Weston-super-Mare: Former drug user being trained to save lives

Volunteer Tim Hurford said the scheme will help to save lives

Former drug users are being trained in how to use medication which can save the lives of people who have overdosed.

A group of volunteers are working with drug charity We Are With You in Weston-super-Mare.

They are handing out kits which include medication called Naloxone, which helps to reverse the effects of a heroin overdose.

"We just want to get the Nalaxone out to the people who need it," said We Are With You's Cathy Mounsdon.

She said that training recovering addicts in how to administer the medication and hand out Naloxone kits was the best way to get the message across, as they had the experience of addiction.

"If the peers can do that they can probably do a much better job than me going out with the professional head on," she added.

Cathy Mounsdon, of drug charity We Are With You, said ex-addicts were best-placed to get the safety message across

Leon Llewellyn said being given Naloxone saved his life after an overdose last year. He is now in recovery and is one of the volunteers helping others under the scheme.

"I was unlucky enough to have an overdose and Naloxone was given to me so obviously that saved my life. I'm in recovery because of that and if that wouldn't have happened I would have been dead," said the 40-year-old.

The volunteers will patrol the streets of Weston-super-Mare to try to spot the signs that someone may have overdosed.

Darren Fairweather is among the volunteers who have been shown how to administer the medication to anyone who has had an overdose

"If someone had too many drinks and fell into the river you would throw them a lifebuoy. This saves lives," said volunteer Tim Hurford.

Fellow volunteer Darren Fairweather said he wanted to get involved to give something back to those who had helped him in the past.

"It's about helping other people. In the past I've taken so much and now I'm in a good position to start giving back," he said.