'Communities In Transition' programme helping local people rebuild their lives

‘Each individual’s journey is unique to them and we understand that’. That is the starting point for the ‘Communities in Transition’ programme which is helping people in Derry to rebuild their lives in a unique and individualistic way.

CIT, which is run in partnership with Bogside and Brandywell Health Forum and Old Library Trust is working with people in the Bogside, Brandywell and Creggan areas of Derry to make lasting change. The focus of the programme is broad in scope, ranging from mental health to fitness to nutrition to education both in and out of school and is focused on all-round well-being, and making lives better for those participating.

This year, a key aspect of the programme is addiction and helping those battling with the disease to rebuild and reclaim their live as best they can. The CIT programme offers one-to-one counselling, one-to-one fitness, physio and even a programme called ‘In His Strength’, which has a focus on mental health and physical health for men of all ages.

It is broad in scope and broad in ambition, and so far, it has been a huge success. Mo Mahon, who has battled addiction himself in the past is working alongside team mates from the Bogside and Brandywell Health Forum and the Old Library Trust to make the journey as supportive and encouraging as it ca be for those wishing to change their lives.

“Part of it is bringing people into programmes they like and building their self-esteem and confidence,” he explained. “We have had people in the past who have gone on to get qualified and come back in and volunteer or who went on to get a job. We have had other people this year go on to get qualifications and people who want to go on and be a gym instructor. It’s really worthwhile and it’s giving people a lot of value in themselves and self-worth.”

First step

The first step to something so transformative is often the hardest and Mo understands just how big a step it can be for many people.

“The first thing I do is meet the participant face to face, have a chat with them and they get to see what I’m about,” he explained. “They will know within that chat that there’s no judgement or anything like that. It’s not about me saying they need this or that; I’s about what they need. I meet someone where they’re at, whether that’s in recovery or not on recovery.

“Through having that conversation and building that relationship I will look and see what their interests are and see if there’s anything we can do around that. I encourage everyone to go into the gym. We have 16 or 17 are going through the one to one in the gym, and that experience, from everyone’s feedback, is amazing. They meet you where you are at physically. “You won’t be going into the gym and crawling back out of it, you will be going into the gym and actually enjoying the work. We have had massive benefit from it because it leads them on to something else.”

“My job is to have enough information on the participant to signpost the relevant and right counselling. Building the relationship, there is a lot of one-to-one mentoring support. I build a therapeutic relationship with each and every participant and get to understand what their needs and what their wants are so I can design a programme around that. Myself and Connor designed ‘In His Strength’ because a lot of these men were wanting help around their mental health but also wanting help around their physical health. We design and build programmes around what the need is.”

Success

Because of the bespoke nature of CIT, where the individual’s needs are discovered and paired with the right programmes, the chances of success are automatically higher. That is something Mo has already witnessed in his time at the Health Forum.

“Personally, in all my times of going to seek help and going to get other things, I have never seen anything like it,” he admitted. “Obviously there were places like ‘Heal the Hurt’, which was a voluntary organistion where people came in off the street. I know a lot of people who went there. There’s also places like AA or ARC; when I started my recovery there was AA , but not a lot else out there. There was still loads of stigma towards addiction and alcoholics.

“There has been nothing like this progamme. I use the word broad because it’s exactly that. What it’s doing for people is unbelievable. There is a massive waiting list so if anything it could be bigger and we could be helping more people. It’s working – I see the evidence and I see the success that’s going on on the ground. The participants would say the same. It’s massive what it’s doing and to be honest, it has blown me away.”

The focus on the individual is so, so important for the success in the CIT programme, with each person’s journey equally different and equally unique. Understanding the person first of all is what is so vital to success for everyone involved.

“Whether it’s drugs, drink, gambling, straight away you can break down that barrier so the participant will know that they are not getting judged and that there is empathy there as well as understanding,” Mo continued.

“I understand the recovery process and I understand addiction, but I do not understand what’s going on in each individual’s head. I can then signpost the person if that’s where they want to go. Being in recovery helps break down that first barrier. A lot of people then will trust that I will send them to the right people. I will do my research and get advice and see what counsellor would suit that individual. So far there’s been a really big success rate in people benefiting from counselling. Their feedback is that they are loving it and that they didn’t realise that this programme would be so beneficial to them.”

13th anniversary

Mo has recently celebrated his 13th anniversary of sobriety, and while each year he is content to send a tweet marking the occasion, he went public 12 months ago with his journey through addiction in an article with the Derry News.

The reaction to his story showed him it was an important step to take, for both himself and others.  

“I was overwhelmed with the amount of feedback I got from that article,” he admitted. “I have a couple of people in my life who have serious life experience with addiction and recovery and who are in recovery themselves who have been inspirations to me.

“The amount of people who contacted me and the amount of people who I could signpost to get help was great. In my 13th year, sometimes I have to pinch myself. In those 13 years there have been difficult times, particularly in the first three or four years which only my wife Louise, would have seen.

“I’ve always been taught ‘People, Places and Things’. I’ve had to take myself away from people, places and things that weren’t good for me, like people who I would have drunk with. I still chat to them, but I wouldn’t be socializing with them. I have made friends along the way and out myself in places now that are healthy and good for me.

“I’m very conscious of being able to celebrate and give myself a but of praise, because, when I look back at me as a 20-year-old, I ever, ever thought I would be 14 years sober.”

Whatever stage of the journey an individual may be on, Mo has seen first hand the powerful effect of change can make, and insists that when the moment comes to take that step, those struggling with addiction will find that there is support out there.

“We’re all unique and we’re all different,” he stressed. “Everybody can change and everyone can get healthy. I’ve met people through my recovery that were drinking in the streets and people who would say they were at the bottom of the barrel people who have had horrific traumas in their lives.

“They have gone out and got help and support and they are on their journey and they are in recovery now. You hear that people have to want to do it and that’s true.

“What happens sometimes is that people genuinely want it, but for whatever reason it doesn’t materialise and on those difficult days, you have to try and get on with it and get up and realise that there is a lot of support out there ow, more than there ever was.

“I carry hope for everybody. There is hope out there for everyone. Everybody and anybody can change. There’s a lot to be said for the work that the communities are doing.”