Derry based addiction recovery centre ARC Fitness is to host the first recovery conference of its kind in the North West.
The one day conference is set to feature six keynote speakers from across the areas of addiction, mental health, recovery coaching, support services, trauma therapy and more, with them all of them set to share their professional experience of supporting individuals whilst highlighting that recovery is possible.
Gary Rutherford, Founder and Director of Programmes of ARC Fitness, is a registered mental health nurse, a qualified personal trainer and was also awarded the Royal College of Nursing ‘Nurse of Year’ Award last month for his pioneering work of helping individuals and families negatively impacted by substance use.
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When speaking about the conference, Gary said, “We’re beyond thrilled to be hosting the region's first addiction recovery conference. At ARC we work really hard to tackle the stigma of substance use and empower our communities to believe that recovery is possible.
"We want people to understand the power that physical fitness can have on your physical and mental well being. The conference will aim to encourage people to make conscious efforts in their own lives and therefore see the big changes that little differences can make.
"We’re delighted to be welcoming some amazing people along to share their expertise at the conference. I honestly believe it could be a life changing day for some people so we really encourage anyone and everyone to come along.
"This conference isn’t just for people who have struggled with addiction, or even just for those who have watched a loved one struggle, everyone no matter who you are you will get something out of this conference."
The organisation is running the ‘Recovery In Motion’ Conference as part of their ongoing ‘Motion Changes Emotion’ campaign that kicked off earlier this year with the aim of highlighting the importance motion and physical activity can have on our day-to-day life.
The ‘Recovery In Motion’ Conference, that is taking place on Wednesday 7th September from 9:30am to 4:30pm, currently has six keynote speakers confirmed including professor Siobhan O’Neill, a mental health champion for Northern Ireland; Naetha Uren, Co-founder of The Recovery Coaching Academy; Marie Dunne, Mental Health Specialist, Researcher & Director of Resilio.
Also attending are Alex Bunting, Director of Care & Support Services, Inspire; Vivian McKinnon, Founder of Hydro Ease, Author, Trauma Therapist; Kathleen Grego, Senior Manager at Start 360. Kevin McGowan and Warren Villa, hosts of The Recovery Position podcast, will be hosting a Q&A discussion session.
Tickets for the conference are £5 and are available directly from the Millenium forum website.
More information about ARC Fitness and the different services it offers or can be found here.
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