'I love walking because it clears your mind, enriches the soul, takes away stress and opens up your eyes to a whole new world.'

Recovery can be a time of re-evaluation and finding our selves again. For many of us our addiction led to isolation, self-neglect and general lack of focus on anything other than our drug of choice, so being clean and sober can feel very raw and emotional as we are so much more aware.

In sobriety I found myself taking more notice of my surroundings and getting much more enjoyment from my dog walks, enjoying being outside whatever the weather.

Finding the Norman Leddy memorial gardens was a real joy and I love to go there and take time to reflect and enjoy the peace and tranquillity. 

It is like someone has pressed the pause button on life, the noise from the traffic disappears so all I can hear is the birdsong.

I like to think of this place as a secret garden and it is full of little nooks and crannies, you can almost imagine the fairies scampering around!

Ten minutes spent sitting on a bench and forgetting my worries and stresses is so therapeutic and leaves me feeling refreshed and ready for what life throws at me.

Now in these unprecedented times it is more important than ever to have a place where you can unwind and de-stress, everything is changing daily, the health of many of us and our loved ones are in jeopardy we all need a space to just be.