Next Monday is International Recovery Day and to mark it Alcohol Action Ireland (AAI) is delighted to announce a free concert on Sunday September 29th in Aula Maxima, UCC (7.30pm-9pm) featuring Cork choir Viva Voce and special guests Celtic Grace, and much more. The concert also marks the one-year anniversary of the founding of Voices of Recovery.
Voices of Recovery, an initiative from AAI, is driven by those in long-term recovery from alcohol dependency that seeks to:
- Harness the power of the lived experience of people in recovery from alcohol harm to drive progressive policy change.
- Remove the stigma around getting treatment for alcohol problems.
- Drive evidence-based change on key health, social, and economic issues such as better alcohol treatment services, curbs on alcohol marketing, and holding the alcohol industry to account for the harm its product causes.
The free concert, which will be attended by Minister of State at the Department of Health, Colm Burke, and Deputy Lord Mayor of Cork, Honore Kamegni, aims to raise awareness of the issues faced by those in recovery from alcohol harm.
Voices of Recovery founder and AAI board member Paddy Creedon said: “For people like me, complacency or taking our recovery for granted is our biggest challenge. Long since gone are the physical daily cravings for alcohol. However it’s things like the Heineken 0.0 advert at the Aviva stadium that triggers things like: ‘I wonder what it would be like’ or ‘Would the buzz be back without the hassle?’
“Along with others in long-term recovery, Voices of Recovery has a vision to mobilise the ‘recovery community’ – individuals in recovery along with family, friends and recovery agencies etc – into community recovery advocate networks that will work together with other like-minded organisations – local, national and international – to make the world free of alcohol harm and a better place for all.”
The concert will also see Voices of Recovery launch its policy document, ‘Alcohol Harm: The Recovery Position’, which outlines the key issues, from the perspective of those in recovery from alcohol, that Voices of Recovery and AAI will advocate for into the future.
AAI CEO Dr Sheila Gilheany said: “The views of those with lived experience of alcohol harm are very important when it comes to formulating public health strategies designed to reduce that harm.
“Around 15% of the population have an Alcohol Use Disorder, that’s nearly 600,000 people, 90,000 at a severe level. However, there are also thousands in recovery who have a huge amount to contribute to alcohol policy. The Voice of Recovery policy document brings the experiences of people in recovery to light and uses them collectively to help drive evidence-based policy change on issues like better alcohol treatment services, curbs on alcohol marketing and holding the alcohol industry to account for the harm its product causes.”
Membership of Voices of Recovery is open to all who self-declare that they have a minimum of two years continuous sobriety at the time of application and who support the work of AAI. The original ten signatories of the Voices of Recovery Charter are: Frances Black, Keith Cassidy, Mary Coughlan, Paddy Creedon, Stephen Dansiger, Kenneth Egan, Shane Mc Vicker, Danielle Hughes, Gary O’ Heaire and Val Ward.
Read more about Voices of Recovery here
Voices of Recovery Policy Document and quotes from all 10 signatories can be accessed here
The Voices of Recovery charter can be accessed here
The concert is free but must be booked on Eventbrite here
AAI’s media language guide can be accessed here
