How the journey began
A Better Tomorrow are an addiction recovery service that work with around 40 adult males to support their journey back into a ‘normal life’. Having met the group, Energize recognised that the addition of a sporting offer to this recovery process could aid their recovery and reduce the number of people that relapse during this period. We also we wanted to be able to sustain a sports session in A Better Tomorrow that the service users can be part of beyond their recovery and when they are back to normal living.
A consultation session lead by Energize, with all service users of A Better Tomorrow, resulted in the following knowledge being gained:
- The main barriers to sport were: Cost, fear of having the worst ability, transport and lack of fitness
- The main things that they wanted to get from sport: Social inclusion, fitness, structure and friendship
After this 2-hour consultation we found cycling to be the ideal sport for the service users. Cycling not only met their needs – but could also offer a way of transport for some of the group who had lost their driving licences.
The Coach
The coach is the most important part of this process, as it needed to be someone who understood the participant’s situation as well as someone who was able to run engaging sessions. We managed to find an ideal role model – Oli.
Oli was an alcoholic for a large period of life until 6 years ago when he received a driving ban and had to spend money on a bike so he could transport himself to work. He describes cycling as a positive addiction which took him away from the alcohol. He started cycling in his own free time each day, and then joined his local club. Since then he has achieved considerable milestones in cycling including riding from Land’s End to John O’Groats, touring America and finishing highly placed in major competitions. He has now turned away from alcohol completely and wanted to help others do the same.
Energize funded Oli’s level 2 qualification and set him up on a mentoring programme with Newport Cycling Club as well as linking the cycling club back into the project.
The Project
After gaining additional funding from Telford and Wrekin Councils drugs commissioner and we were able to secure a highly discounted deal for some racing bikes from Dave Mellor’s cycle shop. These bikes are stored at A Better Tomorrow and if service users take part in the weekly sessions they are welcome to use these in their own time too.
Within the first month 20 people took part in cycling, regardless of the poor weather conditions. The sessions consist of coached work in the car park of the building, followed by a cycle loop to a location in Shropshire followed by a talk around maintaining the bikes. The service users are then responsible for maintaining the bikes themselves.
Outcomes
- The conversations that have taken place whilst cycling have been fundamental to this project. They have helped form great friendships and this social support has been vital to the recovery process.
- People have enjoyed cycling so much that most project members are also cycling themselves 2/3 times a week outside of the session.
- 3 people within the club have gone through cycling qualifications. We have been successful in getting additional funding so that some of the service users can gain qualifications in cycling and are currently being mentored by the coach to be able to lead sessions.
- All of the project participants have helped marshal at local events. This is their first time volunteering and they will be doing it a lot more.
- 8 of the participants have gone onto take part in local races.
- The group have signed up to a huge cycle ride around the country to raise money to sustain the club and raise funds for next year.
- A Better Tomorrow have had much less people relapse since this sport session.
- Crime in the local area has decreased.
- Enough funding has been secured to fully sustain the club beyond Enegrize funding
We survey the participants at the start of the project and 6 months into the project, revealing that:
- All participants felt more positive about their future after 6 months
- Increased: confidence, communication and teamwork skills
- Increased physical wellbeing
- A more positive attitude to sport
The project now has its own account ran by the coach, with a committee of service users involved in the running. The project is now looking to expand to other areas of the county, using the learning to make these outcomes happen in other areas.