A Typical Day

Weekdays at Francis are very structured, this may initially seem unnecessary or even threatening but we hope to bring feelings of safety and reassurance to people whose lives may previously have been at best unmanageable and at worst chaotic.

You will usually be woken by the senior resident at 7.3Oam and will be in the lounge for meditation at 8.OOam. The meditation session involves a reading from an AA or other text followed by time to think about what was read. The residents may spend a short time discussing how they feel about the thought expressed in the text.

Breakfast is at 8.15, any resident who requires medication will be given their medication before breakfast and at other times of the day as required. At breakfast, as at all meals, residents are expected to sit together and eat together.

After breakfast residents have assigned domestic duties including cleaning and tidying their own room, these are referred to as Therapeutic Duties (or T.D.'s). All duties have to be finished by 10.00am when the first group therapy session of the day takes place. The group finishes at around 11.00am after which residents have coffee. The second group starts at 11.30am until 12.15pm. This takes the form of life stories house groups or lectures. The kitchen team prepares a light lunch for all residents, which is served at 1 p.m.

The afternoon session begins at 2.00pm to 3.00pm with another group, lecture, video and talk. After a coffee break, a second group will begin at around 3.15pm until 4.00pm this can be a walk, a group, written work or attending the local YMCA for fitness activities. The kitchen team will prepare the main meal of the day, which is served at 6.OOpm.

The evening is less structured, some evening's residents may attend local meetings of AA or NA. There is a television available, although just watching TV is not encouraged. Each week there will be a DVD evening and there are board games and a limited library of books. Many residents spend evenings talking to their peers about their experiences and what has been learnt during the days sessions, it is also the time when many people phone home or receive calls from their families.

Family visits are normally on Sundays although other days may be agreed with the staff in advance if required, visits generally take place on site.

Every few weeks we endeavour to have a group outing of some kind, depending on the season, when the houses have off-site activities for the day.