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Our First Newsletter - Star Recovery


A close-up of multiple hands stacked together in a gesture of unity and support symbolising teamwork, collaboration, and community.
Welcome to Stronger Together Around Recovery (STAR).

Welcome to Stronger Together Around Recovery (STAR). We are a research consultancy company specialising in addiction recovery and rehabilitation, co-founded by Professor David Best and Sharon Osterfield.


It is early days for us, and we are still in our first year of operation. We have made significant strides in developing our new evidence-based and innovative model, promoting our values and mission, which is to champion the pathways to well-being and social connectedness.

 

In this newsletter, we’ll introduce our core team and share our recent work as part of the Inclusive Recovery Cities model. We’ve been piloting a new way of measuring recovery capital and of building resources and have recently forged an international partnership in the United States around employment and recovery.

 

We work with many incredible people and organisations, and in each issue, we will highlight their work and achievements and share a recent international partnership in the United States around employment and recovery.

 

Thank you for joining us on this incredibly exciting journey, combining collaboration and partnership with academic excellence and innovation.

Meet the Team at Star Recovery

The Stronger Together Around Recovery Team forms a dynamic range of expertise, blending lived experience, leadership, recovery science, trauma-informed approach and systems change.

 

Their collective experience spans backgrounds in public service, academic research, social justice and healthcare, with the insight and ability to address complex challenges holistically. Through collaboration, innovation and transformation, STAR delivers sustainable impact to amplify recovery-focused services.


David Best is an internationally recognised academic and authority on recovery science, particularly the science of recovery capital.

 

A man with short, curly, salt-and-pepper hair and a beard is sitting at a white round table inside a modern glass-walled space at Leeds Trinity University. He is wearing a light blue button-up shirt with the sleeves down and dark-colored trousers. He has a calm, neutral expression and is looking directly at the camera. His hands are resting on the table, with fingers gently interlocked. The background features large windows allowing natural daylight to enter, with an outdoor space visible, including wooden picnic benches, greenery, and a brick building. Behind him, there is a large, colorful poster with an artistic collage of faces and text elements.
Professor David Best, Co-Founder

He was originally trained as a psychologist and then criminologist and has worked in research, policy and practice settings in the UK, the US and Australia.

 

In the course of the last 12 years, he has collected nearly 4,000 recovery stories and has led innovative co-productions including being a founder member of Inclusive Recovery Cities and the College of Lived Experience Recovery Organisations.

 

He has published more than 240 peer-reviewed journal papers, eight books (including the forthcoming Recovery Capital Handbook) and around 70 technical reports.

 

He is committed to innovation and co-production in recovery research and practice.



Sharon Osterfield is the co-founder and commercial director for STAR. 


A woman with long, straight, light brown hair and a warm smile is standing against a plain, light-colored wall. She is wearing a silky, light blue blouse with a bow detail at the neckline and long sleeves. Her hands are gently clasped in front of her. The background is plain and white with no additional background details.
Sharon Osterfield, Co-Founder

Sharon has an MSc in Leadership and Management and over 30 years of experience managing complex projects across the NHS and private sectors. Sharon has overseen large-scale programs, driving organisational transformation and fostering cultural change. Her work often involves developing policies, setting operational standards, and implementing sustainable, long-term improvements across services.

 

She has a passion for supporting individuals from disadvantaged and marginalised communities, that inspired her to develop innovative models addressing housing, education, and rehabilitation. Informed by her knowledge of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), she co-founded a project offering integrative support for at-risk individuals.

 

Sharon is also a trustee for several organisations, including Reframe Coaching, that support individuals post gambling harm. 



Shelley Duffy is a STAR Research Assistant and PhD student, with her research in addiction and recovery on the barriers and support needs of women in recovery, with a particular focus on mothers.

A woman with dark brown hair styled in a half-up, half-down fashion is smiling at the camera. She has bright blue eyes, well-defined eyebrows, and a nose piercing on her left nostril. She is wearing gold hoop earrings and a delicate gold necklace with a heart-shaped pendant. She is dressed in a black spaghetti-strap top. The background is a plain, light-colored wall, and the lighting is soft and natural, giving the image a warm and friendly feel.
Shelley Duffy, Research Assistant

She has many years of experience as a Civil Servant Executive Officer with significant expertise in organisational management, product development, service delivery and broad multi-stakeholder liaison and collaboration. She is talented in research development and review, academic writing, and project management, and skilled in the management of complex caseloads and building strong relationships and co-construction.

 

Shelley has an unwavering motivation and dedicated work ethic and graduated in 2024 with a First-Class Psychology Master’s Degree, despite her several significant traumatic experiences and personal losses throughout her academic career.

 

Shelley is in recovery from drug and gambling addiction, and despite having every reason to give up and accept defeat, fought back to sobriety and her success with hard work, determination and the prevailing, deep desire to help others. 



Ellie Brown is a STAR research assistant and PhD candidate in the field of Addiction and Recovery.

A woman with long, wavy blonde hair is smiling at the camera while outdoors in a rural setting. She has blue eyes, a nose piercing, and a cheerful expression. She is wearing a dark brown, textured coat over a lighter beige coat, with a white top visible underneath. The background features an open field with scattered pumpkins, grassy areas, and power lines in the distance, suggesting an autumn setting. The sky is a mix of blue and light clouds.
Ellie Brown, Research Assistant

Her professional experience spans multiple sectors, including NHS healthcare, Higher Education, and the Third Sector, including Domestic Abuse support provision and reducing barriers for employability projects in the York and North Yorkshire area, alongside leading the strategy and implementation of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion both nationally and internationally.

 

Ellie graduated in December 2024 with a first-class MSc Psychology Conversion degree from Leeds Trinity University and has an undergraduate degree in Law (LLB Hons) and a Diploma in Business Management.

 

She is driven by a commitment to social justice and equitable access across services, with her expertise lying in improving systems and outcomes and operational efficiencies, project management and building resilience and sustainability to foster inclusion and break down barriers. She has volunteered as a UN Women UK Participant for the UN Women annual conference and works on a range of freelance projects including Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, healthcare procurement and organisational development briefs.



Our Work


A group of people is gathered in a modern, well-lit meeting space with large windows overlooking a brick building. The attendees are seated in a semi-circle on blue and black chairs or cushioned benches, listening to speaker, David Best who is standing near a screen displaying a presentation slide. Another person is seated at the front, gesturing while speaking. The room has a casual and collaborative setting, with tables holding notebooks, coffee cups, water bottles, and other materials. Some attendees are taking notes, while others are listening attentively.
Inclusive Recovery Cities Council

The Inclusive Recovery Cities movement was first conceived in a paper by David Best (in partnership with Charlotte Colman from Ghent University in Belgium) but has really gathered momentum since its launch in Middlesbrough in May of 2023.

 

There are now 30 Inclusive Recovery Cities striving to:

  • Provide four events each year that bring together the community

  • Challenge stigma and exclusion

  • Create pathways for volunteering and community engagement for people in recovery

  • Celebrate the achievements of recovery

STAR’s has provided the specialist training and support in establishing an Inclusive Recovery City – and our role will grow in evaluating and building Inclusive Recovery Cities once they are formed.

 

Currently we are working in partnership with three cities.


Newcastle

A large group of people is standing together in an indoor space with large windows, posing for a group photo. The group consists of men and women of various ages. They are gathered around a "REVIVAL NEWCASTLE" banner, which has a purple and white design featuring a stylized phoenix logo. The banner contains text about the organisation's mission related to recovery and support services. The room is well-lit with modern office-style decor, including illuminated pillars.
Revival, Newcastle

We have provided mentoring to the core project team in Newcastle and helped them to develop Revival Newcastle bringing together professionals and lived experience organisations to create an innovative model that was launched at Newcastle Civic Centre in September 2024.

 

We are now supporting the IRC Council to deliver training in asset mapping and are currently involved in training their community connectors as we prepare for future events.


Nottinghamshire

A group of people is seated around a wooden table in a well-lit room, engaged in a discussion. The participants are attending Community Connectors Training, with some taking notes and others listening attentively. The room has white walls with decorative molding, giving it a classic interior design. On the wall behind them, there is a large blue cloud-shaped graphic labeled "RECOVERY CLOUD", containing various words and phrases related to recovery support, such as "Training & Education," "Narcotics Anonymous," "Health & Exercise," "Helping Others," and "One Day at a Time."
Community Connectors Training, Nottinghamshire

This partnership has brought together the local authority and the key local providers – Change Grow Live, Double Impact and Hetty’s (the family support service) to coordinate the launch and implementation of IRC.

 

We had a wonderful launch event at Mansfield Town Football Club, and we have recently finished the training and support of Community Connectors.

 

The second event – supporting employment, training and education – was held on the 3rd of December in Worksop, Nottinghamshire.


Tampa Bay Communities (Florida, USA)


Our newest IRC partnership is international!

 

We are currently finalising the contract to work with Treasure Island, a community on the west coast of Florida in the United States. Here, we will be not only supporting the emergence of an IRC council (Tampa Bay Communities) and providing training and support around Asset Mapping and Community Connector recruitment and training, but we will also be developing online training materials that can be made available to support the ongoing enhancement and roll-out of the IRC movement.


Our Partner Spotlight

At Stronger Together Around Recovery, we believe that meaningful change happens through collaboration and partnership.

 

Recovery is not a solo journey—it thrives in networks of support, expertise and shared purpose. We are proud to work alongside a diverse range of partners. During each of our newsletter issues, we highlight the incredible work of these LEROs, organisations and individuals to showcase their successes.

PROPs Specialist Family Drug and Alcohol Service Logo. It is a light blue colour, and the O has a heart shape inside it.
PROPS Specialist Drug and Alcohol Service

PROPS is a Specialist Family Drug and Alcohol Service that supports families and carers in Newcastle and North Tyneside.

  

They’ve been successfully supporting carers in the North East for over 27 years and have been using the Community Reinforcement and Family Training – CRAFT – model for 14 years.

 

CRAFT is an evidence-based programme that was researched in the USA, however, it’s exciting to work with STAR in their research, using our up-to-date data, to evidence CRAFT’s efficacy with individuals and families here in the UK. 

 

The PROPS team and our careers are thrilled to be included in the discussions and share their own success stories to give their personal perspective on CRAFT.

 

Helen Thompson, Chief Executive Officer of PROPS North East, is confident that this work will help to raise the profile of the support and outcomes for carers and families living in Newcastle and North Tyneside, as well as raise awareness of the need for families across the UK to be supported to help their family member into and through their recovery, as well as their own.

 

To find out more, visit the PROPS website, or you can get in touch with PROPS online or via the helpline which is available 9 am-9 pm every day (including weekends) on 0191 226 3440.



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