Delamere’s Biggest Ever Alumni Event Is Testament to the Power of People to Grow Beyond Addiction

Posted by Martin Preston
on 08 Oct 2025

What’s included?

Introduction
The impact of gambling on the brain
How to recognise a loved one might have a problem
What Delamere can do to help

In September, we opened the doors of Delamere once again to welcome our former guests back and celebrate recovery on our favourite day of the year.

Every year, our Alumni Event lights up the clinic for months afterwards – an undeniable atmosphere of joy and celebration drawn from the energy of everyone who attends.

This was our biggest one yet, with more than 100 current guests, alumni and staff catching up and listening to each others’ stories on a typical late summer day of sunshine and showers in Cheshire.

Powerful, personal testimonials were heard from guests who had left us this year, going all the way back to 2020 in the very early days of Delamere. We thank all of them for their bravery and honesty.

Beyond the friendly chat and laughter that filled the air all afternoon as old cohorts reunited and strangers with a shared back story met for the first time, guests and colleagues took part in the annual sobriety countdown, shared empowering recovery stories with one another and received personalised medallions with their sobriety dates engraved on them.

Need help?
Call us confidentially at any time to speak to a member of our team.

Call us now: 0330 111 2015

The medallions are a new development, a personalised keepsake of the most personal of journeys. All guests are different when it’s time to ‘graduate’ from Delamere and prepare to return home. Some want fanfare, others prefer to go quietly as they leave. We saw the introduction of an engraved medallion as something as long-lasting as that guest’s own recovery journey.

Seeing people recover is the great privilege of the work done at Delamere. In the weeks that they stay with us, we see the beginnings of that transformation, as guests move to a life beyond addiction and make plans for returning home.

Often, however, it is on the Alumni Event afternoon that we see these people again for the first time and are able to really take in just how much their lives have changed for the better. It is inspiring, joyful and a testament to why we do what we do.

The other aspect of the Alumni Event that comes out as we talk to former guests is that it gives us at Delamere the chance to reflect on our own growth of the past 12 months and all that has changed in the clinic.

Incredibly, since we last welcomed our alumni, we have:

Embarked on a ground-breaking knowledge transfer partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University to track treatment outcomes;
Rolled out our Bloom aftercare programme;
Seen our second site in Nottingham receive planning approval ;
Introduced new elements to our treatment model to improve outcomes for guests.

Delamere is a success because we don’t stand still in looking for the best treatments for our guests. The programme is updated and built upon to reflect what we see in terms of who comes and why. What we want is to deliver lasting and meaningful recovery.

The privilege of this position and the impact it has for our hundreds of former guests and their families really comes home on the day of the Alumni Event. This is why we remain dedicated to helping people grow and bloom in their recovery and in their life beyond addiction.

Roll on 2026…

Need help?
Call us confidentially at any time to speak to a member of our team.

Call us now: 0330 111 2015

Summary