I always remember meeting this lady named Tracey, she opened my eyes to what is available in terms of support and opportunities. I felt I was given trust and support from staff even when I messed up. I never feel like they would turn their back on me. Its key to have that one person or people who will stand by you and be in your corner.
I was previously addicted to Heroin 12 years ago, but more recently alcohol, pills and crack.
I previously accessed rehab in Rotherham and came to Sheffield in 2022 to stay with my daughter.
I had previously tried rehab and AA, but I kept messing up and lapsing, as I felt I didn’t have the tools to keep clean.
I think things started to change when The Green’s showed what was available in terms of opportunities. Someone took me to Project 6 and I started structured recovery. Then I went on to ambassadors’ course. I met good people there, and we became really close. While being an ambassador I was part of a group that set up recovery activities for people at the weekends.
I felt like there were so many opportunities open to me I felt like I rushed out and grabbed them all while I could, and I tried to help other people rather than focusing on my own recovery at times and unfortunately ended up lapsing. I am now back on the right track in my recovery journey.
I started volunteering at project 6. It was such a different atmosphere environment, there was so much care and nurture to get you to the right place.
I always remember meeting this lady named Tracey Ford, she opened my eyes to what is available in terms of support and opportunities. I felt I was given trust and support from staff even when I messed up. I never feel like they would turn their back on me. Its key to have that one person or people who will stand by you and be in your corner.
Addiction can make you stop caring about other people and can make you lose so many family and friends, I feel it’s really important to build up a good healthy, caring, loving and supportive environment, and surrounding yourself with people that can help with that.
I would say to anyone in addiction and you feel there is no way out, there is! Nothing worse than being stuck with addiction, if you fall down, get back up and keep on trying. Sometimes you might take a step backwards, but if you keep trying you will continue to move forward even if there are bumps in the road.
Recovery has helped me feel like I’ve started living and become a ‘normal’ person in society.
When I was first addicted, it was so frowned upon in the black community that I felt I had to hide it, it was really difficult to see other people making it in terms of their recovery but I felt I couldn’t get the support I needed while I was suffering. I know some people would rather hide it, but I think ”Why would you want to do yourself that harm, by not seeking support.”
Once I had decided to access treatment, people used to say “Oh you must have had barriers”, but I didn’t, sometimes I think that sometimes people add barriers if they want to put barriers in place. I thought “Well if someone else can get treatment, I know I deserve it as well.”
While there is stigma around addiction, I feel there is an even greater stigma in certain communities around addiction and I would say to anyone that getting the support they need to start their recovery journey is so important.
I would like to thank Manja Wolfram, all the volunteers at Project 6 and my friends and family who stuck by me through thick and thin
“Rita is a keen and active member of the recovery community, she is extremely friendly and approachable and all round good person and always puts herself forward for any volunteering opportunities.”
“Rita has helped me so much and is an inspiration, Shes so lovely and intelligent, she is amazing, she is so passionate and cares so much about the people she works with, she is the best!”
– Sheffield Recovery Community
No related posts found.