding and caring individuals dedicated to your recovery journey. And today's Q + A is with one of the very best: Neil Farrington!  1) What is your job role and what subjects do you cover? Facilitator – and I cover a number of courses, primarily these focu...

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    A Day in the Life Of...Dawn Ballard - White

    Image shows a teal and purple background with simple polka dot shapes. In the foreground Dawn is smiling. To the right is simple bold white text.

    Here at the Recovery College our team is growing all the time, and we feel we should celebrate that with you, and put some names to faces. So today we are chatting with the lovely Dawn Ballard - White. 1) What is your job role? I am a facilitator. I facilitate courses at the college covering various subjects and pathways. I real...

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    A Day in the Life Of...Steven Jones

    Image shows well dressed man looking directly at camera. He is on a light blue background with a lighter blue circle above his head. On the right is bold white text, and smaller orange text.

    Here at the Recovery College we are super proud of our hard working team, and we feel that it's time to celebrate them, and put some names to faces. Today we have approached Steven Jones, one of the newest members of the team to join us this year. Steven is one of our Learning Support Assistants: 1) What is your job role? I am the Le...

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    A Day in the Life Of...Keyleigh Alison

    A Day in the Life Of Keyleigh

    Here at the Recovery College we are super proud of our hard working team, and we feel that it's time to celebrate them, and put some names to faces. Today we are chatting with Keyleigh Alison, one of the admin team. They hold the keys to everything from course registration to minute taking in our [often huge] team meetings, and so much more. W...

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    A Day in the Life Of...Kerry Wilkes

    Image shows Kerry Wilkes, the Recovery College principal wearing a dark pink cardigan, she is smiling. In the background is a bright pink offset by a blue tinged triangle. Bold white text reads A Day in the Life Of Kerry Wilkes.

    Here at the Recovery College we really thought it was time to put names to faces so that you can see who we are, what we do and what drives us in our work. To that end, our marketing team has approached several members of staff including principals, facilitators, learning support assistants, admin and marketing too, of course! Today we ar...

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    Health Walk Priory Park, Dudley

    Health Walk Priory Park, Dudley

    Our final walk for this week was at the very picturesque Priory Park in Dudley. With Dudley Castle overlooking our small group we met at the remains of St.James' monastery. Although it was a bit rainy we went ahead with the walk. This one is a short treat: you have Priory Hall, a popular spot for weddings, the tennis courts with a 1930s W...

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    Health Walk in Walsall Arboretum

    The second of our walks this week was at Walsall Arboretum. This was much longer than West Park in Wolverhampton, with the group taking 45 minutes to do a walk round. It's important to note that the walks here change every time. There's so much to see, from the lovely Hatherton lake, to the pergolas, glasshouses and river that cuts through the park...

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    Health Walk in West Park, Wolverhampton

    Thing have been a bit quiet on the blog front this week as the marketing team has been out and about filming our Health Walks! You can expect to see virtual tours of our walks from next week, so watch this space. In the meantime, here's some shots from Monday's trip to West Park in Wolverhampton. It was a beautiful sunny day and our group really en...

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    Quaker Meeting House Visit, Stourbridge

    This article was co-written by Liane Howe, Deputy Principal at the Recovery College and Emma Louis, Spiritual Care Lead for the Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.The most recent Recovery College Faith and Belief Community Visit was to Stourbridge Quaker Meeting House. We were a small but keen group and received a very warm welcome....

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    Information Sessions, March

    Come and meet our friendly team on Zoom, every Tuesday from 1pm - 2pm, throughout March 2023. Here you will get to hear a bit about what we do, our ethos and the courses we can provide. If you're interested in attending please call : 0121 543 4061 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for your Zoom Link.

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    We Need You! Helping Veterans and their Families

    Helping Our Veterans at The Recovery College

    Have you or a family member served in the armed forces? Are you living or posted in the Black Country area? We need your help to ensure that the Recovery College is easily accessible for individuals who have served and their family members. The Recovery College provides an educational learning environment for people who have an interest in, or pers...

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    LGBTQ+ History Month Closing Thoughts

    LGBTQ History Month

    As we draw near to the end of LGBTQ+ History month, we hope you have found our resources helpful. We have included quotes from members of staff from the Recovery College throughout February, as well as links to websites. If you scroll to the bottom of this blog post you will find Related Posts to help you. It's been an amazing month and w...

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    LGBTQ+ History Month Resources

    LGBTQ+ History Month Resources

    The team at the Recovery College are celebrating LGBTQ+ History month throughout February, and we are happy to share resources and websites that you may find useful. Here are a few more sites we have come across: LGBT+ History Month 2023 | Stonewall  Digital Workshop - LGBTQ+ History Month: Sharing Our Stories | Stonewall We hope this hel...

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    LGBTQ+ History Month Resources

    LGBTQ+ History Month

    The team at the Recovery College are celebrating LGBTQ+ History month throughout February, and we are happy to share resources and websites that you may find useful. Here are a few sites we have come across:  LGBT+ History Month (lgbtplushistorymonth.co.uk) - this is a great place to find out how the History Month started, and provides li...

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    Walsall Health Walk

    Health Walk Walsall Photo taken by Zak, Recovery College Facilitator

    Walking is one of the best exercises for your health and it's FREE! A good walk can do wonders for your mental wellbeing in fact, being active has a whole range of benefits It improves self-perception and self-esteem, mood and sleep quality, and it reduces stress, anxiety and fatigue. We run weekly Health Walks in Wolverhampton, Walsall, ...

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    Dungeons and Dragons Extravaganza with Neil!

    Dungeons and Dragons with High Wizard Neil! Recover Together group in Walsall

    Our recover together group meeting went down an absolute storm today. The Walsall Face to Face group tried something new, entering the magical world of Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying. Everyone explored hope and empowerment, connecting through different characters. If you would like to know more about our Recover Together sessions, pleas...

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    Bryony Celebrates LGBTQ+ Month

    Image shows bright pink background with a curved rainbow on the right of the image. Bold white text at the top reads: LGBTQ(PLUS) History Month, followed by a short description of why Bryony, a Recovery College volunteer feels the month is important to her.

    All our staff believe in the importance of #LGBTQHistoryMonth & throughout February we will be asking our team to reflect on what this means to them. Today we have Bryony, a Recovery College Volunteer:  'A chance to learn more about the history of my culture and acknowledge those who fought for our rights'. We will be providing helpful lin...

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