As we reach the darkest time of the year, many seasons greetings to you all from Dartmoor, for a warm, safe and nourishing turn of the year.
Here is news of our latest events and developments with Rite to Freedom and what's coming up for us as we look towards 2022.
Winter News
At the end of November we held the second of our in-person Dartmoor Residentials this year. 19 of us gathered for another transformative weekend of opening to and deepening our journeys of recovery, through the three pillars we use for our work, of nature connection, mindfulness and creativity and deeply supported by the wild landscape of Dartmoor.
It was a wild and windy weekend as Storm Arwen passed through the country, and we hunkered down at High Heathercombe in its dramatic situation high up on the side of the open moors. We braced ourselves for heavy snowfall which (sadly and fortunately) didn't come to pass, and instead had incredible dawn skies and howling blustery winds.
Our wonderful bell tent came into its own with its new woodburner fitted creating a lovely cosy place for fireside storytelling, meditation and general quiet space.
2022
We are putting together our programme for 2022 as we speak, and we plan for our next in-person Residential to be in April. Watch this space for more details.
Funding
We had the fantastic news last week of a successful grant application from Devon Communities Together to fund a series of events in the New Year, including our Online Retreat and a new Recovery Conversations Weekend later in February. See below for more details.
Trustees
We are on the look out for new trustees to join our team. If you feel a call to supporting the running of the charity in this way, find out more about what it takes here.
Support
We have a few new ways that you can support the work that we do at Rite to Freedom. We rely on a variety of income streams and are working hard to diversify these to ensure the longevity and sustainability of our work. Every little bit helps enormously with what we do.
See our Donate page here where we have an easy new facility to make a monthly donation, for as little as £2 a month - the price of a cheap cup of coffee!
We have been recently selected as one of the Co-operative Group's charities. If you are a C0-op member you can choose for your dividends from your shopping to go to us (still registered under the old spelling of our name, but change in progress!!) More here >>
Announcing the Rite to Freedom 2022 Recovery Festival
We are excited to be hosting a series of events and retreats from January through to the end of March 2022. The focus will be on supporting those in addiction recovery impacted by the pandemic this winter.
Our first festival event will be an Online Experience Day on Saturday 22nd January, 11am-4pm. We will be exploring the three pillars of nature connection, creativity and mindfulness. There’ll be time together online and time away from the screen. A nourishing, fun day to connect, get support and find out more about the festival and our work.
Followed by our next Online Recovery Retreat - click on image below for more details.
25th-27th February
We are proud to announce our first, online Recovery Conversations Weekend. Each day we will have very special guest speakers exploring nature connection, creativity and mindfulness. You’ll be able to sign up to free, with follow on workshops after the weekend. Speakers to be announced in January.
Bookings will open in early January. Check back on our website, or email jo@ritetofreedom.org.uk to express your interest.
For those unable to join online events due to lack of equipment, there will be some support available with free computer and internet access - first come first served. There will also be a free competition entry to win one of 4 refurbished laptops at the end of the festival.
Our offices will be closed for a couple of weeks as we take a well needed break through the darkest days. We will be back the first week of January. Many best wishes for the Christmas period and into the New Year. May you stay safe, connected and nourished.
