About Us

The Home of the Recovery Community in Grimsby and Cleethorpes

Community Involvement

Our abstinence based recovery programme of open-access workshops and community initiatives involve adults and young adults of all genders from the local community to get involved in creative projects.


Our Murals, Art Exhibitions and Events build a sense of community and social inclusion for people in recovery and their families.

Our Community

Community Workspaces

Our peer-support groups and our organisation ethos and vision focuses on building trust and encouraging personal development in individuals suffering from addiction and related mental health issues.


We build non-judgemental spaces that people not only feel part of, but actively encourage members to get involved in all aspects of the service.

Our Workspaces

Community Initiatives

We are a multi-award winning C.I.C that designs community art initiatives and provides support and creative services to local organisations to run creative events that encourage a positive sense of well-being.


We offer support, therapy and signposting, training and workshops, access to equipment, activities and creative opportunities to all our members.

Our Initiatives

Support and Mentoring

Our lived experience, peer-support structure focuses on using art and social contact to build trust, encourages personal development to create a sense of positive well-being and rebuilds members' confidence and self-esteem.

Funding Creativity

All profits generated go towards delivering creative workshops and projects as an abstinence-based aftercare therapy solution for people in recovery from a range of different life challenges, including addiction and mental health issues.

Creative Assistance

By assisting members with practical skills, expertise and access to essential equipment and creative activities that suit all skill levels, we help to create different forms of art that can be exhibited or sold to further support our mission.

Co-creation and collaboration

By collaborating with local communities, council-led services and other 'not-for-profits' to organise activities such as murals, art exhibitions and social events, we help our members bring their creative ideas to fruition.

'Creative Start have a variety of mixed-income streams and all profits generated go back in to delivering 'Art in Recovery' as an abstinence-based aftercare solution for people in recovery from a range of different life challenges, including addiction and mental health issues'.

We are an award-winning company that builds safe and honest workspace environments for our 'recovery community' and funds workshops, 'hands-on' training and creative activities that suit all skill levels.


By assisting members with practical skills, expertise and access to essential equipment, we enable them to create different forms of art that they can exhibit or sell to support our mission to promote recovery and reduce the stigma of addiction.


Our peer-support structure focuses on using art and social contact to build trust, encourages personal development to create a sense of positive well-being and rebuilds members' confidence and self-esteem.


By collaborating with local communities, council-led services and other 'not-for-profits' to organise activities such as murals, art exhibitions and social events, we help our members bring their creative ideas to fruition.


As an organisation, we are completely committed to supporting, improving and raising awareness of recovery from addiction in Grimsby and North East Lincolnshire.


For many of us, it is part of our own development that motivates us to help others in recovery.

Our Services

The 'Recovery Community' in Grimsby offers those in abstinence a place where they can be given trust, responsibility, and ownership and be empowered to make positive life choices, as well as raising awareness and providing education to the wider community.

Find out more

Get Support

You can contact us if you want to talk through any issues you're having.

This number is manned during opening hours only. Mon to Fri 10am to 3pm.

Find Help Online Get Support Now

'Creative Start have made a massive impact on the lives of others by inspiring them to focus on recovery and giving them the confidence to pursue their own creative directions'.

CLERO - College of Lived Experience Recovery Organisations

31 July 2022
The College of Lived Experience Recovery Organisations (CLERO) has emerged in the course of the last year as a powerful force for building an evidence base for recovery community organisation and for generating a positive radius of trust and hope. This will grow into a set of quality standards and a network of recovery organisations committed to evidencing what they do and championing innovation that is embedded in a set of clearly articulated values including transparency, openness and trust. The CLERO has been boosted by support and engagement from Dame Carol Black who is looking to the group for guidance around the role of recovery and organisations and by a small grant from the Big Lottery to develop our work. One of the key aspects of this is the support and training of a group of lived experience peers in the principles of research. This is not an abstracted academic course but training and development geared towards the first engagement phase of work done with LEROs across the UK. We are delighted to become a part of this exciting and challenging project to connect, support and encourage the development of Lived Experience Recovery Organisations around the UK as a Member. Want to be a part of CLERO too? Become a member here What are the Underlying Principles of a LERO? Principle 1: Informed by a primary relationship with their community and who act in response to the needs and aspirations of their community, recognising and employing the assets and competencies that already exist Principle 2: Everything done in and by a LERO is driven through co-production Principle 3: All activities will be informed by a rights-based approach, including the right to health The History of CLERO Starting in May 2020, a group of 10 champions of recovery from different corners of the recovery ecosystem began to meet on a weekly basis to share their thoughts and support each other and an agenda quickly developed consisting of five objectives: To expand the scope beyond a narrow definition of recovery to include all of those damaged by exclusion and marginalisation – and so the term LERO (Lived Experience Recovery Organisation) was born To provide a platform for sharing and disseminating the Innovations that are central to recovery oriented organisations To agree on a core set of Values for Lived Experience Recovery Organisations To create an Evidence-Base for recovery organisations to provide credibility and professionalism To develop a set of Standards for LEROs as a framework for growth and development rather than a cage It is no coincidence that these five objectives connect to form another acronym, LIVES. The aim of all LEROs is to support individuals, families, and communities to lead positive and meaningful lives that contribute to the wellbeing of their communities. The Clero Mission The aim is to develop a Recovery Strategy that is signed up to by crucial leadership figures and organisations for (addiction) recovery in the UK. The focus will be on Lived Experience Recovery Organisations (LEROs), that has the idea of active citizenship at its core. We want to build coherence, trust, credibility and consensus for recovery groups and communities based on a model that promotes an evidence-based approach predicated on Lived Experience. What are the Four Objectives of Clero? 1: To identify and champion innovation in LEROs and provide a supporting evidence base 2: To provide connections and support for recovery leadership 3: To champion good practice in LEROs and to develop standards 4: To act as a voice for LEROs and a hub of evidence and knowledge The CLERO Members CLERO is aiming to create a local, regional and national voice that can support quality standards, evidence good care in formal treatment settings and contribute to policies and decisions relating to service provision. We want to help the development and sustainability of other Lived Experience Recovery Organisations. These are the current tiers of membership: CLERO connectors are (the group that will provide strategic oversight and make the connections that will enable voices to be heard on all levels) CLERO members are (the core group that will be the voice of the LEROs across the UK and help shape our strategic direction) CLERO supporters / friends are (supporters and champions of LEROs, that will help build bridges and relationships to enable change)
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