Tony Burkitt

Turning Pain into Purpose – The Story of Tony Burkitt Once a Birmingham lad with a backpack full of chaos and then moving to th eIsle of Wight, Tony Burkitt has worn more hats than most: soldier, chef, HGV road warrior, recovery champion, and now international addiction specialist. If you asked him twenty years ago where he'd be today, “Thailand, helping people change their lives” probably wouldn’t have been the answer — but here we are. After 20 years of living life in the fast lane (and sometimes the ditch), Tony made the ultimate comeback: from battling substance use disorder to managing the very service that once supported him — Inclusion Isle of Wight. Starting as a service user, he worked his way up through the ranks with grit, humour, and a total refusal to give up. For the past 10 years, Tony has worked professionally in the substance use disorder field, specialising in veterans’ recovery, peer support, and building innovative recovery pathways. But he didn’t stop there. Tony went on to found Picture Recovery Ltd, a beautifully quirky and creative organisation that helps people on their recovery journeys using photography, storytelling, and visual workbooks (yes, he’s published, too). His work blends compassion with creativity and structure with soul. Now? He’s doing it all in Northern Thailand, where he’s part of the team at Siam Rehab. Bringing British grit, military precision, and the heart of a man who’s been there, Tony helps people from around the world turn rock bottoms into launchpads. He specialises in veterans’ recovery, peer-led support, and building truly innovative recovery pathways — but ask him, and he’ll tell you his real skill is “making things that feel heavy a little lighter.” If you’re looking for someone who’s lived it, learned it, and now leads with it, Tony Burkitt is your guy. His life isn’t just a story of recovery — it’s a masterclass in Turning Pain into Purpose.