1st May 2020
The Living Room turns 20 years old this weekend. The Living room started on the 2nd May 2000 and we are so proud of the all the work our staff, clients and volunteers have done to bring recovery to all parts of Hertfordshire.
From very humble beginnings, running out of one room in the Oval community Centre, we have spread out across the county and now run three centres in Stevenage, Watford and St Albans, two charity shops and a crèche.
We have supported over 6500 people during this time, and potentially impacted on the lives of over 32,000 people given the impact that addiction can have on the lives of entire families. We also work in partnership with a host of other addiction and family support charities, helping to reach out and help more people than ever.
The charity started as our founder Janis Feely’s vision to bring the intensive support that rehab offers into the community so people could achieve recovery without being separated from their families. Intrinsic to this vision was having counsellors who have experienced addiction themselves and a crèche to make sure that our clients did not have to choose between their recovery and caring for their children.
We were due to have Janis, our Chief Executive Adrienne, former clients and the reverends Charles King and Pete Orton leading on our birthday celebration this weekend, but the current lockdown put a stop to these plans.
We may not have been able to celebrate in the way we wanted but you can see a full timeline of all the amazing things we have achieved over the last two decades, and we presented our founder with flowers (pictured) as a small gesture for creating such a powerful recovery community in this county.
Janis said, “I have been privileged and humbled to have witnessed so many clients recover, and families restored.”
“I am so proud of The Living room today, pioneering the work of recovery from addiction in Hertfordshire, and this has been recognised by winning numerous awards.
A big thank you to all who have financially supported The Living Room, and the clients who continue to give back and support The Living Room. Happy 20th Birthday.”
If you have been touched by the work we have done, we would love to hear from you; the messages we get from people who have sustained their recovery over the last few years are some of the most inspiring things we have read and make all the work we do worthwhile.