On 24th June, the forum held it’s second conference at Venue Cymru in the beautiful town of Llandudno a and what a huge success it was. The conference built on the first conference which was held in Cardiff in 2024
Forum members worked incredibly hard to ensure that once again it was going to be a fantastic day of networking, exploring future partnership working and also an opportunity for organisations to promote their services and for delegates to find out more about the work of the forum.
We were delighted to be joined by people from health boards, local Authorities, 3rd sector, people with lived and living experience, carers, and many more, each with their own unique stories and experiences which they were encouraged to share throughout the day in a safe space.
The highlights of the day were hearing from Tom Fitsimmons, who spoke about his own lived experience and his journey from addiction to recovery, and we ended the day with a performance by the Tenovus Sing with Us choir.
Tom’s story was truly inspirational, and he spoke about how he grew up in Ireland and the challenges he faced when his parents moved the family to Hull and the discrimination he faced because he was an Irishman in England. Tom spoke about his problems with alcohol, which started from the age of 13. his drinking was leading him to an early grave. The story was a captivating story of perseverance, determination, and success.
Tom’s battle with alcohol began at the age of thirteen and by the age of thirty three his drinking was leading him to an early grave. On August 27 2007, He started to take the first difficult steps into sobriety. Today, he is glad that he has never looked back.
In 2008, he started Effort Personal Training. then in 2010, he left his 20 year career in the Utilities industry to concentrate on building the ‘Effort’ brand and to begin telling his inspirational story, The 3 Cs – Cause, Consequence, Cure.
Tom’s resilience and determination really came to the fore in April 2010 when he completed the Marathon des Sables running 250km through the Sahara desert.
Huge thanks also to Andrew and all the members of the Sing with Us Tenovus choir who raised everyone’s spirits, and everyone left invigorated, leaving the conference for their journey home.
All forum members worked extremely hard, planning and facilitating the day, and we have already received some fantastic feedback, which we can now use to plan the next conference and also any other opportunities that the forum can be involved with.
Keep a look out on our social media for more photos of the day and the conference video, which will be coming soon.
