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ABOUT US: EMPOWERING PEOPLE

WIRED was developed six years ago by David Clark, a Professor of Psychology at University of Wales, Swansea, as a way of empowering people to tackle substance misuse. It aims to:

  • Provide the information, support and tools that people require to help them overcome or reduce their substance use problem;
  • Improve the quality of services in the community provided to people with a substance use problem and their families and carers;
  • Raise awareness and understanding of substance misuse, the problems it creates and the ways to deal with these problems.

WIRED has a small core team, the majority working in their spare time. It has the assistance of a range of professionals, and access to an ongoing programme of support and engagement with users, ex-users, and their families.

David Clark, Director of WIRED, is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Wales Swansea. David spent 25 years as a neuroscientist, his research focusing on Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia and drug addiction. He trained with Professor Arvid Carlsson, winner of the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine in 2000. David changed “career” six years ago, due to an increasing interest in substance misuse, and set up WIRED at this time.

Sarah Davies, a Psychology graduate, has been a regular research consultant for WIRED for the past two and a half years. She works closely with treatment agencies, clients and their families on awareness raising and engagement projects. In addition to writing research reports, agency profiles and personal stories, Sarah has also prepared the treatment and training manuals for a major UK service provider. She also manages this web site.

Lucie James recently graduated in Psychology at the University of Wales Swansea, winning the Student of the Year Prize. She conducted qualitative research on the prescribed use of methadone and subutex, and is now conducting a research project on treatment in prisons for a major service provider. Lucie is also a content provider for the forthcoming WIRED empowerment site.

Keith Morgan is the Project Co-ordinator for the DOMINO (Development of Motivation in New Outlooks) project at West Glamorgan Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (WGCADA) in Swansea. Keith has ‘been there’ – his personality, caring nature, ability to understand people, and sense of fun make him a special asset. He is also a professional rock musician and sound engineer.

Inga Rose is involved with the strategic marketing of Wired. She is Managing Director of Air Marketing Limited, a marketing consultancy providing specialist support for the catering and hospitality industry – an industry in which she has spent her career. Inga brings strong communication and marketing planning skills to the team.
Anni Stonebridge is the Drug and Alcohol Development Officer for the Aberdeenshire Alcohol and Drug Action Team. She was previously Performance Manager in the North Wales Drug and Alcohol Forum, at a time that she was working closely with DC on a large national evaluation of treatment services. Anni has also conducted a wide range of consultancy projects.
Simon Tarry is a consultant providing business and marketing support. After training as a nurse in the British Army, he began a career in medical sales and marketing. He co-founded the medical device Marketing and Business consultancy Joint Solutions Ltd, which became one of the leading musculo-skeletal dedicated business consultancies, working with major orthopaedic companies, orthopaedic surgeons, and leading Universities globally. Simon is currently Business Director of Stryker UK Ltd.
Ash Whitney of Wired up Wales has been the web developer of all WIRED web sites since their birth. He designs all the sites, trouble shoots, and plays a key role in the development of WIRED’s internet strategy. Ash has a wide-ranging customer-base for his web design services, as well as sales and marketing experience, including with Google Adwords and eBay.
Jim Young is the Content Editor of Daily Dose and Drugs in Sport. A trained nurse, Jim now works full-time in molecular biology research at the Medical School in the University of Wales, Swansea. He writes a regular monthly column in The Southern Medical Journal, USA, and is curator of the research bibliography for the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy. He is a keen photographer and publishes his own photoblog.

Gallery

Click here to view the images as a slideshow, or click on the images below to see larger versions.

Spot the musician!
Sarah and John’s maniacal grins!
WIRED team building day
WIRED’s secret retreat in Scotland
David and Annalie in paradise
David with Tom Horvath, president of SMART
The Dave’s in the House of Lords
Jim in his Daily Dose territory
Celebrating DDN’s first birthday

“If you want happiness for a lifetime – help someone else. “

Printable summary about Wired

Please read our aims and a message from the Director of WIRED.

Check us out in more detail:

The Team

International Advisory Board

Close Collaborators

We thank the Trustees of our charity Wired International Ltd (Charity No: 1077312), Canon Peter Williams, Mike Ashley and Jeff Zorko, for their help over the past few years. Also to our advisors at Colin Coates and Partners, Mike Ashley, Colin Coates and Robin Simmons.

We are grateful to those who have also contributed to WIRED activities in the past, particularly, Annalie Clark, Aimee Hopkins and Gemma Salter.