Greg's Story

 I spent 30 years battling with the demons of addiction.  I started smoking marijuana when I was 15 years old, a chronic addiction that lasted until I was 45. In my late teens and throughout my twenties, I took anything I could get my hands on - I dabbled in heroin, took a lot of acid, and regularly used speed and ecstasy.  When I was 30, I discovered ice and GHB which became my drugs of choice for the next 15 years.

In 2022 I found myself in trouble with the law again and again because of drugs. My life had become chaotic and I was out of control. I came to my lowest point at the end of that year - I found myself in some pretty deep trouble with the law yet again and it forced me to look around at where my life was at. I'd been in a really bad downward spiral for at least three years leading up to that where my addictions had really started to destroy my life.  I'd lost my job, I'd lost my house, I'd lost all my money, I'd lost my relationship, I'd lost my health, I'd lost my connections with family and loved ones, I'd literally lost just about everything that ever meant anything to me - and suddenly I was facing the prospect of jail and the loss of my freedom. Even after losing everything though, I still felt the pull of addiction – that’s how powerful it is.

Then I found Kwila Rehab.

The people at Kwila Rehab helped me develop a Recovery Plan that ensured I had the right support in place and positive activities to focus on each day; they put me in touch with Samaritans Recovery Point where I attend support meetings twice a week, they helped me understand what mental health support I needed and how to go about finding it and they welcomed me at the house in Hexham so that I could spend each day focusing on healthy and positive activities with other people on the same journey as me. It's a place where we give each other support, hope and encouragement.

Now I'm completely drug-free for for the first time in thirty years.

Kwila Rehab has given me a safe space to re-learn how to live a life without substances, somewhere I can focus on doing something constructive each day.  It's given me a space where I can re-learn how to make healthy connections with good, strong people. 

It's like a family here.

Being a part of this community gives me strength and hope every day.