Recovering addict hopes to inspire others

A recovering addict, whose drug-taking spanned 34 years, has shared his recovery story to give others hope.

Kelvin Emery "escaped the chaos" of drugs having signed up to a second year of rehabilitation at Walk Ministries in Tunstall.

Stoke-on-Trent is known for the prevalence of monkey dust, a synthetic drug which Mr Emery warned could go "very bad, very quick" and was "absolutely everywhere" across the city.

"I never really thought I could do anything, but now I know I can do anything," said Mr Emery, who has detoxed, learned life skills and reconnected with his family.

Mr Emery reflected on when his drug taking began and remembered struggling to find his place at home and school.

"I never felt like I fitted in," he said.

"I found myself going out with older lads. From a young age I was sniffing glue and gas."

He left formal education early, which he said led to party drugs, heroin and then methadone.

"I never had a chance to know who I was. I was always masked with drugs. That was it, that was my life," he reflected.

The spread of monkey dust across Stoke-on-Trent concerns Mr Emery.

He remembered walking on the canal for eight hours, from Stoke to Trentham, hallucinating whilst on the synthetic psychoactive substance.

"I'd seen police on one side - they weren't there but in my head they were there, I could see them - and then the other side I'd got people with machetes who were after me," he recalled.

Mr Emery said he felt most happy during his numerous spells in prison because his family knew he was safe.

However, on release from prison, the cycle of drug use continued, until he signed up to the 12-month programme of rehabilitation at Walk Ministries.

Ryan Chilton went through the recovery process himself and now works at the centre giving him "an identity and a purpose"

Support Worker Ryan Chilton also completed the five-stage programme, and is now a permanent member of staff at the Tunstall-based centre.

"When I came here, the staff on site welcomed me with open arms, and then when I knew they'd been through what I'd been through, that helped me massively," he said.

Mr Emery has progressed well through the programme to the point of reconnecting with his daughters, who he speaks to every day.

"I just want to put a little bit back into Stoke, hopefully work in a drug or alcohol [rehab facility] and make good memories with my family."