The Recovery Academy launches brand-new Spring / Summer 2026 term
The Recovery Academy’s brand-new Spring / Summer term starts on Tuesday 7 April 2026.
The Recovery Academy, which is part of Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMMH), is recognised locally and nationally as a flagship Recovery College. It offers educational and awareness raising courses and resources, focusing on recovery, wellbeing, and shared learning, bringing together the expertise of people with learnt experience, and people with lived/living experience.
The Recovery Academy is free to join and open to:
- the general public
- anyone who is experiencing mental health and/or addiction difficulties, and their supporters (family, friends, carers)
- healthcare professionals and professionals from external organisations.
Amy Lawrence, Team Manager for the Recovery Academy, shares:
“I joined the Recovery Academy in January 2026 and have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know our courses and resources, our facilitators, co-facilitators and students. Listening to what the Recovery Academy means to so many people is inspiring, and I feel honoured to become part of this community. I have been working hard over the past three months to visit services, promoting our offering across the GMMH footprint to our staff teams and our service users and carers.
"We will continue to do this during Mental Health Awareness Week in May 2026, doing a ‘pop-up roadshow’ alongside our students in a variety of venues in Greater Manchester – please come and say hello if and when you see us! I am excited to see courses in new venues this term and look forward to begin working with our students to identify and design new, exciting courses for the next term and beyond. I pledge to continue ‘taking action’, as we support the theme for this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week."
The new term has 60 face-to-face courses running in Bolton, Manchester, Prestwich, Salford, Trafford and Wigan. We are excited to introduce our new course ‘Roots to Recovery’ course which aims to provide students with the tools to cultivate a mindful and beneficial relationship with nature – perfect for the Spring and Summer weather!
The Recovery Academy is for everyone and for people not able to travel to or participate in a face-to-face course, digital resources provide a convenient way to keep learning, support wellbeing, and be part of the Recovery Academy student community. New digital resources for the Spring / Summer 2026 term include ‘supporting your child’s mental health’ from Minded for Families, ‘forests from anywhere’ from Forestry England, ‘how crime can affect you’ from Victim Support, and ‘life skills and careers’ guidance from the National Careers Service.
The Recovery Academy firmly believes in creating and supporting a positive mental health culture in the workplace. To this end, the Academy provides training and resources to support individuals with their wellbeing as well as bespoke training and resources for organisations. Recipients have included Metrolink, local housing associations, and Greater Manchester faith leaders.
If you would like to learn more about the Recovery Academy and the full range of courses and resources they provide, please visit The Recovery Academy website
You can also contact the Recovery Academy team directly:
Email: RecoveryAcademy@gmmh.nhs.uk
Phone: 0161 358 1771
