Launch of Revival coffee bike at Civic Centre with volunteers, services and Council staff.

Volunteers serving cuppas from the Revival Coffee Bike at the Narcotics Anonymous Convention.

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Your City, Your Recovery: Coffee, Conversation and Hope

‍ A new Recovery Coffee Bike is helping make recovery visible across Newcastle – one coffee, one conversation and one connection at a time.

‍ Sometimes a cup of coffee is about much more than the coffee. It can be a reason to stop, a chance to talk and an opportunity to make a new connection.

The Your City, Your Recovery coffee bike is taking this simple idea out and about in Newcastle. There is no appointment or referral – just a welcoming face, a cup of tea or coffee and time to talk. For people affected by addiction, recovery, loneliness or difficult life experiences, these small moments can help people feel less alone, challenge stigma and open the door to support.

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The bike is part of Revival | Join Our Community which focusses on strengthening recovery messages across the city. It also supports Newcastle's wider work to build connected communities and tackle loneliness and isolation through informal spaces such as Coffee and Conversation. Read the Newcastle City Council story: Connecting Communities Through Coffee and Conversation

‍ A cuppa, a biscuit and a conversation

The bike had its’ first trip at the NEACNA6 Just Stay Area Convention of Narcotics Anonymous in August at the Civic Centre. Over three days, volunteers gave away hundreds of cups of tea and coffee, biscuits and conversations. Alongside people attending the convention, they met passers-by, wedding parties, people experiencing homelessness, people attending citizenship ceremonies and Civic Centre staff. The drinks and biscuits provided a simple way to start conversations about addiction, recovery and the support available in Newcastle. As one volunteer put it:

‍ ‍“A hot drink warms the soul and a little biscuit nourishes the spirit.”

‍ Some conversations were particularly powerful. One person experiencing homelessness said: “To be honest mate, I'm not ready to stop, it's the only way I can get through the day.”

‍ ‍Another said: “I didn't know people could stop using.”

‍ And after discovering that someone in recovery had once experienced homelessness, one person asked: “What? You were on the streets too? How did you get so well?”

‍For someone new to recovery, the simple act of being welcomed meant a great deal:

‍ ‍“This is amazing, I could hardly scrape together my bus fare. Thank you so much.”

‍ ‍Recovery belongs in our communities

Recovery is not just something that happens in treatment services. It happens in relationships, families, communities and everyday life.

‍The Recovery Coffee Bike sends a simple message:

Recovery is possible. Recovery is something to be proud of. And people in recovery belong in every part of our community.

‍ Revival | Join Our Community and the bike brings together people with lived experience, communities, services and organisations to make recovery more visible, reduce stigma and create opportunities for connection.

‍Another group of volunteers have already been getting to grips with the Revival Coffee Bike, including Road To Recovery Trust and will be using it soon. Keep an eye out for the Revival Coffee Bike when it is out and about across Newcastle. Come and say hello, grab a coffee and find out more about what recovery means to our community.

‍Coffee brings people together. Conversation creates connection. Connection creates hope.

‍To find out more about the Recovery Coffee Bike, contact steven.wood@recoverycoco.com

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Road to Recovery Trust volunteer getting the hang of riding the bike