"Olympic" efforts by local woman to support local alcohol service

The following is a press release from HAGA:

In this exciting year of Olympic celebrations nationally and in Haringey, a local young woman, Josephine Hartfiel, is contributing her own “Olympic” efforts in support of a worthwhile cause.

Here’s her story: In 2010, Josephine, who is 30 and formerly a North-East Haringey resident, who now lives in Holloway, found herself caring for someone who was alcohol dependent. She explains that: “caring for someone with an addiction eats away your resources and nerves. All of a sudden there is a big fat rainy cloud above you and you cannot push it away, because it is not in your power.” She looked around for some help locally and found HAGA, Haringey’s local alcohol service. Josephine says that HAGA were “a big source of relief. They cannot solve the problem for you but they were there to listen and to help figure out what to do next.”

From this difficult experience, Josephine learnt that “life goes on” and started running, cycling and swimming to help cope with all that had happened. In May 2011, Josephine finished her first Triathlon (sprint distance 400m, pool swim, 20km cycling, and 5km running). Josephine said of her efforts “I was still pretty slow. But that didn't matter - as long as I kept going.”

This year, Josephine is doing her first Olympic distance triathlon, the Dambuster in Leicestershire, which will involve a 1.5km open water swim, 40km of cycling, and a 10km run. And as if that isn’t amazing enough, she is doing it all to raise £1000 for HAGA’s service-user-led arts and sports projects, such as Wheels of Recovery, a cycling and fitness project. If enough money is raised, HAGA’s service-users plan to launch a new photography course and hold an exhibition in November 2012 during Alcohol Awareness Week (19th-25th November) to raise awareness in the local community about the possibility of recovering from alcohol issues.

To support Josephine’s Olympic efforts and help those recovering from alcohol issues to rebuild their lives, people can sponsor her on 
her JustGiving page or joinour Facebook pageand share it with friends

For information about HAGA, visit our website haga.co.uk