Spring 2024 Newsletter

Ah, the spring!! The days are really getting longer, there's beautiful blossom everywhere, now we just need a bit more sunshine...

We have updates on our membership scheme, and news of upcoming events including our next Dartmoor New Tribes residential in April.

Caspar, Ali and Jo x

Join Our Membership Scheme


Joining us as a member predominantly offers Rite to Freedom really valuable ongoing support in the work we do day to day helping people at any stage of the addiction recovery process. This is part of us building increasing sustainability to the support that we offer to our wider community.

The range of other special benefits includes - 

🌿 Access to our growing library of monthly Recovery Conversations podcasts, with an array of really interesting guests. Our next few months include conversations with Dartmoor artist and printmaker Gavin Blench, novelist and playwright Courttia Newland and shamanic healer and maker of sacred objects Suzi Crockford. 

Click here to see previous Recovery Conversation trailers with recent guests Chris Chapman, Malaika Kegode and Sandhya Dave.

🌿 Monthly special offers that often include receiving a little lovely something in the post!

🌿 Access to our library of insightful dialogues from our Multi Addiction Recovery Meetings.

We have three different levels of monthly payments - at £4 / £7 / £11. All the benefits of becoming a member remain the same.

Our seasonal 'bundle' allows you to access some of the member benefits without committing to a monthly payment and also makes a great gift. Our bundles change with each season, costing £23 each time, giving you the chance to access different content every three months.

Click here to join us as a member now!

Trailer for our March Recovery Conversation with Devon artist and sometimes staff member on our residentials, Gavin Blench.

Caspar's welcome message to our membership scheme x

Dartmoor New Tribe Residential, April 26-28th

Our flagship 'New Tribe' addiction recovery residential with two nights and three days in the beautiful wilds of Dartmoor National Park is a weekend journey into how creativity, nature connection, and mindfulness can support a vibrant and life-long recovery from addiction.

This is a self funded residential, aimed predominantly at the Devon recovery community but all welcome, and based at the beautiful High Heathercombecentre.

Each place costs £650.

This residential has no external funding. For those in need, we can support you to apply for small bursaries from local organizations.  

Apply now.

Bloom Festival, May 12th, Exeter Phoenix

We are really delighted and looking forward to be taking part in this year's Bloom Festival at Exeter Phoenix that takes place alongside Mental Health Awareness week.  We will be sharing some of our short films, hosting a cabaret, taking part in a panel discussion and hopefully there with a stall. Come find us to say hello! More details will follow through our website and via Exeter Phoenix.

Community Connection Days

In December we received a small grant from the Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner through Devon Community Foundation to support our community of volunteers and staff with a series of 'Community Connection' days and one to one mentoring, designed to offer support, connection, growth and deepening.

Our first two days have been full of heartfelt connection and a chance to be together on our beloved Dartmoor. In March we will be running a 3 day weekend, giving a greater opportunity to deepen into the time together.

Photo credits - Ali C and Dave G

Rite to Freedom Merchandise

The range of beautiful archetypes merchandise in our online shop includes T-shirts, greetings cards, posters and books.

All purchases in our shop support long term addiction recovery through the work of Rite to Freedom, with all sales going towards the running of the charity and the day to day work that we do supporting people at any stage of recovery.

We hope you enjoy these magical illustrations and insightful poetry and that they support you in your journey as much as they have us in ours.  

Take a look now.

Spring is the time of the Lover Creator archetype. The Lover at its heart is about connection, creativity, imagination, play and new beginnings.

"Through the seasons
with a cautious, unfolding love
you weaved a new world for yourself
and the decades and days slowly lifted into life."

- Caspar Walsh, 'You Waited'

Winter 2023 Newsletter

Here we are in December and the darkest days approaching the winter solstice. Hope this reaches you and you're well wrapped up and with chances to be out in some of the magic that nature offers us this winter.

Our biggest news is that we are launching our new membership scheme! This has been a process of heart and mind and background graft for us for some time. We're so delighted that it has come to fruition so that we can share this with you and invite you to support us in keeping the work that we do as sustainable and long term as we possibly can.

Three payment levels, all with the same benefits, mean that those on different incomes are still able to support us and access what is on offer. We also have one-off 'bundles' where you can get some of the member benefits without a monthly commitment. See below for full details of our membership and the lovely benefits you will receive once you've signed up.

More news below on recent events including our Cornwall launch exhibition in September recorded with a blog post and a lovely film plus photos from our first Cornwall New Tribes residential that has just happened.

Do have a look also at our online shop, especially as you do your Christmas shopping, with its array of lovely archetype products, including T-shirts, cards, books and posters that all make great gifts.

Caspar, Ali and Jo x

Caspar's welcome message for our new Membership Community.

Launching our New Membership Scheme (woohoo!!)

This has been in process for quite some time as we have dreamed and visioned and discussed and grafted and planned and recorded and now we're ready to launch!!

Joining our membership community will offer Rite to Freedom valuable ongoing investment in the addiction recovery work that we do. This will help our charity and the support that we offer to our wider community become increasingly sustainable.

The range of other special benefits includes - 

🌿 Access to our growing library of monthly Recovery Conversations podcasts, with experts in the three areas that we use as pillars for our addiction recovery work - nature connection, meditation and creativity. Our first few months include conversations with legendary mythologist and storyteller Michael Meade, award-winning rising star of stage and page Malaika Kegode, renowned Dartmoor photographer Chris Chapman and storyteller and lecturer in cultural diversity Sandhya Dave.

🌿 Monthly special offers on our range of merchandise and other creative offerings.

🌿 Access to our library of insightful dialogues and reflections from our Multi Addiction Recovery Meetings.

We have included three different levels of monthly payments - at £4 / £7 / £11. This allows those on different incomes to offer their support to the work that we do in an affordable way.

All the benefits of becoming a member remain the same regardless of what level of support you are able to offer.

We also have a 'bundle' package available which allows you to access some of the member benefits without committing to a monthly payment. This makes a great gift for a loved one. Our bundles change seasonally, costing £23 each time, giving you the chance to access different content every three months if you prefer this route.

Click here to join us as a member now!

Addiction Recovery Cornwall - Community Exhibition

A beautiful film record of our week's Addiction Recovery Cornwall exhibition at the Poly, Falmouth in September 2023.

Have a read of Caspar's moving blog post about this exhibition in Cornwall and his personal journey towards it.

“...48 years later I’m in this beautiful old room, exhausted, excited. We're setting up. This is our space for the next week at The Poly in Falmouth in Cornwall, curating our first exhibition of our community's work,  celebrating the 8 participants from our 2023 Creative Pathways programme.

I’ve held a hidden dream to do this for longer than I realised. 

Pulling together and exhibiting this inspiring, heartfelt work. Our collective healing journeys expressed through film, words, photography, illustration, music, collage and natural materials.” - excerpt from Caspar's blog post about the exhibition.

Some photos from our first New Tribe residential on the wild Cornish coastline in mid November. Photo credits - Ali Chapman and Caspar Walsh.

Rite to Freedom Merchandise

Our online shop has a range of beautiful archetypes merchandise, all directly supporting the work of the charity. All our products make lovely gifts - please do have a look as you do your Christmas shopping!

“Part alchemical map, part poetry, this slim, crystalline volume etches wisdom into the reader, offering hope, encouragement and compassion to anyone navigating the treacherous seas of self-actualisation. Caspar’s poetry beautifully embellishes and enhances this exquisite rendering of the Map of Archetypes with his own hard won, well-wrought wisdom.” 
~ Freddy Weaver. Addiction Psychologist and Eco Therapist.

The latest addition to our shop is our beautiful archetypes book printed in a larger size (A4). This makes a lovely gift, and chance to see the beautiful images and words in bigger detail.

All purchases on our shop support long term addiction recovery through Rite to Freedom, with all sales going towards the running costs of the charity. We hope you enjoy these magical illustrations and insightful poetry and that they support you in your journey as much as they have us in ours.  Take a look now.

Winter is the time of the Sovereign Overseer archetype. The Sovereign invites us to reflect and turn inwards through the darkest months to help create a healthy vision for our future.

 
 

From the Ashes

From the Ashes

by Caspar Walsh

When I was 8 years old I had to start wearing glasses. I'd been edging nearer and nearer to the blackboard. Keen to learn but less and less able to make out the ever blurring chalk letters, the teachers had noticed. The glasses were ordered. I was horrified and teased . 

Rather than wear these NHS specs in class, I bunked off school. 

Rather than aimlessly wander the streets of London, I headed for Exhibition Road in South Ken. For two weeks I immersed myself in the story of the earth in the Natural History Museum, the mechanics of the universe at the Science Museum and the incredible art created throughout the world at the V&A. This was back in the day when a kid with long hair wandering around on his own during term time wasn't much noticed. I've visited exhibition spaces around the world ever since. 

48 years later I’m in this beautiful old room, exhausted, excited. We're setting up. This is our space for the next week at The Poly in Falmouth in Cornwall, curating our first exhibition of our community's work,  celebrating the 8 participants from our 2023 Creative Pathways programme.

I’ve held a hidden dream to do this for longer than I realised. 

Pulling together and exhibiting this inspiring, heartfelt work. Our collective healing journeys expressed through film, words, photography, illustration, music, collage and natural materials. 

There is a belief that art and creativity is for the rare, talented few; the famous filmmakers, musicians and artists. What we created for this exhibition may not be by those who've spent a lifetime practicing and producing their craft but it has no less power. Ours is a beauty and connection born from exploring complex lives through a particular lense. Lives many of us never thought we'd live to see. The honesty and tenderness lights up the space as good as any exhibition I've visited over the last 5 decades.

Our show in Falmouth, launching our recovery community in Cornwall, is about drawing in the curious and starting a conversation with the local community about the impacts of addiction and how we can rise from ashes to visibility to freedom. And we celebrate that with such amazing courage, creativity and love.

Workshop with the Newquay Lighthouse Project

Steve Clucas, aka Clucatronics

My New Tribe Residential

My New Tribe Residential

Photo - Caspar Walsh

Photo - Caspar Walsh

from Jamie (with photos from our July Residential)

As I travelled to the Dartmoor region where High Heathercombe and the retreat was located, I promised myself to do my best in taking off my armour. I have been someone that has struggled to feel part of, excluding myself just as the fun started, or sticking around and bursting into inconsolable moods and tears. In short, I have learnt to put armour on so that no one else could see how hurt, vulnerable and confused I have been. I have been consciously working on that since going to a rehab in South Africa a while back. It's meant a lot of beauty coming into my life. I have also had to start to learn some discernment as to who and where I hand that innocent raw trust to. Rite to Freedom came highly recommended by two loving friends. I also had the pleasure of enjoying their cabaret show which left a lovely mark... the other nugget of an impression I had was a fun, wonderful and encouraging chat over the phone with one of the coordinators. So I had some sense of hope in my heart that this was a place of people and energy that I was safe to open my heart and allow for myself. As I arrived I felt the kind of safety and reassurance that invited me to take off that clunky armour and let myself relax into being seen, held, celebrated and loved into magic. The rituals and movements of Rite to Freedom are in a space that feels down to earth, organic and real. None of it felt silly or inauthentic, never the less some of it brought me to what the retreat volunteers helped to define as an “edge”, where not every evolution can be expected to be comfortable. The setting was in itself “kushty”, little nooks to curl up like a cat and let some of the magic of the experience wash over, only requiring my presence and silence. The food was nourishing and fun, the weather was wet for most of my stay and that was amazing too! I experienced great connection with others, some of those are now subtle lovely memories, some are alive and active today. I am so grateful for my experience and my continued connection with Rite to Freedom, I hope it shows!

Om namo bhagavate...go well and kindest regards.

~ Jamie, participant April 2023

March 2023 New Tribe Residential

March New Tribe Residential

from Ali and Jo I

Photo - Caspar Walsh

Photo - Ali Chapman

Photo - Caspar Walsh

There is always a real sense of excitement and joy with the first residential of the year, as the staff team drifted in on the Thursday our energy was definitely spring. A sense of gentle energy rising – matching all the beautiful new growth emerging after winter at Heathercombe and on the open moor.

Dartmoor certainly reminded us that spring is a time of change and to expect anything in terms of the weather; we had gales, rain, rainbows and gentle nourishing sun on our last day together.

We were trialling working with a smaller staff team, keen to see if we would encounter the same positive experience that we did in Ireland. Altogether the staff number was seven, the benefit of having a really tight and efficient kitchen team allowed the facilitation team to focus on the delivery. The positive impact of staff training events last year and having experienced volunteers to support facilitation was palpable. I felt such pride observing everyone stepping up and into their roles – joyous.

Reflecting on the weather, there were so many hilarious moments battling with the wind and rain – me trying to do a nature connection breathing exercise with the wind howling so strong no one could hear was just one of many. Our wonderful participants embraced it all and really enjoyed the wild, raw power of Dartmoor weather, Caspar beautifully bringing the elements in to the storytelling making it personal and alive.

Staff and participants alike shone brightly, the new smaller team worked beautifully and efficiently giving us our answer – it works! With staff training events planned for the coming year and more residentials to come there are many opportunities to learn, grow and get involved.

~ Ali

Photo - Ali Chapman

Photo - Ali Chapman

I first started my recovery journey with Rite to Freedom in 2018, when I went on the residential as a participant, and what a journey this has turned out to be.

Being part of Rite to Freedom has opened my mind, body and soul to a whole new meaning. I have learnt so much about myself and continue to learn with every adventure I take part in.

I have been fortunate enough to have staffed three residentials, this for me is part of my recovery. I call this a top up, being able to be part of and share the experience of our new tribe on their residentials, witnessing the participants experience is truly amazing.
 
It is hard to pick just one highlight from this last residential so I have a few I am going to share. First the crazy weather - you just can’t predict the weather on Dartmoor. As we walked up to ground ourselves with the Moors and our beautiful surroundings the wind and rain was wild, Ali trying to talk us through a breathing technique and not being able to talk due to the wind and rain no one could hear what Ali was trying to say and we all just ended up laughing and walking back down. The walk we did across the Moors chatting to the participants and seeing the rainbow. The last day just blows me away every time - such a powerful experience talking with only your eyes. Just wow.
 
The staffing team was great from start to finish, being a part of a smaller staffing team really worked, I felt held and so relaxed. The team really did pull together.

So much love and gratitude.

~ Jo I

Photo - Caspar Walsh

Finding Freedom

Finding Freedom

By Virginia Compton, R2F Trustee

For almost 20 years I lived with a partner who was addicted to various substances. I am sharing this now because I have only just, five years after his death, felt able to publicly speak about this experience. I have no doubt that this totally shapes who I now am. I am also sharing this because this year I have become involved with the Rite to Freedom charity as a trustee. I would like to share and explain the experience that so many who have family members, friends and partners with addiction issues, live through every single moment of every single day, as well as offering some hope with Rite to Freedom, who are offering support that can help.

Because addiction is such a taboo topic in our society this experience often goes unspoken about. By its very nature addiction brings deceit, crime and conflict. The shame, secrecy and fear that comes alongside loving someone with addiction is isolating, destructive and all consuming for family members, friends and partners.

Addiction of a loved one touches every single part of our lives. From the second we wake up in the morning, all day, every time the phone rings or the door goes, in the street, at work, and all night in our dreams and wakeful restless moments. There is no break, there is no respite, there are no answers. Physically, psychologically and emotionally we become exhausted, depleted, and yet we still continue. Why do we continue? Because we love this person, and this is not to be underestimated. We can see the real person, we know the person beyond their addiction, and this is what keeps us engaged, keeps us wanting and needing to help, to support, to be there for them always. This is how it works in reality. This is what is not understood by so many in society.

Support services will talk to us about ‘boundaries’ and ‘stopping enabling’. Well, I say easier said than done. Having been a worker in those services as well as a partner of someone addicted, I can say from experience that although yes it may make rational sense to say no, it is not always easy, in terms of dealing with the person, the wider community and yourself emotionally. There is massive judgement. They and we are judged by society, our peers, by the community. As I said addiction is a taboo topic, and so when the ‘secret’ gets out it isn’t always well received. This in itself is difficult to bear, and this prevents people from seeking much needed support.

Take some time out for yourself they say, self-love and self-care. You may if you’re lucky get an opportunity to go through the motions, but the shadow of the addiction is always there in the background, showing up as an anxiety in the belly or persistent tension in the body. Just as the addiction is always with them, so it is always with you. I remember a spa day I went on, a gift from friends. I was anxious all day about what was happening at home and when I left and switched my phone on at the end of the day, I had the almost inevitable message that my partner had left the house unexpectedly and gone missing. This is one of countless times that this kind of thing happened. This is why we feel we can’t switch off, let go, even for a moment. Because of the fear, the gnawing anxiety that we will lose them, although we have to a large extent already lost ourselves.

There are no easy or clear answers to the whole relationship with those we love and ourselves when addiction is part of the picture. Boundaries don’t work for everyone. The support offered doesn’t always fit our needs. Lots of previous face to face services are now replaced with online meetings or automated chat lines. I know for sure that when, over 20 years ago, I was able to make a human connection for support. This is what made a difference to me. It did not change the outcome for my partner, but it did allow me to be heard, valued and not judged, to perhaps consider myself in the wider picture. That service is also sadly now all online.

As I said at the beginning, because of the shame, secrecy and fear that comes alongside loving someone with addiction we often feel unable to even consider accessing support, because we do not feel we can speak out. We may also feel that we don’t need any support. Often all of the focus is upon the addicted person, they are the priority and we are left to continue as though nothing out of the ordinary is going on. The power of emotional support within this situation is not to be underestimated. Rite to Freedom now offers friends and family support.

Having accessed and experienced various types of support over the years I would say that in my experience this is the most held, safe and understood I have ever felt. The Rite to Freedom approach is unique and gentle, yet incredibly powerful. It is non dictating, non judgmental, it is loving and accepting. There are online meetings, there are also face to face daytime sessions in Devon.

I have been a part of Rite to Freedom Family and Friends support group at online and face to face gatherings and have personally found them immensely powerful. There is no expectation to share your own personal circumstances if you don’t feel up to this, the group approach is very informal and relaxed. You are welcome without sharing to sit and listen to others. It is then that you will feel that you are not alone with this. Just knowing this, being aware of your common ground with others, can change how you feel inside.

As well as the more face to face part of the experience there is time spent in nature, alone and with others, which allows the healing power of the land to somehow hold whatever it is you need. This is a cornerstone of the Rite to Freedom approach. This being in nature and with the land has been something that has been used for centuries to soothe the tired spirit, to heal and nurture. This nature connection approach fully gifts us what we need. Inclusion, belonging, community and a sense of coming home to yourself. We begin to remember who we are, beyond all of the madness, sadness and badness. Together we grow stronger and more resilient, we laugh and cry share and support. Together we begin to walk forwards, we find some kind of hope within and for ourselves. It’s hard to fully explain what happens exactly as a result of this gentle and subtle yet strong process, it really is best to experience it yourself.

Please if this is helpful for you check out Rite to Freedom and everything they are offering.

More information about our Family and Friends programme >>

Autumn 2022 Newsletter

Happy November to you!

Here's our latest newsletter with updates on our recent events, news of what we have coming up next, and we are so excited to share our new Archetypes Mini-Book available in our online shop, alongside our other lovely merchandise.

Have a read below about our Recovery Cabaret live in Exeter on November 29th and two events in our Family and Friends Support Programme before the end of the year.

We will all be off on a well needed winter break and away from emails from Friday December 17th until Tuesday January 3rd. 

New Archetypes Book and other things to buy in our shop!

Have a look at our online shop full of our lovely archetypes merchandise.

We have the really exciting brand new addition, being printed as we speak, of our new mini book 'Creative Pathways - a journey through the archetypes'. 

This is a beautiful introduction to the four archetypes; the Lover Creator, the Warrior Protector, the Magician Healer and the Sovereign Overseer as an internal compass for navigating the individual and collective recovery journey. With inspirational poetry by Caspar Walsh, and stunning original images by Philip Harris.

This book is designed for anyone interested in the archetypes and how they relate to their own personal journey, with no specific focus on addiction recovery. It has been put together as an accessible and universal read, easy to relate to and great for presents - it fits easily in an envelope. You can order online to be sent direct to anyone of your choice or purchase at any of our in-person events.

We are offering this book with two different cover options and at a range of prices, £6 - £10. The higher the price you select the more that will support the work that we do.

All purchases on our shop support long term addiction recovery through Rite to Freedom, with all sales going towards the running costs of the charity. We hope you enjoy these magical illustrations and insightful poetry and that they support you in your journey as much as they have us in ours. 

We have also recently added all of Caspar Walsh's books to our online shop with a range of fiction and non fiction.

Do take a look as Christmas approaches with lots of other lovely present ideas on here.

The Recovery Cabaret!

We warmly invite you to join us in celebrating and amplifying the voices of the addiction recovery community in Devon at its first performance of original work: The Recovery Cabaret! November 29th, 7.30pm live at the Exeter Phoenix.

The Recovery Cabaret is an evening of refreshingly celebratory live work, devised by participants on our Creative Pathways programme led by South West artist, Charice Bhardwaj. Creative Pathways works with and through the devising process as well as incorporating the four archetypes; the Lover Creator, the Warrior Protector, the Magician Healer and the Sovereign Overseer as an internal compass for navigating the individual and collective recovery journey.

Weaving comedy, spoken word, performance, music and film into experience and raucous honesty, The Recovery Cabaret takes a bold look at the light and dark of life in recovery.

Buy your tickets here >>

Family and Friends Support Programme

Our new support programme for family and friends of those in active addiction or addiction recovery is offering another two dates before the end of the year. 

The impacts of addiction are far reaching. Our families and friends are usually the first to feel these impacts, often supporting us to navigate this crooked path into freedom and healing. The energy, time and love our friends and family put in to help us in our recovery journeys is immeasurable alongside others who are still supporting those in active addiction. 

Creating a programme to support family members and friends has been in development for some years now. They too need a place to gather, share stories and connect to other like-minded souls; a sanctuary to resource themselves and find new inspiration and meaning inside an often confusing, painful journey.

A free online call on Wednesday, November 30th, 4-5pm introducing this support programme. Book here >>

An in person day on Thursday, December 15th, 1-6pm in Chagford.
Book here >>

Click here for more details.

Facilitation Training, from Caspar

Creating space and time for our community to practice their skills as facilitators and deepen their own healing process has, for some years, felt like a luxury we couldn’t afford. Deepening experience and training is something essential to our community's growth and stability. There never seemed to be the time or money to make it happen. I suspect there was also something of my control freakery in the mix holding it back. A kinder way to look at it would be my fear and care in putting our volunteer facilitators in situations they weren’t prepared for. And so it follows, potentially impacting new participants negatively. This hasn’t happened on any of our New Tribes residentials in our 14+ years of delivery. And it didn’t happen on our first facilitator training residential.
 
My own training as a facilitator was initially around working with my own gender. After ten years working exclusively with men, I knew my work, my growth and my gifts, would grow and deepen if I stepped into working mixed gender. This has been a welcome, learning, healing edge.
 
The first Rite to Freedom facilitator training weekend was more than I hoped for. It did indeed take me to these learning and healing edges. I was humbled by the willingness of our trainee facilitators to look compassionately at their shadows, dark and light, in pursuit of their own healing. And from this base line, this place of even greater stability, to begin building confidence and skills in helping others with similar backgrounds in addiction and trauma recovery.
 
If I’m not growing and learning I quickly lose interest. I need to feel these many and varied edges and I need to know where my overwhelm lies. The more training and support our trainee facilitators receive, the more personal growth and healing we receive and the stronger our community becomes. This requires trust, a willingness to step back; to support and honour the work each member of the team is involved in. And inside all of that, I let go more and more. And when I allow it, ease into the knowledge that I do enough, have enough, am enough. That’s the essence of what I want to pass on to the next generation of recovery facilitators: we each have something special to bring, we are welcome and we are enough.

Our First Ireland New Tribes Residential, from Ali

With a fizz in my belly of nerves and excitement I set off with Caspar for my first visit to Ireland. Having done the assessment calls with participants I had the knowledge that a warm and engaging group of people were coming to join us at the Boghill Retreat Centre.
 
There was a lot to navigate and think about – a new country, new site, new processes, much smaller staff team. All of these factors adding to the fizz and curiosity of how we would be received.
 
The staff met up as usual on the Thursday, for me it felt like a reunion – Phil was already in Ireland, Noel I hadn’t seen for four years since he did his retreat at Heathercombe and Miri who pulled out all the stops flying over from the UK having only just completed her New Tribes residential a couple of weeks before. As we gathered in our first circle I looked around and had such a sense of pride and gratitude, acknowledging the commitment there was in the room for us to put on a wonderful residential.
 
Highlights – so many but what stands out for me are those moments when you are privileged to witness a participant moving through something, putting their trust in you and the process.
 
Another highlight was definitely Caspar’s storytelling of Tribe Warrior, requests were made every night for a story last thing before we fell into silence. I glanced around the beautiful forest room space and there were all these bodies lying on mattresses, cuddled up in blankets in stillness ... just listening.
 
It was definitely worth all the time and energy it took to put it on – so proud of the team and what we achieved.

Have a read also of Caspar's recent blog about the journey to setting up our work in Ireland.

2023 Dates

We are working on our dates for 2023 and our next Dartmoor 'New Tribes'residential will run at the end of March, and our next Creative Pathways residential will run in mid May.

Applications for both of these will open in the new year. Please keep an eye out or drop us an email if you'd like to be alerted for applications.

Support

We have different ways that you can support the work that we do at Rite to Freedom. We rely on a variety of income streams and are working hard to diversify these to ensure the longevity and sustainability of our work. Every little bit helps enormously with what we do.

See our Donate page here where we have an easy new facility to make a monthly donation, for as little as £2 a month - the price of a cheap cup of coffee! 

 
 

Rite to Freedom in Ireland

Rite to Freedom goes to Ireland

I travelled to Ireland in 1998, living on the Dingle Peninsula for almost a year, looking for a new adventure; new life. The contrast from the streets of central London to the west coast of Co. Kerry couldn’t have been more dramatic and life changing. My recovery from drugs and alcohol had found solid ground. The mountains and ocean of the Dingle Peninsula gave me a new compass point and grounding to go deeper, beyond the chemical recovery I had established. The emotional impact the landscape had on me kickstarted the long journey into my addictions around sex, love, work and food. The land that surrounded me day and night, reshaped me. 

I created a regular cabaret night in Dingle’s oldest pub, Tigh Mac Cárthaigh. We told stories and played traditional music out the back of this fine old bar. The wind howled and the rain hammered down on the old corrugate iron roof pretty much every night.  

I took this creation back to England and turned it into a professional touring outfit. This in turn led to a number of commissions to write radio dramas for the BBC. That led to my first publishing deal and the publication of my memoir. This book became the springboard for Rite to Freedom.  

A few years back, two fellers from the west of Ireland came over to England to attend one of our residentials on Dartmoor. They were passionate about the work. They were keen to bring Rite to Freedom to Ireland. After the restrictions of the pandemic were lifted, we headed over to deliver our first event in Co. Mayo. A beautiful gathering on a cold February day. I was touched that so many of our Irish sisters and brothers turned up. I’d been holding a quiet vision for over twenty years to bring something back to the land of my ancestors, a country that had given me so much support in my recovery. 

The energy began to flow. A private donor gave us some seed funding. We began to look for a site to hold the residentials. We employed someone on the ground to get the word out.  

And now, at last we’re about to begin our first retreat at The Boghill Centre, Co. Clare, our ‘New Tribes’ residential for those in established addiction recovery.

This feels like an auspicious start to what we hope will be a long-term unfolding of our work in Ireland. We’ll follow the same model of inviting and training previous participants to become future staff and facilitators. The feedback we’re getting is that this is wanted and needed. Coming back to Ireland to offer this gift after all these years on the road, learning and healing, is a real privilege; something I’ve been waiting and wanting to do since that beautiful season of storytelling and music in Tigh Mac Cárthaigh in Dingle.  

~ Caspar Walsh

‘New Tribes’ Residential - October 21-23 - https://ritetofreedom.org.uk/newtribe-retreats

Photos by Colm Mahon