Norfolk
RecoveryFest
About Norfolk RecoveryFest
All About the Festival
RecoveryFest is a lived experience led festival that spotlights mental health and drug & alcohol recovery, supporting understanding within the wider Norfolk community. It brings together lived experience voices, support services, professionals and the wider community to challenge stigma, show that recovery is possible and creates a welcoming space where people can connect, find support or just have fun!
The SULE Project
The Service User and Lived Experience Engagement (SULE) Project was commissioned by Norfolk County Council in late 2024 and delivered by Together for Mental Wellbeing. The aim of the project is to make sure the voices of people with lived experience of drug and alcohol use help shape the wider system across Norfolk.
Through peer-led conversations, focus groups and community engagement, people shared what recovery really looks like in everyday life. They told us that connection and peer support matter, but that stigma, shame and a lack of awareness about support can still stop people from reaching out. People also spoke about the overlap between mental health and substance use, and the need for support to feel more joined-up, compassionate and accessible.
Norfolk Recovery Community
As this work grew, it became clear that people wanted more than one-off opportunities to give feedback — they wanted to stay connected, support one another and continue influencing change.
That led to the development of the Norfolk Recovery Community (NRC), a lived experience led network built around connection, belonging and shared ownership.
Norfolk RecoveryFest
Norfolk RecoveryFest grew directly from that journey. Created with lived experience at its heart, the festival brings together people, communities, services and organisations in one welcoming space.
It exists to celebrate recovery, challenge stigma, raise awareness of support and show the power of lived experience in creating change.
Together, SULE, NRC and RecoveryFest are part of the same story: listening to people, building community and turning insight into action across Norfolk.
