BETSY THOM - Professor of Health Policy at Middlesex University London and a leading researcher in addiction, public health, and community support structures. Her work focuses on how systems of care are built, maintained, and strengthened, particularly within vulnerable communities.She brings expertise in alcohol and drug policy, lived-experience research, and long-term recovery models.

For this project, she contributes context on resilience, support networks, and the social infrastructures that prevent collapse.

LOUIS APPLEBY - Professor of Psychiatry at University of Manchester and one of the UK’s most influential voices in suicide prevention and former National Director for Mental Health under the Department of Health. He leads the National Suicide Prevention Strategy and has produced the most comprehensive research on patterns, risk, and systemic failure in mental-health support. His work bridges clinical evidence with policy and public communication.

In this project, he provides insight into how prevention, infrastructure, and early intervention mirror engineering principles of reinforcement.

BUILD ON BELIEF - peer-led charity offering free, stigma-free, community spaces for people in addiction recovery. Their model prioritises stability, routine, and non-hierarchical support - a structure built “from within” rather than imposed externally. They run workshops, social programmes, and change-driven activities across multiple London sites.

For this project, they collaborate on the Maps for Change artworks and contribute lived-experience knowledge about what holds people in recovery.