New Roads Ahead.
A structured 12-week group programme. Peer-led. Workbook-driven. Built from lived experience. Designed to change patterns, not personalities.
What New Roads Ahead is
New Roads Ahead (NRA) is a structured 12-week group programme for adults stepping out of addiction, leaving prison, on probation, or trying to rebuild in the early steady months after any of those.
It's not therapy. It's not leisure. It's not a lecture. It's a small group of people working through the same material at the same time, led by facilitators who've walked the road themselves.
Each session is two hours, once a week, for twelve weeks. The workbook and facilitator manual drive the session — everyone knows what we're doing and why.
Four principles hold the programme together.
Every week builds on the last — and four commitments run all the way through. This is what makes NRA different from talking therapies, sit-down courses, or leisure programmes.
Peer-led from the front
- →Every session is led by a facilitator who has walked the road themselves — addiction, imprisonment, or recovery. Lived experience is the delivery model, not a soundbite.
Workbook-driven, not freeform
- →A structured participant workbook anchors every session. Facilitators work from a clear manual. Nothing is improvised — the same high standard runs cohort to cohort.
The group is the engine
- →People change faster alongside others doing the same work. The group — not the facilitator — carries the heaviest lift, in a room that is warm but properly boundaried.
Measured, honestly
- →Validated wellbeing and self-efficacy measures at three points across the 12 weeks. We report real numbers. We publish what we learn — including what didn't work.
For referrers, commissioners and professionals: A detailed week-by-week breakdown of themes, session structure, tools, and the full evidence base is available in our programme information pack — please get in touch and we'll send it across.
What a session looks like
Every week follows the same shape. That consistency is deliberate — it builds trust, makes the group feel safe, and means people always know what to expect.
Each two-hour session includes a structured check-in, accountability on the previous week's targets, a themed topic talk led by a facilitator with lived experience, group activities, personal workbook time, and a closing group round. Every session ends with a new weekly target and a positive close.
The format is designed so that facilitators follow a clear manual and participants work through a structured workbook — it's not improvised, it's not freeform, and it's the same high standard every time.
The tools participants learn
The programme is built around a set of practical decision-making and reflection tools that participants use in every session and take with them into daily life. They're designed to be simple enough to remember under pressure and structured enough to actually work.
These tools help people interrupt old patterns in real time, reflect on what happened without shame, and set realistic targets for the week ahead. They run all the way through the 12 weeks — by the end, they're second nature.
For professionals: If you'd like a more detailed overview of our programme structure, tools, and evidence base, please get in touch and we'll send you our full programme information pack.
Safe, boundaried, and consistent
Every session operates under a clear set of ground rules that are repeated each week. The group is a safe space to be honest — but it's boundaried. There's no glorifying, no graphic detail, and no pressure to share more than someone is ready for. Participants choose what they share, and confidentiality is respected within safeguarding limits.
Activity pathways.
Alongside the weekly sessions, participants earn progression into structured activities — once engagement with the group is established. Activity pathways open in three tiers. These are not rewards — they're part of how change sticks.
Structured fitness pathway
A funded fitness and personal training pathway that begins part-way through the programme. Builds a personal routine that carries on past the programme ends.
Group activities
Outdoor and wellbeing activities — kayaking and canoeing, mountain biking, and contrast therapy — delivered through our partners as structured group activity for the cohort.
Personal interest support
Personalised handover to a local club, group, or activity business based on what each participant is drawn to — with funded first-access support to help them through the door. The goal isn't dependency on R2R — it's people equipped to carry on under their own steam.
What NRA is not
- Not therapy or clinical treatment. Where someone needs that, we help them find it.
- Not a leisure programme. Activities are earned progression, not treats.
- Not a replacement for probation or recovery services. NRA sits alongside them.
- Not a soft touch. Participants are expected to show up, do the workbook, and keep going.
Who delivers it
Sessions are delivered by facilitators with lived experience of addiction, imprisonment, or recovery. They're trained, boundaried, and working to a clear facilitator manual for every session.
Lived experience is not a nice-to-have in our delivery model — it's the foundation of it.
Ready to refer or enquire?
Find the right route in — or check if NRA is a good fit.