Recovery Cymru Community
Winner – From Systemic Challenge to Meaningful Change
About the Charity
Recovery Cymru is a charity operating across South Wales, offering support, help and guidance to people who are looking to begin or continue their journey to recovery. The charity provides peer support services 365 days per year from its Cardiff Recovery Centre, and also from the CAVDAS Barry Peer Space. This accessible support network is led by people with lived experience, enabling the charity to support its member’s needs with no judgment. While programmes are peer-led, they are also informed by psychological best practice and participants are able to access weekly face-to-face support groups, daily calls and text messaging support, and even virtual services.
It was the first recovery community organisation to partner with treatment services commissioned to run aftercare and recovery support in Cardiff and Vale, co-writing the recovery framework (for the Welsh Government).
Charity number: 1154530 | www.RecoveryCymru.org.uk
Health | Wales – South East | 11-25 paid staff
What the Board Achieved
Recovery Cymru Community has embarked on a transformative journey to challenge systemic barriers to substance use recovery, leveraging collaborative governance to shape a more inclusive and effective model for service delivery and community development.
The board’s strategic vision stemmed from a deep-rooted commitment to community-driven recovery. Recognising the need for comprehensive treatment services, the board navigated a pivotal decision: to operate outside the system or become a transformative force within it. Through active engagement with the Cardiff & Vale Area Planning Board (APB), Recovery Cymru positioned itself to co-produce a person-centred model of service delivery, fostering agility, collaboration, and equality among partners.
The board was aware that the Cardiff & Vale APB planned to recommission local substance use services and engaged with the process by participating in the APB need’s assessment in 2018 and getting involved with stakeholder events. The APB’s project became a standing item on the board’s six-weekly meetings, while trustees waited for more information on the recommissioning project and evaluated how they may be able to participate without compromising the charity’s ethos and identity. Progress came to a halt during the pandemic, the Cardiff & Vale APB announced in 2021 that it was moving forward with recommissioning on an Alliance model basis. The Alliance model offered Recovery Cymru the potential to pursue a more agile and collaborative partnership, sharing responsibility for the system and associated risks, while valuing all partners as equals and allowing Recovery Cymru to remain true to its core mission and values. Under these new circumstances, the board seized the opportunity to challenge the status quo, co-produce a model of delivery, and provide a truly person-centred approach with peers embedded throughout. The board also recognised the potential to build new partnerships and learn from larger organisations, while increasing its ability to influence how the system is designed, run and evaluated. Significantly, trustees viewed this as an excellent opportunity to give the charity’s community the chance to truly shape the services they or their loved ones needed.
Guided by member-driven priorities, the board meticulously evaluated risks and opportunities throughout the process. Deliberate focus on finances, staffing, strategy, and culture empowered Recovery Cymru to navigate uncertainties with resilience and clarity. In the face of moving deadlines and evolving partnerships, the board’s unwavering commitment to survival and growth propelled the successful submission of a tender response, securing a pivotal role in the Cardiff & Vale Drug & Alcohol Service (CAVDAS).
This transition to become a core partner in CAVDAS marked a paradigm shift for Recovery Cymru, amplifying its reach, resources, and influence while preserving its community-centric approach. The charity enlarged its budget and staff team to enable expansion of services and improved support for individuals seeking recovery. Notably, the refurbishment of the Recovery Centre underscores the board’s commitment to investing in holistic well-being.
Looking ahead, Recovery Cymru is committed to sustaining and increasing its impact through strategic planning and continuous learning. The board’s self-funding of a ‘Family and Friends’ programme exemplifies its dedication to preserving the organisation’s autonomy and community-driven ethos. An independent Effectiveness Review, coupled with the development of tailored data metrics, will inform future governance decisions and ensure the board’s strategy remains aligned with the charity’s core mission, vision and values.
What Inspired Our Judges
The board’s ambitious initiatives, strategic leadership, and profound impact on the charity and its stakeholders – including the individuals and communities it serves – was clearly evidenced throughout the entry. Judges admired the board’s ability to prioritise service users’ needs and centre their voices within the decision-making process, to carefully analyse the wide-ranging impacts of the transformational journey the trustees were considering taking, and to rigorously maintain alignment with the charities core mission and values throughout the process. The entry demonstrated the board’s direct role in identifying a new opportunity, assessing risk, and implementing the necessary changes across the organisation to achieve the desired change.
Through visionary leadership, strategic partnerships, and unwavering commitment, the trustees at Recovery Cymru Community continue to blaze a pathway forward for inclusive and holistic substance use recovery, fostering resilience and empowerment within individuals and communities alike.
