“Don’t give up on someone, be there for when they are ready to change” Chris’s Journey Inspires Wolverhampton’s National Recovery Walk 2025.
Chris Cole, Service Manager at Good Shepherd was one of the team who led the bid to host the UK Recovery Walk in Wolverhampton this year. Now only weeks away, Chris recalls his own journey to recovery and the impact the walk will have on the city.
“From my experience attending previous Recovery Walks, I know how significant this event is for both the City of Wolverhampton and the local recovery community. It will allow Wolverhampton to showcase what recovery looks like locally and help challenge any stigma attached to the local recovery community.”
Chris recalls growing up in a chaotic household marked by domestic and physical violence, he ran away from home as a child, left school in Year 7 and entered the care system. By his early teens, Chris was involved in drugs, crime, and the criminal justice system.
Despite early brushes with the law, Chris’s substance use escalated. Initially experimenting with alcohol and party drugs, he eventually became addicted to heroin and crack cocaine. Around the age of 17, he was homeless and heavily dependent, manipulating treatment systems to sustain his addiction. He recalls sleeping in greenhouses and sheds or wandering the streets at night with nowhere to go.
Chris’s turning point came through his engagement with support services and connecting with professionals who had lived experience, leading to his eventual recovery.
Today, he is a Service Manager and leads the LEAP (Lived Experience into Action Project) at the Good Shepherd in Wolverhampton. This initiative empowers individuals with lived experience to support others facing similar challenges. Chris said:
“I have made mistakes, and people will always make mistakes, and that is why we will work with our volunteers on the LEAP project that if they do make mistakes, we can work through it.
“But the most important thing of all is to give people a chance, a chance to improve themselves and to make a difference. Don’t give up on someone, be there for when they are ready to change.
“I am only here now doing what I am doing because people gave me a chance, and that is why I am so fortunate to be in this position where now it is me giving others a chance to take that step forward.”
Chris’s openness about his past is central to his work. He believes that his experiences, however painful, have uniquely equipped him to help others. And now with the national Recovery Walk coming to the Black Country for the first time it’s a chance to inspire more people to take the first steps of their recovery journey:
“Both personally and professionally, I know of our local recovery success stories, the great work carried out by our recovery community, and the inspiring lived experience advocates of the city. This is our chance to show the rest of the country what recovery means to us and how it’s helping to inspire change and develop statutory and voluntary organisations.
“I hope that by raising awareness locally it will help us to reach those that are yet to be reached and at the very least to plant a seed that recovery is possible and they are not alone!”
Each year a different city or town is selected to host the National Recovery Walk, which includes a public march and a celebratory Recovery Village. The event is endorsed by the UK-wide human rights charity Faces and Voices of Recovery UK (FAVOR UK), which advocates for and empowers people with living and lived experience of alcohol and drugs.
Wolverhampton’s successful bid to host the 2025 Recovery Walk was led by the Good Shepherd and Wolverhampton Voluntary and Community Action’s Service User Involvement Team (SUIT), in partnership with the City of Wolverhampton Council and Recovery Near You.
The event, taking place on Saturday 13 September 12-5pm at West Park, promises to be a vibrant, family-friendly day filled with live entertainment, community stalls, and a powerful show of solidarity for those on the journey of recovery.
To find out more about the UK Recovery Walk 2025 in Wolverhampton visit: https://www.facesandvoicesofrecoveryuk.org/ukrw25/
To read more about Chris’s Journey visit: https://www.gsmwolverhampton.org.uk/stories/chriss-story-a-second-chance/