Alice tutors on several courses including Art and Flow and Understanding Confidence, In her free time she enjoys singing in a choir, watching films, reading and walking. Recovery to Alice means feeling content with the place you are in and not putting pressure on yourself to act in a certain way.

I joined ORC in 2018 as an EBT (Expert by Training) by virtue of having over 25 years of working in voluntary sector mental health settings meeting many inspirational people along the way. I have the privilege of tutoring on courses such as Intro to Personality Disorders, Finding your Pathway through Services, Understanding Mental Health, Confidence and am currently involved in developing an exciting new course on Men and Mental Health. I love spending time with my family, enjoying the arts, watching rugby, playing tennis and getting out into open spaces. Further avenues for letting off steam include playing tennis and treading the boards in true Am dram style.

My name is Jo and I have lived in Banbury for just over 7 years now. I relocated here without knowing anyone and have made some great new friends and new opportunities to acknowledge my struggles and use them for good. I do this through the work I do with the Recovery College and through delivering training around Domestic abuse. I deliver and help develop courses. I have anxiety, depression and CPTSD. I have a son who has ADHD and ASD and has had poor mental health challenges. I am passionate about having services that are trauma informed.

Rosie has been a student of the College since 2018. Her interest in mental health is motivated by her own lived experience and she is currently studying for a Master’s degree in Psychology. Her undergraduate degree was in Film Studies and the cinema is still her favourite place to be. She also enjoys martial arts, music (mostly hip hop) and yoga. She has a cat called Ruby. Eric, Ruby’s son (pictured), now happily lives in Bristol.

Tam joined ORC as a student in March 2020, and completed Tutor Training in November the same year. He is passionate about sharing his recovery experience with others, and developing as much knowledge and skill as possible around maintaining mental wellbeing and health in different ways. Tam loves taking photos on his phone and ‘proper’ camera, and has found great benefit in practising mindful photography. He has been involved in rowing from an early age and loves being on the water – any type of water – in any kind of boat, or anything that floats really!

Originally from Liverpool, Philippa has lived in Oxfordshire for 12 years and joined the Recovery College in 2020. Philippa tutors on the Understanding Mental Health course and is also involved in the Forensic spoke of the College. In her spare time Philippa is a keen cyclist and loves being able to explore rural Oxfordshire with a local Oxford cycling club.

Hello my name is Julie and I work for the charity Rethink Mental Illness. I run a mental health carers support service in Oxfordshire, and I am one of the Tutors for the ORC “Introduction to the Caring Role” course. In my spare time I like to go for scenic walks to clear my mind and recharge my batteries. I have just started to make my own candles, which I find helps me to relax and have some time out from my busy work schedule.

Hi my name is Sreeja and I have been involved with the Recovery College since 2017. Originally from Kerala, South India I have moved to and lived in Oxford for most of my life. Having been in education as a secondary school teacher for ten years I wanted to explore some new options and was excited to discover the work of the Recovery College whose values resonated with me. As an Expert by Experience (EBE) and an Expert by Training (EBT), I have developed courses on Adapting to Change and Coping with Stress and Anxiety. I have tutored on Introduction to Recovery, Understanding Mental Health and Understanding Depression. In my spare time I love reading, watching films, practising yoga and spending time with my family.

Peter joined the College in 2019. Originally from Manchester, Peter served in the military for over 20 years and also lived overseas before moving to Oxford in 2017.

As an Expert by Experience and an Expert by Training, Peter is developing a course on the benefits of exercise. He also tutors on the Induction, Introduction to Recovery, Understanding Mental Health and Intro to Personality Disorders.

In his spare time, Peter loves playing and watching all sport, in particular golf and football. He also enjoys walking his pet Dachshund Alfie, and spending time with his family.

Tanya is a qualified coach and has been volunteering both with Restore, as an employment coach, and as a tutor at ORC for a few years now. She believes passionately in the positive impact of getting satisfaction and purpose from work (either paid or voluntary). Having had her own setbacks with a health condition, she loves helping at the Recovery College and being a part of people’s journeys to regain confidence and direction. She tutors on all of the employment and work related courses, as well as the Mindfulness course and Wildlife and Wellbeing. In her spare time Tanya is active in environmental and sustainability issues, mindfulness, dancing, walking and gardening.

Jilly is a scriptwriter and prose writer, with her recent short feature, ‘Being Keegan’, starring actor Stephen Graham, winning a number of international awards. Jilly was one of the winners of the Windsor Award for Drama Writing (The Kenneth Branagh Award), and her work has been chosen for production at theatres in London, Wales, Cambridge and Dubai, as well as being highly commended at the London Screenwriters Festival. Spending the earlier part of her career in TV broadcasting, Jilly has a Master’s in Scriptwriting and teaches creative writing and scriptwriting at institutions including Winchester University, Met Film School and Bucks Adult Learning, and ORC! Jilly is particularly interested in the significance of creative writing and story telling on good mental health, and is keen for students to experiment with their creativity and experience how therapeutic putting pen to paper can be.

Annie joined the College as a student in 2016 and has been a tutor since Spring 2018. She has used her lived experience to help with co-developing several courses as well as tutoring on a lovely wide variety. Annie has changed career several times, starting out as an academic, then working in business for many years, before retraining in Psychology and working in mental health and welfare. She has volunteered for Mind and Restore, worked for Restore as an employment and recovery coach, and for ORC as a Welfare tutor. Annie loves walking and kayaking, reading, knitting and going to the theatre and gigs.

Megan has been involved with ORC since November 2017 where she started as a volunteer tutor on the Food and Wellbeing course. She is now also a Student Welfare tutor welcoming our students to the College and finding out how best we can support them. Megan loves fitness including running, spinning and weight lifting as well as spending time with her family. Outside of the College she also works as a nutritionist, running coach and personal trainer.

 

 

I have been involved with ORC since its original inception, at the time I was volunteering at Restore following attendance at a series of meetings regarding Coaching and helping me to get back my confidence. I’ve always had an interest in helping people and in education, and spent my life working in and for local government. I have been involved in the creation and review of a large number of courses both as a tutor by experience and a tutor by training. My interested outside ORC are mysic (all styles, both playing and listening), gardening, cooking and learning more about mental health issues.
Tina started volunteering at Restore in 2015, sharing T’ai Chi Chih as a non-martial art ‘Mindful Movement Mediation’ on Wednesday afternoons. She first learnt about ORC at the Elder Stubbs festival in 2016 and was thrilled to be accepted on the tutor training programme. With one of the members at Restore, she co-produced the T’ai Chi and Wellbeing course to help students learn a skill to calm the mind and emotions, as well as relaxing yet energising the body. She originally qualified as a biologist, specialising in Ecology and ran a Butterfly survey at Bristol Environmental Records Centre, so she also helps deliver the Wildlife and Wellbeing courses. Working from her own mental health experience, she has been involved with other courses including Understanding Confidence, Understanding Depression and the Benefit of Pets. Tina also qualified as an Information Scientists, a School Teacher and a Yoga for Pregnancy and Baby Massage Tutor. She loves spending time with her cat Clico, dancing (particularly salsa), gardening, crafts (knitting and painting), swimming and nature walks with her husband and son.

Sally has been volunteering with ORC since March 2019, bringing both professional and lived experience to courses including Understanding Depression, Intro to the Caring Role and Introduction to Recovery. She has also co-produced a new Introduction to Mindfulness course which launched in February 2021. Alongside her volunteer role at ORC, Sally is an accredited Mindfulness teacher (find out more here: https://sallyharrismindfulness.co.uk/ ). Previously she has worked for Restore at their Littlemore site, and as Volunteer and Peer Support facilitator at Oxfordshire Mind. In her spare time Sally enjoys cooking, listening to podcasts and walking with her dog.