SUIT - Service User Involvement Team

11/10/2026

Meet the SUIT Team - Richard Felton

Volunteer Office Facilitator

“As a volunteer I have learnt a lot about myself and how to help others. My time here at SUIT is really pleasurable. I enjoy the atmosphere within SUIT and the fact that as a volunteer, you know that you have helped someone with whatever they need, to help them focus on their recovery. To know that we have provided the best help and support is a wonderful feeling.

I enjoy coming to SUIT as it has helped with my own recovery over the past years and I shall always be thankful to all the staff here at SUIT. If they weren’t here, I don’t know where I would be and I thank them for getting my life back on track. Now I have my family back, which I lost when going through my addiction.

Thanks to all at SUIT.”

Thank you to Graham Stubbs for the team photos.

College of Lived Experience Organisations
WVCA - Wolverhampton Voluntary & Community Action

10/10/2026

If you're looking for something to do this morning, get yourself along to Base25, who are holding a Jumble and Vinted Sale.
You may bump into SUIT's Project Manager, Marcus is giving his time to support this superb service for young people in our city.

Fancy a Vinted sale 👗? Fancy a Jumble sale 👚?
Why not have both!!!! 2 for the price of 1! What a deal 🫰

10/10/2026

Meet the SUIT Team - Kiran Kaur

LERO Project Facilitator & Punjabi Support

“As SUIT’s Project Facilitator, I work alongside Fallon and Richard, coordinating referrals and administrative duties, and share safeguarding responsibilities with Michelle. My client support work focuses on affected others; people impacted by a loved one’s alcohol or drug use (a role shaped by my own lived experience). Like all of SUIT’s experienced staff, my journey began as a volunteer.

Affected others remain an underserved population, particularly within diverse communities where cultural expectations, stigma and language barriers can make accessing support more challenging. I provide one-to-one support, offer telephone support and help reduce barriers for Punjabi-speaking individuals for whom English is not their first language.

I also deliver community outreach in faith settings and at events across the city, as part of SUIT’s Cultural Engagement Team. Through this work, I have developed a deeper understanding of diverse communities, the impact of stigma, and the importance of education and open conversations around alcohol and other drugs. I am passionate about raising awareness of how substance use affects not only individuals, but also their families and wider communities.

I also prepare seva once a month at our George Street office, alongside my mother, Suky, providing a hot meal for anyone who may need one. Seva is an act of selfless service, rooted in love, care, generosity and belonging. For me, food is more than nourishment; it is a way of bringing people together, building connections and creating a sense of community where everyone feels welcome.”

Thank you to Graham Stubbs for the team photos.

College of Lived Experience Organisations
WVCA - Wolverhampton Voluntary & Community Action

10/10/2026

We're here for you 💜

10/10/2026

Residents are being encouraged to get involved in a range of events and activities taking place across Wolverhampton to mark World Mental Health Day today.

They include The Hope Remains: World Mental Health Day Reflective Service at St Peter's Collegiate Church this afternoon. Come together, hear messages of hope, and meet representatives from local support services. Doors open at 3.30pm, with the service running from 4-5pm, followed by information stalls and refreshments.

Councillor Obaida Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Community, said: "World Mental Health Day is an opportunity to remind people that help is available and that no one should feel they have to struggle alone."

Read our news story for more information, and details of local support services, by clicking the link in the comments below 👇

08/10/2026

Meet the SUIT Team - Michelle Lane
Volunteer Coordinator

"I’d always had a very unhealthy relationship with alcohol and but during lockdown it really became an issue. The isolation along with a deterioration in my physical and mental health meant that within a short amount of time, I had become alcohol dependent.

After an 8-week stint in residential rehab at BAC O'Connor Centres , Burton-Upon-Trent in October 2020, I returned home but faced the same isolation. I recognised that if I was going to give myself the chance of long-term recovery, I would need to find connections within my local area.

I registered with Wolverhampton Voluntary Service (now WVCA) and was soon given the opportunity to volunteer at SUIT. Although my recovery was going well, I felt unemployable due to the widespread stigma around addiction and had lost my self-confidence. At SUIT, I was able to re-gain my confidence at a pace in which I felt safe. I was instantly welcomed into the team and was made to feel valued. The support I received allowed me to recognise that I had transferable skills and lived experience, qualities that have allowed me to support clients and volunteers. I was also given opportunities for training and development, specific to my needs and the volunteering role.

At SUIT, I am surrounded by like-minded people also in recovery. It has made me feel normal and helped me to regain my self-respect. After volunteering for just over a year, I was fortunate enough to be offered employment as a Support Worker by SUIT and am now proud to hold the position of Volunteer Coordinator. It is a vastly rewarding, dynamic, and often challenging role. The support given to me by the SUIT team has enabled me to maintain my recovery and get my life back on track".

Thank you to for the team photos.

College of Lived Experience Organisations
WVCA - Wolverhampton Voluntary & Community Action

08/10/2026

Meet the SUIT Team - Christiane Jenkins

Creative Arts & Research Lead

“As Creative Arts & Research Lead at SUIT, you can find me out in the community, working alongside Recovery Near You with groups at the Recovery Hub, the Dual Diagnosis team at Pitt Street, with artists and creatives at Asylum Art Gallery & Studios Ltd andWolverhampton Art Gallery , and with tutors and students at University of Wolverhampton but my job role reaches wherever I’m needed.

I joined SUIT as a volunteer in 2018 and was supported within a peer-led environment to develop confidence, leadership skills, and a capacity to support others through outreach and guidance.

I secured a full-time role in 2024 and now lead on research-informed creative programming, with a focus on individuals who have experienced exclusion, stigma, and complex recovery barriers. Using my own lived experience, I have developed an approach of support for people that positions creativity as a structured intervention, enabling individuals to process experience, build self-worth, and articulate future direction.

My work aligns with SUIT’s founding ethos: to amplify voices often marginalised by addiction and social disadvantage, and to create pathways into purpose, skills development, and meaningful contributions."

Thank you to for the team photos.

College of Lived Experience Organisations
WVCA - Wolverhampton Voluntary & Community Action

07/10/2026

Meet the SUIT Team - Matt Whittall

Peer Support Worker - Hospital Drug & Alcohol Liaise Team

"It takes real bravery to seek help. Be brave and reach out and you will find a team of people that will offer patience, calm, and a care of duty built on our wealth of lived experience & strength.

My relationship with alcohol and drugs started at a very young age. Quickly progressed to becoming a real problem, affected everything, controlled everything, and I had to face things and seek help. I understood quickly that recovery from addiction is not a solo journey, and I’m happy to say that drug free.

I started volunteering with SUIT after being in residential rehab and I’m now part of an incredible and supportive recovery family, where I can use my lived experience complications from drink and drugs. The people I visit in hospital at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust New Cross present with severe complications from alcohol & drugs, but I can offer them hope and inspiration and show that recovery is possible. I build trust and encourage engagement into groups and services, and I support them by visiting at home after discharge."

Thank you to Graham Stubbs for the team photos.

College of Lived Experience Organisations
WVCA - Wolverhampton Voluntary & Community Action

06/10/2026

Meet the SUIT Team - Cody Jenkins

Data Illustrator

“I work as SUIT's Data illustrator and found out about the service after a family member went through their recovery with SUIT. I saw firsthand the incredible and sincere support given to vulnerable people, and after volunteering for 6 months I was lucky enough to get a job.

In my job role I collect and report data towards the support we deliver to our clients across services, including our busy office drop in, appointments, groups, Royal Wolverhampton NHS New Cross hospital, on community outreach and events. I also provide IT support and training to clients and volunteers, support Public Health’s Swap to Stop smoking cessation programme, and deliver SUITs drop in at Recovery Near You’s Pitt Street clinic, where I help clients in clinical treatment engage with our essential lived experience service.

I have a BSc with Honours in Chemistry which has supported my understanding of substance pathways and responses, and all things harm reduction, an essential part of our client support at SUIT.”

Thank you to Graham Stubbs for the team photos.

College of Lived Experience Organisations
WVCA - Wolverhampton Voluntary & Community Action

05/10/2026

Meet the SUIT Team - Karolina Sowinska

Cultural Engagement Team Lead

“I started as a volunteer with SUIT, and from day one, I have been so motivated to support people experiencing hardship. I work with dedication to help people where there is a language barrier, difficulties with refugee status, and the challenges that come with migration. Many of our Central and Eastern European clients have experienced stigma, poverty, and the community can feel isolated. I want to build trust in the community & encourage engagement where they may be fright or distrust. I work in the community, on home visits, on the DALT ward at New Cross Hospital, attend client appointments to support access to welfare, healthcare, housing, and employment, and I translate in my first language of Polish for Recovery Near You.”

Thank you to Graham Stubbs for the team photos.

College of Lived Experience Organisations
WVCA - Wolverhampton Voluntary & Community Action