WELLNESS SESSION
On Tuesday 8th March members of the Raising Voices steering group, Justina Heffton and Kornelija Rebzdyte co-led a conversation about wellness and staying well whilst experiencing hardship. This session combined lived and learned experiences to inform but to also learn from the wider group that attended the session. Â
The session was attended by lots of different members from the community as well as hosting students and staff from the Action on Poverty and Hardship Degree at Staffordshire University. Â
This part of the exhibition shows the outputs from the session as well as some personal reflections on wellness whilst experiencing hardship.
JUSTINA'S STORY
"In the pictures I chose I wanted to show what moving to Stoke-on-Trent did for me in my recovery from addiction after accessing the right services in Burton-on-Trent which led me to where I am today.
Moving here has been a massive lifestyle change with many opportunities that were open to me to rebuild my life into anything I wanted to. I have been in recovery over a year and the whole time I have lived in Stoke I have had access to drug and alcohol services that helped me with my housing and advice on future studies. I have returned to the university  Staffordshire university to finish my degree which will be done in a few months and I still can’t quite believe this achievement.
Through the supportive communities of NA I have met some wonderful people who have now become my friends and made connections with people like never before. I get to enjoy doing things with the group like walks in the nature and get to experience this sense of peace and content in life I have not been able to in my addiction and while struggling with mental health.
I am glad Stoke-on-Trent has given me these experiences and I am sure I will continue to be making much more lovely memories and working further towards my career"
