THE SIX CAMERADOS PRINCIPLES
> It ’ s OK to be a bit rubbish
> Don ’ t fix each other , we ’ re just alongside
> Have fun – to be silly is to be human
> Mix with people who are not like you
> We can disagree respectfully
> If someone is struggling , ask them to help you
sometimes be the intransigent attitude of some services , he points out . ‘ Before we hit on the public living rooms , we had this other idea which wasn ’ t quite sustainable . We ’ d take a group of ten or 15 people having a very tough time – prison leavers , drug users , homeless people – and we ’ d start a micro-business in four weeks .’ The idea was to galvanise them and provide the things that underpin Camerados , he says – connection and purpose .
IT ’ S OK TO FAIL ‘ In one we were working with people who were active drug users , and we started a business dressed as Christmas elves outside Debenhams where we ’ d wrap people ’ s Christmas presents for a couple of quid . One weekend we made £ 750 , which is a lot of presents . People would be handing over their Prada and Gucci stuff to active crack users who ’ d wrap it for collection a couple of hours later , and obviously they thought this was hilarious – because in their normal life you know what would happen . So it was kind of wonderful . But someone from the local drug service said , “ You ’ re putting lives at risk , because if this business fails these guys will go out and binge and you ’ ll have blood on your hands .” And I said , “ If this business fails what we ’ ll do is piss ourselves laughing .”
‘ So we normalised being a bit shit and failing ,’ he says , ‘ instead of what they were doing which was to catastrophise failure . When people relapse it ’ s like the end of the world , just like how I used to evict people because they ’ d missed a couple of rental payments .’
KEEP IT HUMAN For anyone tempted to set up their own living room , the best model is ‘ alongside , adjacent to ’ services , where staff and service users can mix ‘ as humans ,’ he says . ‘ I always say that everything should start with a pizza , because if you arrange a meeting you ’ ll get people talking like they ’ re in a meeting . If you order pizza , people are in a different space . You can have a call with Camerados where we ’ ll talk about the principles and everything else , and we ’ ll send you a box for free with everything wrapped and handwritten notes . All you ’ ve got to do is have a space and add some furniture . Just do it once for a couple of hours , and after that you might do it once a week , and so on . Fumble through it – don ’ t organise the humanity out .’
Ultimately the aim is just to be ‘ a space in the neighbourhood where people can go when they ’ re having a rough time and have some company ,’ he says . ‘ I want it to grow to be a thing where people say , “ Get yourself down to the public living room ,” because there ’ ll be one somewhere . If you look at Alcoholics Anonymous , one of the strengths is that there could be ten meetings happening tonight and you could find one . You pass the cup around , you pay for the room , and you ’ re done . I just want there to be loads of these things around the world run by people in that community . And if four or five people turn up , great .’
It all ties in with one of Camerados ’ six key principles , which is ‘ it ’ s OK to be a bit crap ’, he says . ‘ It stops it becoming too system-y . People connect better and drop their guard – I think it really strikes a chord that sometimes we ’ re a bit shit .’ One principle that can seem counterintuitive , however , is ‘ if you see someone struggling , ask them to help you ,’ he says . ‘ When I ’ ve been with someone and absolutely not known what to say – maybe they ’ ve told me they want to kill themselves – the only thing that ’ s ever worked is when I say , “ I ’ m really sorry to hear that . Listen pal , can you do me a favour ?” And I ’ ll find something I need . The person comes out of the gun barrel of their own problems , they feel trusted , they feel they ’ ve got value to add . A lot of services sit in front of people as if they have all the answers , so it ’ s actually quite nice for someone to hear “ I need your help with something .”’
DON ’ T BE ALONE But it ’ s the principle of not fixing people that can be the trickiest for many people to understand , he acknowledges . ‘ If there ’ s no specified outcome they might think , “ What ’ s the point ?”
But there is a point . As much as he enjoyed the DDN conference , there was one thing that proved unexpectedly difficult , he says . ‘ It was the memorial where you wrote the name of someone who ’ d died . I wrote the name of a young guy from the early days of Camerados , who was absolutely wonderful . He had so few people in his life because they ’ d all died from drugs , including his parents . All he wanted to do was outlive his parents , and he didn ’ t . He was a lovely guy in his mid-thirties and he ’ d been in and out of prison and was living in a flat with almost no furniture , but he was endlessly charming and sweet and a fantastic artist – we ’ d get him to do lots of artwork for us . So his death was a huge blow .
‘ His name was Rhys and when he died of an overdose I thought about jacking the whole thing in . I was a pallbearer at his funeral – I wasn ’ t close particularly , but he just had no one . I ’ d been to a lot of funerals like that , working in homelessness . I remember sitting in the crematorium thinking , “ Well , we didn ’ t help ”. And then someone handed out the order of service and there were these pictures of Rhys in the park playing frisbee , having pizza , down by the seaside having fish and chips . And all of them were with the people he ’ d met through Camerados , him having a laugh in the sunshine – really great pictures . And I thought , “ This is the right thing .”
‘ Because even if you don ’ t make it , and you never get out of that hole , while you ’ re in there you ’ ve got company . That ’ s the thing that none of us likes to talk about , that some people don ’ t make it out . Of course we want people to come through their crisis , but the ultimate fundamental is don ’ t be alone . And I felt we did that for him .’ DDN https :// camerados . org
8 • DRINK AND DRUGS NEWS • OCTOBER 2024 WWW . DRINKANDDRUGSNEWS . COM