April 2013
First Ever Residential Retreat for Welcome Project

For the first time ever we took 9 clients away for a 3 day residential retreat to the Essex countryside.  The purpose of the Retreat was to get away from the everyday hustle and bustle of urban life to a peaceful environment where clients could relax, learn, share and prepare their own action plan for moving forward. The interactive sessions were led by staff and guest speakers and were based on the Outcomes Star ‘Ladder of Change’ model of:

•    Motivation & Personal Responsibility
•    Managing Finance
•    Social Networks and Relationships
•    Emotional and Mental Health
•    Managing my time,
•    Drugs and alcohol

(The Outcomes Star™ is a unique suite of tools for supporting and measuring personal development. http://www.outcomesstar.org.uk/)

Day 1 started off with sessions on Motivation & Personal Responsibility where clients started to work on their own personal action plans. This was followed by Money Matters by Ilir Mustafaj and a session of Archery!  The evening was an opportunity to get to know one another over dinner, watch a film and relax after a thought provoking day.

Day 2 included more interactive sessions and in the evening clients and staff had the opportunity to prepare an evening meal together overseen by Chef Ian Samuels, from Come Dine With You.

Day 3 the final presentation was given by our Guest speaker Zak Haidar, who absolutely inspired every one of us with his own personal story of recovery.  Zak is the New Business Director at Intuitive Recovery Ltd.

The outdoor sessions of Archery and the Teambuilding exercises were really enjoyable and we had brilliant weather too! The Talent show on Tuesday evening really did bring out some hidden talents - especially Lisette who recited a poem on “being free to do what you dream of”.

We had so much fun and each of us came away knowing that we had learnt something that would make a positive difference to our lives and something we would never forget!