I think women coming together and speaking is really great. Hearing other women s stories was very inspiring. To hear what they have been through and

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2 I think women coming together and speaking is really great. Hearing other women s stories was very inspiring. To hear what they have been through and come out the other side confident and strong in themselves. It s great it makes a big difference to me and gives me hope to keep going and that it can be done cause some days I think its never going to happen for me

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4 GPs not supportive during decision to reduce. Detox should be client led

5 I believe education is the way forward. I m in recovery 5 years and I am currently studying drugs and alcohol in UCD. If I knew then what I know now. I believe my life would be a lot different.

6 Social deprivation and poverty, social exclusion plays a big part in addiction and the state this country is in we can look forward to much more addiction.

7 There is only one service for mother and baby which is a big block for women coming into recovery

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9 I found the C/A fellowship very good and its saved my life. The CDT in Blanchardstown were very helpful to me. Counsellors, Keyworkers, etc

10 All of the services available are for Drug and Alcohol based addictions not much service for education around gambling. Have to link in with other addiction services. Education is very important. SAOL opened a door to a new life.

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12 Not enough support from GP and for mental health

13 Detox should be client led with the support of the services. Clinics + detox services don t have enough respect for clients

14 I m from Cork and I m in Coolmine. I will be going back in a few weeks. And I hope to be able to raise awareness for women in addiction and recover as there are not many services

15 When I was pregnant I went to the Dove Clinic and it was a good experience. I have two children and both pregnancies were good experiences The only thing was that I had to bring the babies home to a family member for six weeks by the social workers

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17 Had bad experience with public health. Left waiting around for methadone in hospital On my first baby I had to bring my mother to collect my child when she was let home Had a good GP Had a good recovery programme Good family as well

18 Hospital no support Made me feel upset and every visit. I could see how different I was treated when I had my first two children. I wasn t on drugs and because I was on my last child the service was different. My own GP family doctor was more supportive to me and help me get through my detox

19 Had a great time enjoyed the chats with the women I met and if I had known about this before I would have come a long time ago. Great to have experience with the other women. There should be more places like this for women. Where to meet and how to meet up.

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21 Doctors I find that they don t want to work with the client when they want to recover. Great day today glad to have the experience with other places. There should be more of this for women.

22 Had great chats with the women from Fusion. Some great positive and a lot of negative topics. Enjoying the day Should be more days like this

23 When on City Clinic, didn t give a fuck because the way I was treated no support. When I came to SAOL everything changes for me I found the support I needed not only with my recovery but with health housing family education etc Most of all at the moment SAOL has got me the opportunity to build my life back with my teenage son.

24 I really enjoyed the morning meeting other woman in recovery and different programmes. Its great to hear these feedback also I found out a lot more info about treatment centres that are available for me when I am ready. It was good to bring all the women together. It was interesting listening to others views about the methadone services positives and negatives.

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26 At our table we discussed the pro s and cons of methadone clinics. Enjoyed listening to the view of the women how they felt about doctors and what goes on. How it compares to what used to happen. This also helped my views, looking at it from other peoples perspective.

27 I found this experience was really good. Meeting other women and seeing and hearing what they thought and how similar our opinions was and the topic we discussed was really good around methadone clinic positive and negative from everyone.

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29 I think today was a great idea, hearing from other women there experiences of being in recovery and in clinics. It was nice to meet with other women as you don t meet many women in recovery or clinics. Its mostly men that you meet. I would come to something like this again with women only

30 Very empowering to have all women together talking about real issues for women and children in recovery

31 I thought after meeting all the different women at my table today we had a lot in common. They were all in the building very warm and very open to what we were discussing the staff did a great job. The day went well Thanks

32 Enjoyed the day, have a lot in common with the other women

33 I think its great that women are joining forces and speaking about these things. Listening to other peoples stories gives you hope.

34 Had a great day, really enjoyed it, should be more days like this for women as its great for women to come together and talk and learn we are all here to help each other. Thanks for the invite and hope to see you again soon.

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36 There should be more supports for people with mental health instead of just handing out meds.

37 Great day delighted I came, there should be more women's days. Look forward to the next one. The women are lovely and its great to be able to identify with women instead of men for a change.

38 I had a great day talking to other women and got loads of information. I learned about other women s organisations that I didn t know about. I would like to be at more women s meetings.

39 I think the 2 main issues facing women are Lack of childcare to support women going into residential, getting to appointments, in CE schemes etc while there are some services available they are limited The stigma attached to women in particular those with children. Fear of honesty leading to childcare, involvement, fear of children being taken away etc

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41 Enjoyable course, enjoyed questions and meeting staff from other projects I found it hard to hear in the room Enjoyed the way it was introduced Enjoyed the speakers

42 I believe its very important to have separate services for women More services targeting women in alcohol and weed.

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44 It s a good day when you can come to a workshop on women in recovery. I ve been clear 2 years and have never seen anything like this being done before.

45 A lot of women are still using drink and drugs out there that want to get clean but they can t go into treatment because they have on one to take care of their children

46 I found it very helpful to talk to other women about their experiences and I was also able to find out about other support groups

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48 I found today s experience very interesting because so many women coming together that are in recovery and how they can talk openly about it

49 Methadone is not the answer to everything. I know it is proven to help people stabilise but in the long run it is much harder to get off and the hassle with doctors to reduce you can be daunting for a person that lacks assertiveness.

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51 It was very helpful coming together today as women in recovery as often I would think of certain services that need improving but you often find they don t have a suggestion box. This enforces the we know better that often makes them appear unapproachable or leaves you a grown woman feeling like a child.

52 Very hard for women to recover. Not much help with childcare so women can get to meetings

53 I think it is very useful meeting up and talking about problems you might have

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55 Very hard for women Can t get enough meetings, no one to mind the kids

56 Starting out was very funny and uplifting putting everybody at ease. One woman s story touched my heart because she lost her kids and I grew up in care and homes, so I identified with her. All in all I think it is a great idea getting all of the women together because you get a chance to meet up with other people that are not on drugs and are studying to become involved in schemes that are being run. Alcohol is classed as a social drink but I don t think so, alcohol is just as much a danger and killer just as much as drugs. I think coming together like this maybe even once a year is very beneficial to women who have children, especially so they can teach them in their own way

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58 I enjoyed the day as it was a new experience. There were people I didn t know but we had so much in common I think it would be nice to do this more as you meet new people who know what you re going through. It felt good to be able to sit with all women and have a good talk.

59 I feel doctors need to understand that service users have a right to reduce their methadone. There is always hope and it needs to be encouraged by doctors. Doctors and key-workers have to learn to communicate what s best for service users.

60 Had a bad experience with public health nurse.

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62 I really enjoyed talking to other women and hearing what they had to say about the topics. Also interesting to hear the pro s and con s of methadone clinics.

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64 To talk about the pro s and con s of methadone clinics was enjoyable to hear the other women's views of how they felt about doctors and what goes on, compared to what we are used to. This also helped my views from others peoples perspective.

65 After 3 years of education course nothing to do from it.

66 Very empowering to have all women together talking about real issues for women and children in recovery. I enjoyed the day, I have a lot in common with the other women.

67 I think its great that women are joining forces and speaking about these things. Listening to other peoples stories gives you hope.

68 Had a great day. Really enjoyed it, should be more days like this for women to come together and talk and learn, we are all here to help each other.

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70 There should be more supports for people with mental health instead of just handing out meds.

71 Great day delighted I came, there should be more women's days look forward to the next one. The women are lovely and its great to identify with women instead of men for a change. Brilliant experience.

72 I had a great day talking to other ladies, got a lot of information I never knew about. Id like to be at more women's meetings.

73 I think there is 2 main issues facing women are; 1) lack of childcare to support women going into residential, getting to appointments, in CE schemes etc-while there is one service available spaces are limited.2)the stigma attached to women particularly those with children is worse, the fear of children being taken away etc.

74 My GP was very supportive and helpful.

75 I felt degraded in the hospital at my appointments and during my stay.

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77 Hospital made me worry more, I didn t get any privacy getting my methadone. Hospital made me feel very little and stupid.

78 Only for my GP I would have had no support or proper information on pregnancy while on methadone.

79 Great opportunity for me to listen to service users who have opened up and shared their experiences of methadone services.

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81 Discrimination over methadone use, judged on my parenting skills because of my addiction. A positive is seeing the same doctor each week. The Dr was very reassuring to me.

82 Today felt great, doing something with myself felt empowered, there should be more of this for women and teenagers and help others as well with their addiction and do things for them all.