In the last few months, New Central Media has featured at the United Nations, and become part of a discussion within parliament committees on how to best engage with people within the criminal justice system. It goes without saying, the first two books in the Recovery Capital Pathways series are already making a big impact.
And this was certainly the case, at Teesside University, this month.
Before several invited presenters took to the stage, Dot presented on the partnership between New Central Media, created by Dr David Patton, and Recovery Connections. She said the books present: “A real opportunity for people to tell their stories in their way and on their terms. It’s a courageous thing to do, to be really vulnerable to tell your story. You never know who might read that. So i think we absolutely want to see more of these books, and more opportunities and stories.”
Mark Adams, Director of Public Health for Middlesbrough and Redcar & Cleveland, was in agreement: “The things that move people and get to the heart are the stories. And these stories will affect people’s opinions, they’ll affect people’s view of the world, they’ll affect people’s attitudes. So not only are they important for the people that have written them, they’re important for the people that will read them as well. Because people’s attitudes will shift as a result of reading and thinking about the stories that are in those books.”
But, as was revealed during the afternoon, what really sets New Central Media publications apart, is how and why these stories of recovery were created. With Dr David Patton, and a team of editors on hand to develop the manuscripts, the books have been created in an academic setting. But they are far from the norm, when it comes to academic text.
And David summed this unique difference up with a simple question: “I don’t know about you, but when was the last time a statistic changed your life? And how do you think that number was derived. It was basically some academic, talking to people with lived experience, asking them about their experiences, and then translating your experiences into a numerical form, to come up with a figure that’s now hard evidence. So for me New Central Media is trying to offer this alternative table. And it’s saying your knowledge is valid, you are valid, and you are an authority.”
Of course, as part of the launch event, the writers – the authorities on the 27 stories entailed in the books – played a part. Jimmy Dean, who runs a recovery community in Rotherham, was one of the authors who reflected on the process of writing his chapter, in his voice: “The chapter just flowed because I’m a professional in what I’m talking about. This is my life, my lived experience, I am the professional. So when I wrote that book, that’s my opinion, that’s my story. And I swear by it, I’ll stand by it because it’s my experience. It’s basically just so everybody can see that you’re never too far gone. Nobody is.”
Recovery Connections Deputy CEO, Jennifer Bryson, contributed to the Women’s Recovery: Capital Pathways book, and added that the process of writing itself, was wonderfully therapeutic: “It was a phenomenal experience where i got to look at things from a perspective that I hadn’t looked at before. Where I got to review my life, and some of the questions just brought up things that I hadn’t thought about for a long time, or hadn’t probably ever considered. So the whole process was fascinating. And my key message to realise in the book, I feel like what I wanted to get across to people, is hope.”
And the hope for the books, of course, is to reach as many people as possible. By visiting the official New Central Media page, on this website, you can find links to copies of both collections of stories of recovery, available in eBook and Paperback format.
