The Hertfordshire conference on recovery went very well, the presentations were really interesting, It was good to catch up with Helen Glover whom we had not seen for a number of years, it was good to see her looking so well & her & Ron’s presentations really complemented each other.
After the conference Ron & I made our way to the ferry at Harwich, a very strange place, it was very hard to find somewhere to eat but we finally managed to find something. Had a smooth over night crossing though I had the top bunk, I am definitely getting to old & stiff for bunk beds.
We drove to Maastricht, my first time driving on the right for a couple of years, but negotiated all the roundabouts the right way.
It was great to see everyone in Maastricht, especially Micheala Amering whom we had not seen for a number of years.
The conference was a roaring success, starting each day with 5 voice hearers telling their recovery stories set the scene & tone of the meeting. I particularly enjoyed Richard Bentall’s presentation & John Read. Jacqui Dillon told her story in an incredibly powerful way & Marius was his usual self.
There were people from all over the world, which was very exciting with many new faces from Australia, Canada & USA. I was particularly proud of the young group of Australians who had come with their nurse Ros from Wodonga. I am sure that the trip to Europe will be remembered by them as an important part of their recovery journeys, but they acted so professionally & confidently in their workshop it made me feel very emotional.
The bookstall was very successful though hard work, but it also gave us a good chance to talk to lots of different people. We had to pack up quite quickly in the end to make sure we made it to the ferry, which we did though we briefly got lost once on the way back to Hook of Holland.
Next day I drove for about 10 hours arriving back in Dundee in the evening. Ron took his mum out to the clubbie but I was too tired and stayed in the hotel watching strictly come dancing.
Next day I finished the journey back to Lewis, leaving Ron to make his way back to Edinburgh where he was meeting Jim , to travel back down to Nottingham, then on to Worcester. I had done a round trip of over 1700 miles driving the van, was it worth it definetly. I had learnt some new things met new & old friends 7 realised how proud I am to belong to intervoice this group of wonderful clinicians , voice hearers & family members.
Ron Coleman and Karen Taylor have an international reputation as speakers and authors. They are the directors of ‘Working to Recovery Limited’ an innovative international consultancy, training and publishing company with a cutting edge approach to supporting and improving mental health provision.
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