#PEERPOWERCYMRU – OUR PEER WORKFORCE

Recovery Cymru is delighted to champion ‘all things peer’ in Wales. For us, our peer workforce is an essential part of this! People with lived, living and family experience of substance use and recovery make a huge difference – they share hope, inspiration, community, friendship, recovery skills and much more. The magic? By offering this, it also reinforces our own recovery!

Our peers, in paid peer roles, volunteers and those with lived experience visibly working in non peer roles are highly skilled and invaluable. We want to raise awareness of these roles and the people that undertake them to:

• Inspire others to train as peers
• Increase understanding, trust and mutual respect of peer workers in other professions
• Increase peer workforce opportunities
• Celebrate what we achieve together!

The peer support role provides acceptance, empathy, and a non-judgmental environment in which others are encouraged on their journey so that they feel open to learning new skills, enjoying new social circles, and being accepted by a community.

It is important to us that our peer workers gain the reciprocal benefits which include:

• Gaining greater confidence and self-esteem
• Increased feeling of empowerment on their recovery journey
• Developing a more positive sense of identity, utilising past negative experiences for good
• Feeling more valued
• Feeling less stigmatised
• Increased skills, experience, and employability
• General benefits of being employed