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Recovering drug user tells police boss how Bangor centre helped him rebuild his life
A man whose drug addiction became so unbearable that he was on the brink of suicide has told how a rehabilitation centre in Bangor gave him his life back.
North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones paid a visit to Penrhyn House, operated by the charity North Wales Recovery Community, to see for himself the work it is doing in helping people rebuild lives damaged by drug and alcohol addiction.
At the end of his tour he voiced his full support for the recovery services and described the centre as a place that was all about a “win-win situation”.
Amongst those the commissioner met at Penrhyn House was 46-year-old resident John Redican who described how the help he has received at the centre has given him fresh hope for the future as he fought to put decades of drug use behind him.
John said: “I’d been a user for 30 years and in that time took cocaine, ecstasy, crystal meth and even the date rape drug GHB. But my worst problem was with speed.
“All this ruined my life. Although I’ve always worked and done things like a scaffolder and a sports coach the drugs cost me many jobs over the years. It also lost me quite a number of partners too although, thankfully, not my two young daughters.
“Things got so bad last year while I was on crystal meth that I thought about suicide and even planned to take a load of tablets on a long coach trip. I was only saved from that by my niece asking me to go and live with her.”
John added: “I’d been on a number of rehab programmes but nothing really worked until I came to Penrhyn House eight months ago.
“Since I came here it’s been brilliant and I’m making great progress. I’ve been taking part in a full programme of discussion groups and done 20 to 30 hours of voluntary work helping out around the house and garden.
“I think I’ll possibly be here for a while yet but this place has helped me so much to put my life back together that I’d like to work in this or a centre like it to help other people who are in my situation.
“What I like about it is the fact they operate an open door policy and need no official referrals from any agency. I also like the fact that if you do make a bad decision about your addiction it’s somewhere you can always come back and get help to deal with it.”
Penrhyn House was set up by James Deakin and a small team of trustees in 2015 when they took over a rambling country house just outside of Bangor town.
James had himself gone through the drugs recovery process before becoming a criminal justice substance misuse worker.
He runs the centre with the help of just two other staff members who have similar experiences and it currently has 18 residents, some of whom are on licence and some ex-offenders, plus a small number of other people living independently in the community.
Penrhyn House hosts a full recovery programme, including regular friendship meetings, narcotics and alcohol anonymous sessions for residents and non-residents and its daily gatherings attract around 25 to 30 people.
James said: “Recovery works better if it involves as many people as possible and we try to offer as many pathways to recovery as we can.
“Myself and the other members of the team know what we’ve been through ourselves and we want to use those experiences to help other people.
“Those we have at the centre need somebody to take the hard edge off life for them and then to build on that.
“A lot of them have nothing but I believe that if you put someone around good people they can do good things.”
James added: “It’s nice to know that people in Arfon Jones’s position in terms of policy making are thinking the same way that we do, that somebody needs to be brave enough to start at the beginning with individuals who are looking for a change in their lives and to make that change sustainable.
“It was refreshing to have him with us at Penrhyn House.”
The PCC said: “It was good to meet people like James and John and to hear their stories.
“I fully support the recovery services because supporting people to turn their lives around is worthwhile. It helps society, reduces harm and also reduces crime and re-offending.
“Places like Penrhyn House are all about a win-win situation, as far as I’m concerned.
“This centre is not about treatment, which they’ve already been through. It helps people on the route to recovery and to stay clean from drugs.”