Films and Press
April 2024 - a taster trailer for our Recovery Conversation between Suzi Crockford and Caspar Walsh. Suzi is a visionary writer and teacher, shamanic healer and maker of sacred objects. She works with wellbeing and mental health through landscape by supporting the finding of our deep connection to 'All that Is’, believing that if we can remember that we are simply one part of a living, sentient world - and act accordingly - we can co-create "The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible". Her work takes place in the liminal realms between this reality and 'the other', and has at its foundation an unshakeable belief in the sacredness of all of creation. This Recovery Conversation looks at how nature connection can bring a sense of belonging, and how that belonging supports recovery.
Join our membership programme to view the whole conversation.
March 2024 - a taster trailer for our Recovery Conversation between Gavin Blench and Caspar Walsh. Gavin Blench is a Devon based artist and a sometimes staff member and elder on our residentials.
"My work deals with the tension between open and boundaried space within my local landscape, on the edge of Dartmoor, where there is an interplay relating the topographical to the social. Wild space butts against the needs and assertions of community. I portray place in its temporal aspect, showing the surface of the land as possessing a lifespan of its own that is imprinted by the activities of many of our own lifetimes; boundaries thousands of years old, interwoven and overlaid by newer demarcations. Within this, there is also an acknowledgement of my own temporal viewpoint. I have progressive multiple sclerosis, so these familiar places become increasingly inaccessible. Inevitably the landscape I love becomes a resonator for the emotions around loss and approaching mortality."
Join our membership programme to view the whole conversation.
February 2024 - a taster trailer for our Recovery Conversation between Sandhya Dave and Caspar Walsh. Sandhya is a body psychotherapist and diversity consultant, working with all ages and specifically with mental health and in the community and describes herself as a ‘shape shifting mischievous goddess who likes to play!’ She cofounded Devon Diversity Consultants working in the arena of training and exploring systemic racism and the decolonising of our minds and institutions and trains on a programme from the Global Centre, called Cultural Champions which takes cultural diversity and anti-racism work into schools and the community.
Join our membership programme to view the whole conversation.
January 2024 - a taster trailer for our Recovery Conversation between Malaika Kegode and Caspar Walsh. Malaika is an award-winning writer, performer, creative producer, and Associate Director at Theatre Royal Plymouth. Her work is focused on uplifting and celebrating the overlooked and misunderstood. She is a vocal advocate for creativity as a tool for healing and connection. Her recent work, ‘Outlier’ explores the impact of isolation, addiction, and friendship on young people coming of age in the often-forgotten places.
Join our membership programme to view the whole conversation.
December 2023 - a taster trailer of this Recovery Conversation with renowned Dartmoor photographer and author Chris Chapman in conversation with Caspar Walsh. Chris has worked in the area since 1975 and has an incredible archive of beautiful and evocative Dartmoor photographs from over the last 50 years. This conversation is full of warmth, wisdom and Chris’s generous and kind spirit.
Join our membership programme to view the whole conversation.
November 2023 - A film record of our Creative Pathways exhibition at the Poly, Falmouth (September 2023)
October 2023 - ITV News West Country (South West) piece about the success of our addiction recovery work.
August 2023 - Snippets from Cornwall’s Pirate FM with Paul Finn and Catt Kinsey about our addiction recovery programme launch in Cornwall this Autumn.
July 2022 - Sovereign Archetype…
Creative Pathways to Healing and Meaning is the latest addition to our delivery programme, offered to support the addiction recovery community with nature connection activities, meditation and creative expression of all kinds, including text, film, sound, photography etc.
“The Creative Pathways journey changed my learning and my awareness. It helped me look at myself, break things down and understand why I ‘reacted’. It helped me understand what was powering the thoughts / actions and being able to change." — AP
Poem ‘One Day’ written and performed by Caspar Walsh. Original music composed and produced by Stephen Clucas (Clukatronic). Original illustrations on the four archetypes by Philip Harris. Commissioned especially for the Creative Pathways programme.
February 2022 - BBC article sharing the news of the grant awarded by Devon Communities Together to further support the Devon recovery community with our 2022 Recovery Festival.
February 2022 - Feature on BBC Spotlight introducing our addiction recovery work and with news of our 2022 Recovery Festival supported by Devon Communities Together.
February 2022 - Lover Archetype…
Creative Pathways to Healing and Meaning is the latest addition to our delivery programme, offered to support the addiction recovery community with nature connection activities, meditation and creative expression of all kinds, including text, film, sound, photography etc.
“The Creative Pathways journey changed my learning and my awareness. It helped me look at myself, break things down and understand why I ‘reacted’. It helped me understand what was powering the thoughts / actions and being able to change." — AP
Poem ‘We Waited’ written and performed by Caspar Walsh. Original music composed and produced by Stephen Clucas (Clukatronic). Original illustrations on the four archetypes by Philip Harris. Commissioned especially for the Creative Pathways programme.
January 2022 - Interview in Devon Live with Ali about her journey of recovery and the support of Rite to Freedom.
Read it here >>
January 2022 - Interview with Caspar Walsh on North Devon's Soundwave Radio with Mark Clark on the ‘Night Chatters' show, all about the work of Rite to Freedom, recovery from addiction and our 2022 Recovery Festival running January until March.
January 2022 - Interview in Devon Live with Caspar Walsh about his own journey of recovery and the wider addiction recovery work of Rite to Freedom.
Read it here >>
January 2022 - Interview with Caspar Walsh on The Tommy Marren Show on MidWest Radio from County Mayo, all about the work of Rite to Freedom, recovery from addiction and our work reaching into Ireland. Interview with Caspar begins at 20mins in.
September 2021 - Magician Archetype…
Creative Pathways to Healing and Meaning is the latest addition to our delivery programme, offered to support the addiction recovery community with nature connection activities, meditation and creative expression of all kinds, including text, film, sound, photography etc.
“The Creative Pathways journey changed my learning and my awareness. It helped me look at myself, break things down and understand why I ‘reacted’. It helped me understand what was powering the thoughts / actions and being able to change." — AP
Poem ‘Sleep Easy’ written and performed by Caspar Walsh. Original music composed and produced by Stephen Clucas (Clukatronic). Original illustrations on the four archetypes by Philip Harris. Commissioned especially for the Creative Pathways programme.
August 2021 - Body Heart Mind-fullness - Highlights from a Recovery Conversation with Sandhya Dave.
August 2021 - Teaser for the Magician Archetype…
Creative Pathways to Healing and Meaning is the latest addition to our delivery programme, offered to support the addiction recovery community with nature connection activities, meditation and creative expression of all kinds, including text, film, sound, photography etc.
“The Creative Pathways journey changed my learning and my awareness. It helped me look at myself, break things down and understand why I ‘reacted’. It helped me understand what was powering the thoughts / actions and being able to change." — AP
April 2021 - Recovery Conversation with Gavin Blench on Creativity - ‘The Path of Art as Nourishment for the Soul.’
March 2021 - Creative Pathways to Healing and Meaning is the latest addition to our delivery programme, offered to support the addiction recovery community with nature connection activities, meditation and creative expression of all kinds, including text, film, sound, photography etc.
September 2020 - ‘To Know the Difference’ is about the choices we make and the paths we take and explores the inspiring recovery journey of R2F participant and trainee leader, Laura Hamlyn. Following Laura's own words as she moves through the landscape of Dartmoor, this compelling, intimate, short film explores the three pillars of Rite to Freedom’s recovery ethos - nature connection, creative expression and the mindful life.
June 2020 - Caspar introduces our new online Experience Days
May 2020 - Ben and Laura discuss the work of Rite to Freedom, and specifically Laura’s experiences as a participant.
April 2020 - The Lover Archetype Mini Quest with Melissa and Laura, part of our Creative Pathways to Healing and Meaning programme.
September 2019 - 'We Seek the Teeth' is part of our new Creative Pathways to Healing and Meaning programme and won 2nd place at the Recovery Street film festival in 2019. A powerful exploration into trauma and the healing that can be found through connection with the landscape and the power of landscape and words.
Poem ‘We Seek the Teeth’ written by Caspar Walsh, inspired by the words of Kenneth Tynan.
September 2016 - Return of the Conversation. A poem by our founder and creative director Caspar Walsh.
November 2015 - TEDxTotnes - Caspar speaks about ‘The Healing Power of Hunting’
June 2015 - Rite to Freedom’s previous work with young people
Books
Tribe Warrior
Myth as Mirror
In the tradition of Iron John, Tribe Warrior is an adventure story using myth as a mirror to the reader’s inner and outer life. It has been written in direct response to the work we do at Rite to Freedom with both students and staff. Themes in the book include absent fathers, addiction, community life, mentoring, rehabilitation and redemption. These are used to inspire conversation and discussion and are brought off the page as live theatre in wild nature.
Tribe Warrior is a key focus of all course delivery. It was inspired by our work with young men, people in recovery from addiction and the Rite to Freedom staff team’s hard won freedom through their own personal journeys. The beauty of a work of fiction used as a teaching tool is the invitation to the reader/listener to enter the story at a level they are comfortable with and ready for.
Tribe Warrior
By Caspar Walsh
“‘Til we draw our last breath, ’til our bodies are cold in the ground…we stick together, brothers, warriors, hunters, friends for life.”
— Tribe Warrior by Caspar Walsh
Myth, Poetry and Landscape
Working with a combination of myth and poetry in relationship to our inner lives and outer landscape, we explore key themes of human life, archetypal imagery (Lover, Warrior, Magician/Sorceress, Sovereign) and themes relating to addiction and trauma recovery. Much of this poetry is created by the ‘Tribe’ of Rite to Freedom.