The Higher Power Project was launched at the 2012 conference at the University of Chester entitled Addiction: A spiritual illness with a spiritual solution? . Building on the success of this day conference, the Higher Power Project held a two day event the following year, also at the University of Chester. The first day was entitled ‘Faith-based Solutions to Addiction‘ and drew representatives from a range of religious traditions. The evening public lecture was a joint presentation by Mark Gilman of Public Health England and Professor Keith Humphreys of Stanford University, on transatlantic interperspectives on recovery. The second day was a workshop for professionals with a focus on sharing practice regarding mutual aid engagement. In 2014 the newly formed CSARS Group (Chester Studies of Addiction, Recovery and Spirituality Group) held its first conference 'Recovery From Addiction: Bridging the Gap between Policy and Practice' featuring keynote speaker Prof David Best. In June 2014 John Stoner and Wendy Dossett were invited to give the Living Room Annual Lecture in Cardiff. In 2015, the CSARS Group conference celebrated the publication of the Open Access Special Issue of Religions 'Religion and Addiction' edited by Professor Christopher C.H.Cook and Dr Wendy Dossett. The keynote speaker for the evening public lecture was Professor John F. Kelly.