Dr Lisa Ogilvie reports on the launch of the highly ambitious Greater
Manchester Recovery Network
T here’ s something powerful about seeing recovery out in the open – visible, active, and connected. Not hidden away in services or confined to individual journeys, but alive in communities, across boroughs, and shared between people who believe in something better. That was the spirit behind the launch of the Greater Manchester Recovery Network( GMRN), a bold step towards connecting recovery across the region, from the ground up.
GMRN has a simple but ambitious purpose – to bring together all ten boroughs of Greater Manchester to strengthen recovery through connection, shared resources, and collective action. It’ s about creating a network where recovery is not just supported but celebrated; where ideas move freely, and where people, organisations, and communities
can build something bigger than any one service or group alone.
The launch day began not with speeches, but with action. In Fallowfield, members of the recovery community came together for‘ SpoGomi’, a community action litter picking event with a competitive twist. Something that might seem like a simple act, but carrying meaning – recovery giving back, recovery taking responsibility, recovery making visible change. By the end of the session, more than 300kg of litter had been cleared from the streets and parkland. A cleaner environment, yes, but also a statement – recovery improves places as well as people.
From there, the energy carried into a full day of connection and celebration. The event brought together a rich mix of LEROs, services, and community groups. Organisations such as Project Free, Red Rose Recovery, Rehab Fitness, Mums in Recovery, and
Portraits of Recovery stood alongside Greater Manchester’ s original LERO, Acorn Recovery Projects. Mutual aid was present through AA, while services including Next Steps( NHS), Emerging Futures, and BAC O’ Connor contributed to a strong and visible partnership, supported by others from across the system, including Change Grow Live.
What stood out was not just the breadth of representation, but the way it came together. This was not a top-down initiative, nor a purely grassroots gathering – it was both. A real example of recovery systems evolving, where lived experience, services, and communities meet
There’ s something powerful about seeing recovery out in the open – visible, active, and connected.
as equals, where something different can happen.
Throughout the day, interactive stalls created space for people to have a say in the future of the network. This wasn’ t consultation for the sake of it, it was co-production. Ideas flowed freely – a Greater
THE GREATER
22 • DRINK AND DRUGS NEWS • MAY 2026 WWW. DRINKANDDRUGSNEWS. COM