Dorset former addict joins WithYou charity to help others

Bel now helps others and says she feels her life has gone "full circle"

"My world became nothing but sadness and darkness."

Bel says for 27 years drugs controlled her life, but four years after getting clean she's helping people who are in the situations she once found herself.

At WithYou, a national drug and alcohol treatment charity, she now leads a new team who are reaching some of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole's (BCP's) most vulnerable communities.

She says she feels her life has gone "full circle".

Bel, previously a self-described "functioning addict", said: "Because of how much I was using, I couldn't see my kids, and I felt like I didn't have anything to live for anymore."

She had been using drugs to "numb the pain", but "all of a sudden, I had so much pain and the drugs stopped working".

"I had absolutely nothing left and I felt like I didn't deserve a second chance," she said.

But Bel was then introduced an "amazing" recovery worker, who she said helped give her the confidence to believe in herself.

"I started to address my trauma, build my self-esteem, and rebuild my relationship with my children," she said.

'Inspiring'

She said it "was a lot of work" and "didn't happen overnight", but that she "finally started to feel self-worth".

It was around that time that Bel decided she wanted to work for a drug and alcohol charity - and joined WithYou two years ago.

Bel said: "A recovery worker saved my life, and now I have the opportunity to support people who are going through similar things that I experienced."

Her team, which was created using the national housing support grant, works with local housing providers to identify people who are experiencing challenges with drugs or alcohol and are at risk of losing their homes in the BCP area.

Ryan McCormack, operations manager at WithYou, told BBC Radio Solent Dorset that Bel was an "inspiring" woman, who has "outgrown what was holding her back".

He said: "We know through the recovery process that people given the right support absolutely can transform their lives and the lives of their family", adding that "Bel is very much a part of that".

Bel said: "I'm proud to be a survivor of the traumas I've experienced in my life.

"I'm proud to be a recovering addict. But most of all? I'm so proud of the team we've built here and the difference that we're making to people's lives."

WithYou is a drug, alcohol and mental health charity that works with more than 100,000 people across England and Scotland.

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