To celebrate the end of Recovery Month, we wanted to put on a celebration event for our
members in recovery. We spoke to members in our members meetings and encouraged
them to make suggestions about what they wanted the event to be.
One of those suggestions was a silent disco. Initially we were apprehensive because of the
cost of an event like this, but in typical fashion, we wanted to investigate this as we believe in
the principles of co- production. Through our search and contacts, we were able to find a
service ‘The Good Times Project’, who were willing to support our event.
We have regularly held events and included ‘bonkers bingo’. This is bingo with a twist – you
do not want people to be silent! When a certain number is called, a song will be played that
relates to that number, which you then hope will encourage people to get up and dance. This
has been very well received and was requested for this event. We also decided to offer a
buffet to those in attendance.
Being a recovery event, we wanted people to stand in front of the audience to talk about
their recovery so that we could celebrate their achievements.
We now had an event idea, suggested by our members. We decided to put in an application
to the Peer-led Initiative Fund for £195 to cover the cost of the silent disco and for travel, so
that members from North Northants could attend the event, which was being held in
Northampton. The application was approved and so we went ahead with the event.
This event was a huge success.
We had many people who bravely stood in front of a crowd of over 70 people to proudly talk
about their recovery. It was hugely inspiring and encouraging to all, whatever their stage of
recovery. Peer support is very important and has a huge impact on the success of someone
achieving their recovery goals. There was a common theme of people talking about
connections and relationships. Well done to all who spoke!
We had some food together, then onto the bingo, which went as well as it usually does with
a long conga line breaking out at one stage. Sarah and Grace have this event locked down
now!
On to the silent disco. John from The Good Times Project was our host, and what a fantastic
host he was. With a silent disco, each person has a set of headphones. On these
headphones is a switch which you can put on red, green or blue. Each colour has a different
song being played by John. We opted for 80’s, 90’s and Motown music, giving people the
choice of which song they wanted to listen to. It’s interesting to see people dancing along to
different music, and you regularly see people saying to each other to change to the song
they’re listening to. Lots of singing by all (some good, some not so good but we don’t care,
it’s about having fun!)
What was most interesting about this event was how comfortable people were to get up and
dance, taking many people out of their comfort zone. People who would usually be reluctant
to take part in something like this, suddenly found themselves up and dancing, with big
smiles everywhere!
Huge thanks to John at The Good Times Project, we’re sure we’ll see you again soon given
the amount of requests to do it all again!
Comments from members
“Had a great time, when’s the next one?”
“OMG, it was absolutely awesome”
“Keep the good times rolling. Fantastic day!”
“Amazing day, thank you”
“Was a fantastic afternoon! We all had a fab time, thank you so much”
“Was a brilliant afternoon. Bridge definitely pulled it out the bag with this event, thanks guys”

“Had a great time, thank you Bridge”
“Well done everyone, you’re all stars”
“Fantastic day”
“Great day with great people and some great music. Thanks everyone for making it so
special”
“Wonderful day. Brought a whole new meaning to the word silent!”
“What a day. Good company, bonkers bingo, and a silent disco that had me in hysterics.
Now that’s what recovery is all about!”