Happy Birthday @Tia Boulton Please join me in wishing my wonderful girlfriend, partner soul mate Tia a very happy birthday. Tia and I have been on the journey of LIFE since 2011. We have bought up eachothers children and watched our parents get old together. We love each other passionately, bicker, fight and wrestle with this life. The bottom line is, She is there for me !!!! Like me, she has so much love to give the world, BUT ! LIKE ME ! The world wants to BOX her ....... GoodLuck World you ain't big enough for her !.. Tia I love you 😍 and even though we are spending yet another birthday apart. I want everyone to know that YOU are Mine and I am YOURS....... Thank for putting up with my madness... Love David.

Community of Practice – Session Reflection Today’s session reminded us why this space matters. We practised building the container properly — check-in, contract, agenda, listening, values, action, accountability. Not as theory, but in real time, with real stories. Key themes that emerged: Recovery capital We explored the difference between internal and external recovery capital. Community, fellowship, sport and service matter. But so do agency, confidence, access to work, and stable environments. Motivation alone is not enough if the system around someone is collapsing. Coaching vs counselling vs sponsorship We named the importance of role clarity. Coaching is forward-facing and agency-based. It does not replace therapy or mutual aid — but it is not either of those things. Confusion between roles creates risk. Courage and starting something new Several of you spoke about building organisations or stepping into leadership. Fear came up — especially fear of failure or responsibility. We acknowledged a hard truth: in this field, outcomes are not always within our control. Professionalism is not about perfection. It is about clarity, supervision, teamwork and learning. Listening for values When Marcus shared his vision for “Rooted not Booted”, the group reflected back the values they heard: fairness, accessibility, accountability, compassion. That is coaching in action. Humanity in the work We were reminded that this work is personal. Many of us carry lived experience of loss, harm, or systemic failure. The task is to turn that into skill — not to let it leak unexamined into the role. The words people checked out with today: Compassion. Grateful. Empowered. Informed. Motivated. Encouraged. Energised. Brave. That feels like movement. If you are building something — a LERO, a role, or simply your own stability — stay with the process. Clarity grows through conversation. See you next week.