Bigger Than Us
Stories in Motion
Recovery can be a long, lonely road.
For the residents of Cuan Mhuire, an addiction recovery centre in Kildare, there are days when the walls close in. Days when leaving feels like the only option, and when the place itself seems to weigh on you.
Then came a new lease of life on Wednesdays. Two hours outdoors together, something simple to look forward to. For one woman, it has become a gateway to wellness, the first step on her recovery journey after she leaves the centre.
The Programme
The idea came from the residents themselves. They had been talking about how little physical activity they got to do, and local ESF+ Social Innovation in Sport Officer Grainne O’Neil at Kildare Sports Partnership listened. Together they created a walking programme, bringing two groups outdoors: the women in the morning, and men in the afternoon.
There is something powerful in doing something new together. Stepping outside your comfort zone is easier when the person beside you is doing it too, and shared experiences bring people closer than words can.
In the Open Air
Out here, the pressure lifts. Some of the men and women found themselves back in the happiest days of their childhood, laughing and feeling free, proof that joy doesn't have to come from a drug. As one of them says, they're far from alone in feeling it. In the outdoors, there's another kind of life, and it's worth fighting for.
About Sport4Empowerment
Sport4Empowerment is a national programme led by Sport Ireland that uses sport and physical activity to support social inclusion. Delivered by Local Sports Partnerships across Ireland and co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), the programme works alongside people who face barriers to participating in sport, ensuring their stories are shared with care, consent, and dignity.
This project is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union.
"It's a chance to escape reality for a little while and go back to the happy times of our childhood. It goes to show you can have fun without drugs. And it's not just me. A lot of these lads will feel like that, because there's no life out there in addiction."
"It's kind of a gateway to wellness for me. I've had a lot of days in there where I wanted to leave and I was feeling down. So the simplest thing, coming out for a walk for two hours on a Wednesday, it's just something to look forward to."
"A lot of the residents had spoken about the lack of physical activity they got to do. So we came up with the idea of a walking programme."
