The 15th annual reunion

Our 15th annual reunion was held on the 13th September 2011 at the 'Royal Bath Hotel' in Bournemouth. Over 400 attended and helped make this, what we consider to be, the best reunion yet!

We kicked off with ‘The Provy Blues’, written and performed by Courtney with backing by Ben and Tom. A hit if ever I heard one!!! (excuse the pun!) This was followed by a remarkable poem by Ali. This was followed by our wonderful array of speakers the last of whom was a well known comedian who had the place in uproar with his unique brand of humour and moving testimonial. Our usual 'open mic' sharing was followed by our yearly 'class of .....' countdown. We had a total of over 600 years of sobriety in the room!

We would like to thank all those who kindly donated gifts for our auction and raffle including Paul Gascoigne who donated so much of himself while helping support our charity as well as the organizers of the ‘X’ Factor and Britain’s Got Talent for their kind donations and support.

Each year these events get bigger and bigger; this year was no exception. The majority of guests were ex-residents but were also joined by other Providence supporters. Guests included government advisors, journalists and long term supporters of Providence to celebrate our achievements and hopefully publicize our achievements in order to make the public aware of what is available.

The day started with coffee and networking and there was an incredible buzz in the hotel. The staff commented on the number of happy faces; something that is not seen at your average conference. Ex residents having the opportunity to meet up with people they were in treatment several years ago reminiscing about old times and talking about what they are up to now. It was clear to see the affection between staff and residents. This is clearly two way and again separates The Providence Projects from many other treatment centres.

Guests the enjoyed a fantastic lunch served by the hotel who did very well to serve 400 people simultaneously! Again, during lunch, there was a buzz of excitement, happiness and gratitude throughout the lunch.

The reunion moved into The De Vere Suite for the afternoon which is an incredible and grand room. The atmosphere was electric as staff, current residents, and ex-residents came up to tell their stories. Without going into detail of each story, it would be fair to say that the majority of The De Vere Suite shed a tear or two at the touching and powerful stories shared.

After a count up, The Providence Projects announced that there was over 1000 years of recovery in The De Vere Suite. This again, proof of the success at The Providence Projects.

One of the last speakers was a Mr Paul Gascoigne who said that he had never experienced anything like this and that it was undoubtedly the best treatment facility he had ever seen.

The hotel staff were excellent and served up a banquet for 300 of our guests before we all retired into the De Vere (theatre) Suite.