Happy April and a Happy Easter to you all. We’re very pleased to announce that we are starting to include a lot more creative content from our members for our newsletters, please see details below and please see our diary for all the events that you could join in with this month.

Coordinator News

Our coordinator Sara has some exciting news that’s happening within Capital at the moment:

Intro to Combating Drugs Partnership

CAPITAL have been commissioned by West Sussex County Council to help with getting the views of people with lived experience, people who use services and carers.

We are running 10 focus group sessions in March and April (on-line and in person) to obtain these and anonymously feedback to people who commission and make decisions about future services.

The West Sussex Combating Drugs Partnership is a multi-agency forum tasked to address the challenges related to local drug and alcohol related harms.

Its responsibilities include an ongoing review of all relevant local data and intelligence, a local plan of action, and to understand any relevant local issues relating to drugs and alcohol.

West Sussex County Council (The Council) is undertaking a project to gather feedback around substance misuse issues in the community to inform the combating drugs partnership priorities, and development of a countywide action plan for 2024/25.

The strategy’s priorities are:

1. Breaking drug supply chains

2. Delivering a world class treatment and recovery system

3. Achieving a generational shift in the demand for drugs

This is an amazing opportunity for Capital to be a part of and we will update you with news as we have it.

Branding Meeting

We have been working with a West Sussex based agency starting our rebranding journey. Later this year we will launch a new look, logo and change how we appear publicly. This online session is to hear your views on what's happened so far.

We have an opportunity for Members and Trustees to join us in an online branding meeting to help us gain some insight into what our Members would like in how CAPITAL is rebranded. Your opinions matter to us. To take part, please fill in this form.

CAPITAL Creative Pages

Welcome Everybody, to our new Creative and Well-being Pages, where we embrace your poetry, art work, short stories, photography, recipes and anything else you can imagine. As well as self-help information, tips, research and short articles.

We are just getting started so please join us in this journey of development together; I know we all have so much to share.

Please send all ideas to lucy.parsonage@capitalproject.org and

jenna.dickens@capitalproject.org by the end of the second to last week in every month.

Poetry Corner

This is a Fantastic poem from Jenny, a member from the Crawley area. Jenny has also just published a book of her poems and life story which we will be including writings from.

Conversations and Lunar Lies

Images of the world.

The image, or the earth?

The mind, or the place?

The sickness, or the space?

Will you talk about a lie?

Fashioned by a bleeding mind?

Or will you talk about a sight?

Daylight turned to darkest night.

Delusion or illusion?

Of which there may be fusion.

In the cramped space of our heart

Find the truth in the dark.

Is the world I see a lie?

Or is it light hidden in the night?

Will you give me tender love?

Searching fingers from above.

What is love like in the dark?

What is truth when faint a mark?

What is a blind, sightless lie?

Is it truth, in disguise?

To the dark, you should be wise.

For the heart knows no lies.

All truth comes in disguise.

Within the heart, I abide.

Sunrise Central

Words to remind us to rise and surprise ourselves, with all that we really are. From Tracey, Crawley Hub & Area

Live Simply

Don't waste your time in anger, regrets, worries and grudges. Life is too short to be unhappy.

What if everything you going through is preparing you for everything you asked for. What if the struggle is leading you to a beautiful chapter in your life. The best is yet to come.

I am proud of the way you deal with every encounter. I am proud of how you handle disappointments and don't disappear when you fear. You keep the faith and push through. I am proud of your view of life.

Maybe right now your journey isn't about love. Maybe right now your journey is about you. Maybe this is a season you are being challenged to be your own saviour, to be your own safe place. Maybe right now you are being reminded that people who walked away were only ever leading you here. and here you are okay on your own.

A Splash of Art

Charcoal and Watercolour spirit guide by David K, East Grinstead Hub Member.

The Wisdom of Mindfulness

Mindfulness is learning to step back within ourselves and allow any turmoil of the mind and body to pass, by connecting to the present moment and our ‘inner being’.

Angela from the East Grinstead Hub shares this wonderful poem from a

Mindfulness course that really helped her:

Autobiography in 5 chapters

Chapter 1. I walk down the street, There is a deep hole in the pavement. I Fall in. I am Lost….I am hopeless. It isn’t my fault. It takes forever to find a way out.

Chapter 2. I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the pavement. I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in again. I can’t believe I’m in the same place. But it isn’t my fault. It still takes me a long time to get out.

Chapter 3. I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the pavement. I see it there. I still fall in – it’s a habit. My eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately.

Chapter 4. I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the pavement. I walk around it.

Chapter 5. I walk down another street.

By Portia Nelson.

Self Help and Knowledge

Short Mindfulness Calming Visualisation/Meditation (can be done anywhere) By Lucy

Allow yourself to come into a sense of stillness...

Start breathing calmly and steadily…

Imagine yourself as a rock within a stream..

Let anything going on around you come and go, like the rushing of the water…

Let any worries, feelings of stress or pain, loosen and slip away, with the water…

KNOW you are the rock, FEEL you are the rock..

Feel into that sense of solid groundedness…

Breathe in that beautiful fresh forest air.. feel the sun warming you and sparkling across the water…

Anything that has stressed you to this point, today… allow yourself to breathe it out.. into this healing forest environment

Know you will have the answer, know you will have the wisdom..

Be the rock and allow time to pass.. Gently come back to your day x

Random Bits and Creative Bobs

Lisa from the Bognor drop-ins and Locality has had new fun tattoo -his name is Baby Groot from the film Guardians of the Galaxy. I know, he’s too cute! Lisa explains that tattoos are therapeutic for her. The tattooist is called Mo from Keepsake Tattoos in Lancing.