Neil

I was shy and quiet at school and started smoking cannabis at the age of 13 as a way to fit in with the other students. It gave me confidence and I loved it and it wasn’t long before I tried a variety of other substances. My education suffered and I wasted my chance at university, dropping out of my course, and not able to focus on my studies. By the time I was 19 I was addicted to cocaine and my life spiralled out of control.  I lost all contact with my family, and it took me until I was 36 to summon up the will power to finally stop.

Now my life is so much better. I am married with a son, and I am working with young people struggling with homelessness and addiction issues.

I work with Five Lives because I loved hearing about the work that was being done and thought that talking to young people about the reality of addiction was invaluable. I wanted my negative past to have a chance to be used as a positive.