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While the concept of recovery is one of the main drivers in contemporary mental health services (Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, 2009), it is not uncontentious (Mind, 2008). One of the earliest critics of recent developments was the psychiatrist Dr David Whitwell. He suggested that few service users could be said to have recovered and that survival might be a better term (Whitwell, 1999). Roberts and Wolfson (2004) asked if recovery is open to all. The concept of recovery hero will be equally contentious to some, and indeed the subject of this feature, Matt Ward, does not see himself as a recovery hero.

The influential Sainsbury Centre report, Making Recovery a Reality (Shepherd et al, 2008), talks about clinical and social aspects of recovery. The issue of psychological recovery is not discussed at length, although other workers have put forward a psychological model of recovery (Andresen et al, 2003). While there are numerous definitions of recovery, the one developed by Gordon, the focus of this profile, is unlikely to be matched for its parsimony. Gordon describes recovery as ‘coping with your illness and trying to have a meaningful life’ (McManus, 2008). In this paper, he outlines his background. He is then interviewed by Sarah Morgan about his life, illness and recovery. Finally, Jerome gives an appreciation of his contribution to our developing understanding of recovery.

Margaret's story concludes our short series on recovery heroes. This series started with Dolly Sen, followed by Peter Chadwick, Gordon McManus and Matt Ward. Four of the five people featured were from our local service at South London and Maudsley NHS Trust. We have defined recovery heroes as individuals whose journeys of recovery can inspire both service users and professionals alike. Margaret once commented that, ‘all service users are recovery heroes’. It is fitting that the series should end with her own story.

This article provides a cameo of Winston Churchill, said by many to have been the greatest Englishman who ever lived, largely due to his leadership during the Second World War. Since his death in 1965, much more has become known about his lifelong battle with depression, his ‘Black Dog’, however it now seems more likely that he suffered with bipolar disorder. This article argues that his mental illness may in fact have led to him being a better leader. Championed in 2006 in a statue by Rethink and most recently by the Time to Change campaign, he is a true recovery hero.

The development of the recovery approach must mean a fundamental change in how mental health services see service users, for as the Social Perspectives Network paper rhetorically asks, ‘Whose Recovery is it?’, it is, of course, the service users' (Social Perspectives Network, 2007). The recent influential Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health report, suggests that professionals need to move from a position of ‘being on top, to being on tap’ (Shepherd et al, 2008). Service users need to take a more central role in the whole recovery debate. One of the ways that this aim can be realised is by looking at ‘recovery heroes’. These are individuals whose journey of recovery can inspire both other service users and professionals alike.

Florence Nightingale was one of the most influential women of the 19th century. She is most closely associated with the Crimean War and the subsequent development of the nursing profession. Before shewent to the Crimea, she had experienced episodes of depression. While in the Crimea she contracted brucellosis and although she returned to England a national heroine, she lived the life of an invalid for several decades. Despite her physical and mental health problems, she produced over 200 reports, pamphlets and books, not just on nursing, but on a wide variety of other topics. This phenomenal productivity has led some authors to suggest that she may have had bipolar disorder.

In the first paper in this short series (Sen et al, 2009), we talked about the importance of having ‘recovery heroes’. There is a grave danger to the whole recovery movement if it is colonised by mental health professionals and not owned by service users themselves (O'Hagan, 2008). This danger can be seen in attempts to conduct randomised controlled trials of ‘recovery interventions’, designed by professionals, who want to bring recovery practice into evidence‐based medicine. If it means anything, recovery is fundamentally an individual process. The recent Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health report (Shepherd et al, 2008), quotes Bill Anthony:‘Recovery … is a deeply personal, unique process of changing one's attitudes … involves the development of new meaning and purpose in one's life …’ (Anthony, 1993)Patricia Deegan also emphasises the person‐centred focus of recovery, ‘… recovery is an attitude, a stance, a way of approaching the day's challenges …’ (Deegan, 1996, p96). The most important evidence, to our minds, is that of individuals who are on the journey of recovery. Recovery heroes are courageous individuals who have made considerable progress along the path that few staff ever have to travel. We would like to introduce you to another one: Peter Chadwick.

The purpose of this paper is to review the 16 published non-student Recovery Heroes and Remarkable Lives accounts published in Mental Health and Social Inclusion, using the connection, hope, identity, meaning and empowerment (CHIME) framework.

All 16 accounts were rated independently by four researchers and evaluated in terms of whether each account met the five criteria for the CHIME model.

All accounts met the criteria for the CHIME model, with the exception of one, which still met four of the five criteria. Evidence was presented which suggests that the model can be extended to creativity, connectedness, hope, identity, meaning and empowerment (C-CHIME), to incorporate creativity.

While a certain level of subjectivity is required in deciding how each account meets the CHIME criteria, there were high levels of inter-rater reliability within the research team. Creativity had a central place in all the accounts.

The revised C-CHIME model can be used by practitioners to examine accounts of recovery in a more focussed manner and may also help in devising recovery action plans.

The recovery model privileges both professional and lived experience perspectives on recovery. The current review highlights how much we can benefit from the wisdom contained in first person accounts.

This review adds to the existing literature and highlights the importance of creativity for mental health recovery.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of Rob Wright.

Using a case study approach, Rob gives a short account of his background and is then interviewed by Jerome.

Rob’s is an amazing account of surviving a harrowing upbringing, which fortunately few of us reading this piece will have had to endure.

Rob’s story perfectly illustrates why first-person accounts are so powerful. It is hard to imagine a statistical paper having the same impact as this description of one person’s lived experience.

Suicide is the greatest danger for anyone with a long-term mental health problem. Rob has faced this decision many times and has courageously battled on.

Rachel’s simple, yet profound mantra, of “someone to love, something to do, somewhere to live,” is vital for all of our well-being. As Rob also points out, you still need money to put into the electric meter!

Some people have tough upbringings and some have cruel upbringings. Rob had both. His survival is a testament to the uncrushable nature of the human spirit.