It is amazing to see what Wynford has achieved in Wales since he became involved in recovery-related work. I just love visiting The Living Room when I am back in Cardiff – I find an inner peace there. Last year, I spent a very jolly New Years Eve there with my two youngest children, Sam and Natasha.
It’s an honour to have Wynford as a member of our network. And I know we are going to do something special together in the future, even though we are on the other side of the world to each other.
‘After a 40 years career as a writer, actor and director working in theatre and television, Wynford returned to college in 2006 to study for a Fd.Sc. degree in Addictions Counselling.
After graduating in the summer of 2008, he worked briefly as an addictions counsellor in Rhoserchan, the drug and alcohol treatment centre above Penrhyncoch, near Aberystwyth.
On the 1st of October, 2008, he started work as Chief Executive Officer of the Welsh Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs, and a cornerstone of his 3 year strategy was the establishment of Stafell Fyw Caerdydd/Living Room Cardiff, a community based Recovery Centre supporting people with addiction problems in Cardiff and surrounding areas.
He was awarded the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship for 2010 and visited some of the new recovery community centres in the U.S. which have achieved long-term recovery from severe alcohol and/or drug-related problems. A network of such centres is to be found in Vermont, Connecticut and Philadelphia, Washington DC and Virginia.
Visiting these centres provided Wynford with very useful ideas on how to better build a strong “peer culture” into the Stafell Fyw Caerdydd/Living Room Cardiff project, which was officially opened on 8th September, 2011.
Wynford is married to Meira, has two daughters, Bethan and Rwth, and is a very proud grandfather to Begw, Efa, Bobi and Jac. He lives in Creigiau on the outskirts of Cardiff.
Wynford is in recovery and his sobriety date is 22nd July, 1992.’