On Saturday 23^rd September 2023, our partners at Kelsey Family CIC hosted an activities open day to celebrate Recovery Month and would like to share the below update from their event, for more information please read on below:

“Recovery Month 2023 - “It’s all about the activities”

The Event was a great success – participants got involved in Barefoot walking, Fire Making, Fitness Classes, Geocaching, Ice bath and breathwork.  All participants were keen to get involved and were very enthusiastic.  Activities were designed to challenge and push people out of comfort zones with all participants stating the value of these growth-based activities.  The day commenced with a check in and introductions, barefoot walking was the first activity, followed by a discussion and chat by Ben Kelsey in regard to life outside rehabilitation.  This was then followed by a fire making workshop where participants made kindling, used fire strikers and were able to start a fire to which they roasted marshmallows with freshly foraged willow stakes.  Following this, participants were provided with a graze board style lunch and chat in the rural setting of Handleywood Farm.  After lunch fitness classes were undertaken, culminating in breathwork and an ice bath dip.

How participants found the day of activities:  

• Beth arrived at the event looking nervous but keen to explore new things. Staff encouraged her to get involved and very quickly she was chatting away to other participants and was one of the first people to take their shoe off and get involved in the barefoot walking activity.  Perseverance with the fire making paid off as well as after 47 times using the fire striker caught the “twirly whirlies” and the sparks made fire – this was the individual extremely happy and they expressed their pride in themselves.

     Quote - “Absolutely loved the event – Every single part of it – we definitely need more things like this”

• Kate arrived at the event and remained on the outskirts, observing the activities for the first half, getting involved though during the lunch and chatting to other participants. Kate really wanted to challenge herself in regards to the ice bath but was unsure in regards to whether she would be able to do it.  After being guided through and following others and listening to their encouragement Kate was able to complete the ice bath dip and remain submerged for over 3 mins – stating she felt amazing and that she could do anything after.

     Quote – "I truly couldn’t have ticked the ice bath off my bucket list without your guidance, support and reassurance – I loved it – I felt completely safe in your hands – you’re very special – truly”

If you would like more information on how to attend the Kelsey Family CIC Recovery Together Project, you can find contact information and can read more about the project on the GRID website’s Recovery Projects page here –

Recovery Together Project - Kelsey Family CIC (growingrecoveryinderbyshire.co.uk)