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Dot Smith, Founding Member
CEO, Recovery Connections
Dot is a LERO advocate and CEO of Recovery Connections, a Lived Experience Recovery Organisation based in Middlesbrough and other parts of the North East. She has lived experience of family addiction and trauma and has worked in mental health and addiction support for 38 years.
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Dave Higham, Founding Member
CEO, Warrior Down LERO
Proud to be one of the founding members of CLERO. He has run a Lived Experience Recovery Organisation for 15 years working alongside others to make sure LEROs across the UK have the support and voice they deserve.
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Dave Memery
Founder & CEO of Create Strength Group.
CSG is a LERO in Bradford for chronic problematic use of Cannabis, Spice and Synthetic Substances. He believes Lived Experience is the key to recovery solutions in the treatment and aftercare sector. and that LERO's should be setting and driving the agenda.

James Sadler
CEO, Datus
Representing DATUS in Birmingham, an established LERO of 20 years, using extensive lived experience of addiction and recovery in all their forms. Passionate about developing more effective ways of meeting needs and delivering services led by those most affected.

Lanre Babalola
Co-Founder & CEO, BUBIC
(Bringing Unity Back Into the Community) is a grassroots peer-led organisation in Tottenham. Lanre draws on lived experience to lead with empathy and authenticity. BUBIC has grown it into a trusted community service, driven by the belief that “the community knows what the community needs.

Sohan Singh Sahota
Co-founder, BAC-IN 2 Life Recovery
An Accredited Counsellor / Psychotherapist, experienced in several fields. For almost 30 years, he has been proactive in promoting recovery, inclusion and advocating for ethnic minority user voice across the UK.
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CLERO ADVISORS

David Best
David Best - Leeds Trinity University and STAR Recovery
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A Professor of Criminology, undertaking research around addiction recovery and desistance from offending, recovery capital, and pathways to addiction recovery.

Ed Day
Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust and University of Birmingham
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The UK government’s drug Recovery Champion, and a clinician who has led the orientating of clinical practice towards recovery and has a research interest in recovery support services and mutual aid.
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Tracey Ford
Operations & Development Manager at Sheffield City Council
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Chair of Sheffield Recovery Community & Lead for Inclusive Recovery Cities. Author of Blood Is Thicker Than Alcohol, she’s also the founder of SWIPE Women’s Network, blending lived experience with leadership to drive trauma-informed change across systems and communities.


