Recovery College: Moving Online

Since 2012 our Recovery Colleges have provided an inclusive learning, training and employment experience for people in recovery from homelessness. It’s based on the principle that learning and paid work can be a transformative experience. When lockdown began, we decided to take Recovery College online to ensure people still had the chance to learn.

Our online tutors run a range of courses from digital skills, to numeracy and literacy classes, to meditation and yoga. People can take part online or by phone if they don’t have access to the internet.

Remote Recovery College is a project unlike any we have done before. A few months after it launched, we were running 20 different courses every week, and the number of people taking part continues to grow.

Gennoria Miles has been taking part in sessions at our Recovery College for years. During lockdown, she tried her hand at a few new online courses. Lockdown has given her the chance to reflect on her own life as well as the situation in the wider world. She shares her thoughts, and a poem she wrote called ‘Peace’.

“It’s kept me occupied and kept me interacting with people. I’ve been doing meditation, I hadn’t done that before lockdown. Afterwards you can feel the benefits of it, you feel calmer. The online sessions have made lockdown enjoyable.” Charles

“Life as we know it has changed due to Covid-19. I can’t quite believe what has happened in the world around me in such a short space of time.

The changes to our lifestyle during lockdown and beyond are tough. Not being able to see friends and family, or go to church, or enjoy the freedoms we once had. At the same time, there have been some positives for me.

I’ve been trying to stay connected with people, calling friends and family members each day, and I’ve had the chance to speak with friends I’d previously lost touch with. I’ve also been learning to embrace technology – albeit slowly and reluctantly – by doing courses on creative writing and mindfulness at the Remote Recovery College.

In the quietness of lockdown, I am learning how to take better care of myself. I can relax and enjoy my own company, take each day as it comes. I am learning to like myself more as I get to know who I really am. Time is a great healer, and I believe that humanity will find a way to come out of this stronger.”

Peace by Gennoria Miles

I believe in peace. Peace dwells within my heart. It is a choice I make every moment of my life. Peace comes from an acceptance of what is, and begins with feeling a peace with myself, accepting the good as well as the bad.

When I remember that the core of my being, desires to be at peace with my brothers and sisters and engenders me to be as kind as possible in every moment.

I believe every act of kindness will be like a drop of water, returning to become one ocean of peace. When many people all have the same aim to live peaceably, it will be like a pebble dropped in the ocean, the ripple effect.

Affecting the entire sea in ever-concentric circles. I believe we are all one and what you do affects the whole for good or ill.

The focus and discussion of peace has helped me to understand The importance of my life and the decisions I make, I am powerful, I can make a difference every day by choosing peace.

Interested in the range of opportunities available at Recovery College? Find out more here.

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