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Welcome to Recovery Destiny!

Your bi-monthly RC check-in for July 2021

For regular readers, you may notice this newsletter has had a change of name.
There has been so much happening recently that this email is bursting with news.
Read on for camp updates, new programs, free online social connection and more!

Did you miss our virtual PJ Party? Each week we are hosting a completely free (and usually completely silly) community catch up. Next Tuesday 3 August at 11am we will be getting together for a few friendly rounds of games via Zoom. Check Facebook for our latest virtual catch-up events, all welcome!

Announcements:

Camp Updates

Due to the COVID-19 situation, sadly, July camp was unable to go ahead. We understand yet another cancellation is disappointing and we assure everyone in the community that as soon as it is safe and legal to continue camps, we will be doing so with policies and procedures in place to minimise risk.

At this point, we are still continuing to plan and proceed with camps for the rest of this year, including camp in Victoria. We will reassess and communicate with attendees as the events approach. We have set most dates for camps next year which are below in this email. In 2022, we are hoping to run more camps than EVER before including camps in QLD, Wagga Wagga and two in VIC!

While face-to-face events are not being conducted for the next month, please read on for new programs and opportunities to connect and learn!

New Programs!

If you are interested in attending any programs, please contact Zoe on 0439 043 360 or zoe@recoverycamp.com.au. We are still working and would love to speak to you about getting involved.

Recovery Clubhouse: for three weeks, to support social connection while in lockdown as day programs are closed, RC will host 2 x one-hour virtual clubhouse sessions a week. More structured and regular than our coffee catch-ups but similar in the aim of fun, therapeutic recreation and social connection with a focus on innovative community participation. Think fun, games, play, fantasy and friends all from the comfort of your own home. Starting August 24, this program is charged through the NDIS.

Cooking with Michael: kicking off this September, Recovery Camp collaborates with an Expert by Living Experience to plan and deliver a program to peers. Together, Michael with a background as a professional cook and Katie, a qualified dietician, have developed a program of cooking tutorials to be delivered at WEA Illawarra. Over 3x weekly sessions, starting Tuesday 21 September. This program is charged through the NDIS.

Being Self Determined: we are continuing to offer our 5 star participant rated online course teaching skills for mental health wellbeing. This 4-week program is delivered by registered nurses and academics at UOW, attendees will learn about developing autonomy and choice, empowering you to set and achieve recovery goals. This program is charged through the NDIS.

Recovery Camp continues to offer weekly free video social events (more information on the RC Facebook page) and the closed Facebook group for Experts by Lived Experience to connect peer-to-peer RC Support and Connection Space.

2021 CAMP DATES:

September 20 - 24 (Anglesea, VIC)
October 11 – 15 (Richmond, NSW)
December 6 – 10 (Richmond, NSW)

2022 CAMP DATES:

January 17– 21 (Richmond, NSW)
January 24 – 27 (Warrawee, QLD)
April 18 - 22 (Wagga Wagga, NSW)
May 16 - 20 (Richmond, NSW)
July 25 - 29 (Richmond, NSW)
September (dates TBC, VIC)
October 3 - 7 (Richmond, NSW)
November (dates TBC, VIC)
December 5 - 9 (Richmond, NSW)

Let's connect!

RC Family in Focus: Crissy

Q. What is your favourite activity at camp?
A. Giant swing and the flying fox definitely. I also must put looking at nature and the river, it's absolutely gorgeous.

Q. When you're not at camp, what do you like to do?
A. My crafts. my painting, my ceramics, the Makerspace program, my woodwork. And most of all getting out there and meeting new faces.

Q. What is your biggest achievement at RC?
A. The first camp, coming out of my comfort zone and meeting new faces, I was really scared before coming to my first camp. I didn't know if I would be accepted. It was the first camp I had ever been on. I was quite scared and it was daunting, didn't know if I was going to be safe. You guys kept saying I was safe but I had to feel that myself. and it was fun and I want to do more!

Q. What have you learned about yourself at RC?
A. Definitely it's made me come out of my comfort zone, I can relate to a lot more people and my mental illness, I've learned boundaries and safety. It's made me open my eyes to the difference in how people are struggling, I'd like to put my arms around some of the people I've met. Seeing some in their first stages of recovery to reach out and say "I know how you're feeling, stay strong, you'll come through this". When you're struggling through trauma or mental illness, you think you're the only one, you've got this blind side that you are the only one in the dark hole. Recovery Camp knows that and is the hand reaching into the dark hole and helping to pull you back out. Pretty remarkable actually. If you're not ready to be reached out to then they will just sit with you to make sure you're feeling ok. It's an amazing feeling.

Q. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
A. Carob chocolate.

Thank you Crissy for your words and being such a wonderful part of the RC family!

Learning from Lived Experience:
Impact

Experiences of living with mental ill-health are transformed into meaningful education moments for students which empower consumers, boost self-confidence, assist recovery and inspire resilience.

“I really wasn’t sure what to expect from camp but when I arrived I found straight away that it was a very supportive and welcoming community. I also found that because the consumers were very comfortable and made to feel safe they opened up to the students very quickly. I was amazed by how open so many of them were to share their lived experience of mental health. And because of this, I learnt more in 5 days with this community than I had in a whole semester of theory. I was also astonished by the changes in consumers that I witnessed over the first couple of days, most of them grew in confidence and found a voice that we hadn’t seen earlier.

On a personal level, I also found that I was extremely well supported by the facilitators. Within my group, our facilitator often found time to sit and explain what we were seeing in consumers, or why they were feeling the way they were. Kate also took the time to offer suggestions of the best way to communicate with different consumers based on their lives experience.

I highly recommend Recovery Camp to anyone who has the opportunity to attend. It was a wonderful community to be welcomed into and an unmatched learning experience for any nursing student. Thank you Recovery Camp!”

- Lara, Student Nurse- 2021

Upcoming Event:

To celebrate October being Mental Health Month, we invite you to join us for this first-ever special event!

Our aim for the event is to celebrate, connect with the community and have some fun so we have invited Greg the Bush Band Man, (that many of you know and love from camp), to come down from the mountains and throw us a party right here in Wollongong! It just so happens this fateful night is Halloween so come and join us on the dance floor and show us your scariest moves!

This event is open to ALL and entry will be via a gold coin donation. More information and an RSVP link coming soon but save the date. All welcome!

If you are struggling, please follow this link to reach out for Mental health services and support.

If you are currently experiencing a mental health crisis, please reach out on the numbers below.

Beyond Blue
1300 22 46 36
Lifeline
131 114
Mental Health Line
1800 011 511
Suicide Call Back Service
1300 659 467

For correct news and advice about COVID-19 please only use trusted sources like the NSW Government Health website.

"You are worthy of love, happiness, support and a good life."
- Amy, RC staff member 2020

If you have any feedback about this newsletter or want to suggest some content for us to consider email zoe@recoverycamp.com.au.

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Recovery Camp · University of Wollongong · University of Wollongong, Nsw 2522 · Australia