When it comes to recovery from addiction, you can rest assured that you made the best decision of your life by quitting the substance you have been abusing. Some will feel motivated and determined to refrain from further drug use while others, who do not feel as supported, may think of turning back to their addictive lifestyle. A new recovery café in Cambridge has been created to allow recovering addicts to meet and share experiences in the hope that they will encourage each other to remain abstinent.

Valuable Member of Local Community

A social enterprise has just been launched in Cambridge in the form of a recovery café named ‘The Edge Café’. It allows recovering addicts to meet each other and speak about their personal experiences while feeling like a valuable member of the local community. The café also serves a selection of food and drink to the public while offering employment and volunteering work to those recovering from addiction. The café threw an opening party on 23rd January 2017, with many people in attendance.

Brilliant

The Edge Café is Cambridge’s very first recovery café and has followed in the footsteps of similar initiatives such as Liverpool’s ‘The Brink’. Recovery Coordinator at the café Andy Ahmad-Cook said, “The launch was really brilliant. About 60 people came to celebrate, including local police officers, and representatives from social services and homeless shelter Jimmy’s. There was lots of food, great speeches, and live music. Everyone really enjoyed it.”

The café has launched not only as a recovery café but as a commercial business that is open to the public also so that the project can be financially supported.

Supporting Others

Andy explained, “We have volunteers who are recovering from addiction working in the café, as well as full-time staff. The Edge is a place where people in recovery support others who are also recovering. Addiction is a very isolating thing. The café gives recovering addicts a way to come out of rehab and back into society. People can even just come here for a hug!”

The café has been designed with a conference room that can fit up to fifteen people; it can be rented by other businesses or members of the public to hold meetings in.

The café will also be offering wellbeing groups and workshops such as yoga, photography, ‘knit and natter’, upcycling and adult colouring. The food has proved to be popular in the short time the café has been open; it serves a variety of food and drinks ranging from homemade soup to a full English breakfast. However, according to Andy, the vegan breakfast is becoming the most frequently ordered item on the menu.

Very Excited

A spokesperson for the local county council, Susie Talbot, said, “We’re very excited about ‘The Edge Café’ – it places recovery within the heart of the community and is run for service users by service users. We want the general public to use the café, to enjoy the range of great food and drinks on offer and to help support the project. We have been very fortunate in this project to meet so many kind and generous individuals, members of the local community have given their time and donated equipment to help make this happen.”

Overcoming Addiction

Trying to overcome an addiction can be challenging at the best of times, but with the right amount of support, it is entirely possible to achieve. Here at Recovery Lighthouse, our priority is to ensure that any individual who enters our clinic with the intention of beating his/her addiction can do just that. Our clinic has been designed to provide maximum comfort for our guests, and we want to make sure that all that enter our doors feel at home. If you have any queries at all, get in touch with us, and we will help you in every way that we can.

Source:

  1. New recovery café to support addicts is officially open for business (Cambridge news)