UK Recovery Walk Charity Appoints Chief Executive

The UK Recovery Walk Charity has voted in Anne Marie Ward as its inaugural Chief Executive.

The Charity, a UK-wide organisation set up to help people in addiction and in recovery, took the decision to appoint a Chief Executive following a period of strong growth to maintain consistency of leadership, and to provide and implement a clear strategic direction.

Anne Marie, who founded the Charity in April this year, was recently voted in unanimously by the Board of Trustees and will commence her role shortly.

Board of Trustees spokesperson, Michaela Jones, said: “The Charity is delighted to appoint Anne Marie Ward as Chief Executive. Anne Marie brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the position. It’s a very exciting time in recovery and the Charity has grown significantly in recent months to become a leading voice and activist in the industry. We needed a Chief Executive to drive us forward and advocate on behalf of those in addiction and addiction recovery. The Board took a unanimous decision in appointing her.”

One of Anne Marie’s main roles will be to help develop future UK Recovery Walks and to build on the successes of previous Walks, which Anne-Marie has been instrumental in their growth since 2009.

The main purpose of the Walks and the Charity’s other activities are to help improve and prolong people’s lives by encouraging, empowering and educating those in recovery from addiction and as well as those affected by addiction. It also advocates for people in recovery to help them sustain their recovery, regardless of their background, health, disability, age or any other disadvantage.

Anne Marie brings a wealth of experience to the position. Her past roles include being a founding director of the UK Recovery Federation, Alcohol and Drug Partnership co-ordinator for Ayrshire, and the head of research and development for another, smaller charity.

In August 2013, Annemarie celebrated 16 years of complete abstinence form addictive substances.

Michaela added: “Building on the success of previous UK Recovery Walks, this year has been amazing in terms of growth, considering we only founded the charity in April 2013. Next year, 2014, will be an exciting time in terms of raising the profile of long-term recovery and Anne Marie will help us achieve this. The 6th UK Recovery Walk, Greater Manchester which will take place in September, will be a powerful event and will represent the culmination of the work of the people across Manchester. We are planning and delivering a day to remember. It’ll be a celebration for people in recovery from addiction and will be attended by people and families who have recovered from all walks of life across the UK.”

“We are also working hard to build the advocacy potential of the UK recovery movement and the charity is perfectly placed to help this happen.”

Further Information:

• UK Recovery Walk Charity is a Registered Charity Number SC043961
• The Charity has 10 Trustees across all corners of the UK with 2 vacancies
• Formed in April 2013
• The Charity is the largest addiction recovery membership organisation in the UK
• Press enquiries: 0141 946 2701
• http://www.ukrecoverywalk.org/