Music / Bristol Drugs Project
Celebrating a decade of recovery through music
Music is a passion for many, and a pleasure for more; but for some it really does make all the difference in the world.
Members of a local collective of orchestral ensembles, choirs and dance groups have come to see music as a force of life-changing energy, support and joy.
Under the Creative Communities umbrella, the Bristol Drugs Project has run weekly creative arts sessions for people with lived experience of drug and alcohol use for the last decade.
is needed now More than ever
They’re celebrating this milestone with an anniversary Gala at Circomedia that will be a dynamic musical showcase set to break down stigma and demonstrate the power of creative recovery.
“The group saved me…from a life of misery and oblivion through addiction and gave me back the language of love – which is music,” is just one member’s testimony of many that demonstrate music’s ability to restore not only health but a sense of self-worth and enjoyment of life.
Others have described the creative groups as “the cornerstone of my recovery,” “at the forefront of creating my post-addiction identity,” “such a boost to my wellbeing,” and “a target and a challenge,” with the sessions reportedly encouraging – among other things – trust, self-discipline, mindfulness, sociability, self-confidence and fun.
The audience at the Circomedia Gala can look forward to ‘spine-tingling a capella singing, orchestral arrangements of familiar epic songs and a show-stopping finale featuring spoken word and movement.’
The 100 or so performers will represent a wide range of arts groups including the Rising Voices choir, Bristol Recovery Orchestra, Oi Polloi community theatre group and Changing Tunes, a group supporting crime-free lives.
Members of the Hip Hop Garden, a project combining nature access and spoken word creativity, the Recovery in Motion dancers and Bristol Sober Spaces, the group for those that wish to ‘experience the joy of live events, sober’, will also take part.
Sophie Wilsdon, here conducting a recovery choir group, says Creative Communities has achieved more than she would have dreamt was possible a decade ago
They’ll be backed up by guest musicians from Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the Project’s official partners, and to top it all off the Sober Spaces DJ’s will be spinning tunes in the alcohol-free bar after the show.
The Bristol Drugs Project team are gearing up for a night to remember:
“The Gala is incredibly important to me from all sorts of personal, professional, creative and strategic perspectives,” Creative Communities coordinator Sophie Wilsdon told Bristol24/7.
“We are celebrating ten years of using music and creativity to help people move through drug related harms into new positive, connection-boosting lives.
“I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved creatively, building a national reputation for our unique programme, as well as surviving funding cuts. We’re now being recognised by commissioners as a unique and valuable part of the treatment system for people who use drugs – something I only dreamt of ten years ago.
“But most of all – I’m proud of our group members who are working twice as hard in rehearsals and at home to get our performance as brilliant as it can be so our audience can experience the joy, beauty and inspirational dreams of what we create together.”
It will be an emotional night as Jon James – who also runs the Dovetail Orchestra for refugees and asylum seekers – will be stepping down as conductor of the Bristol Recovery Orchestra
It’s a busy week for Creative Communities as they launch a new report on addiction and the arts a few days before the Gala. Creatively Minded and In Recovery is a collaboration between the Baring Foundation and 15 other arts organisations, including the Bristol Drugs Project.
Wilsdon will be speaking at the online event, alongside other experts in the field including those involved in arts as recovery from gambling addiction.
To join the event, which takes place online on October 8, visit eventbrite.co.uk/e/arts-and-addiction-join-us-for-the-launch-of-a-new-report-tickets
To find out more about the Gala on October 11, visit www.headfirstbristol.co.uk/whats-on/circomedia/fri-11-oct-bdp-creative-communities-10-year-anniversary-gala
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