About Us
A collective shaped by lived experience
We are a Lived Experience Recovery Organisation, set up as a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation. We are rooted in Renfrewshire and run using a cooperative approach.
Our story
Creativity. Connection. Possibility.
Our founders created The Recovery Collective out of our own love of creativity and our understanding of the important role it can play in maintaining recovery.
We wanted to share that passion and create opportunities for others to explore what creativity could mean for them.
At the heart of The Recovery Collective is a belief in the value of shared experience. Connecting with people who understand recovery can offer encouragement, belonging and hope for what’s possible.
We believe everyone has creative potential. You don't need artistic skills or experience to take part. Creativity can begin with curiosity, a willingness to try something new, or an idea shared with someone who understands.
Who we are
Rooted in community
We work primarily across Renfrewshire, with a strong focus on Paisley, Linwood and Johnstone.
We welcome people who have recently received treatment for addiction, alongside those who don't feel they need treatment but want to connect with like-minded people who have found recovery, and people from the wider community who have been affected by addiction.
Our aim is to create welcoming opportunities for connection, creativity, belonging, contribution and learning — helping people explore what comes next in recovery.
What recovery means to us
Personal, meaningful and different for everyone
We support abstinence as an important and positive recovery goal while recognising that recovery is broader than abstinence alone. It can also involve hope, identity, meaning, relationships, creativity, citizenship, belonging and contribution.
People can participate at their own pace. Belonging does not depend on volunteering, disclosing personal experience or progressing into leadership.
Lived-experience leadership
Experience has influence
Being a Lived Experience Recovery Organisation means more than having people with lived experience present. Lived experience meaningfully informs how we work and should influence leadership, programme design, decision-making, evaluation and organisational priorities.
We treat lived experience as expertise, not simply as a personal story to be shared. Nobody should be expected to disclose their recovery history to demonstrate that their contribution has value.
Our cooperative approach
Designed with people
We aim to design work with people rather than for them. Members and participants should have meaningful opportunities to shape programmes, contribute ideas and influence our direction.
This is an opportunity, not a required route. People can belong and participate without moving through these roles.
The Collective Way
How we work
- Welcome people
- Protect choice and dignity
- Work alongside, not for, people
- Treat lived experience as expertise
- Make space for different recovery pathways
- Stay within role and ask for support
Our role
Part of a wider network
The Recovery Collective complements treatment, care and statutory services. We are not a clinical treatment provider or an emergency service.
The Recovery Collective is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Scottish Charity Number SC054897.
Our invitation
Explore what comes next
Recovery can open up new possibilities. Finding connection, confidence and a sense of belonging can be an important part of discovering what comes next.
As The Recovery Collective grows, we invite people to help us build a community where creativity and connection support people to explore their next chapter.
The Recovery Collective. Creativity. Connection. Possibility.