KickBack Recovery

n chose to rebel against any authority. With this attitude, I very quickly found myself in and out of the juvenile courts and by the age of 16 I started my first prison sentence. From then on I decided to live a life of crime alongside the use of drugs and alcohol. Over the years to come, I experienced a total of 4 prison sentences. I never felt good enough and was constantly seeking validation which resulted in many failed relationships. . At the age of 27 I was introduced to co***ne which my delusional thinking at the time made me believe I was filling a void but in reality this was the start of my soul being destroyed. Over the next decade I became a self made business man on both sides of the law. I got involved working security on the doors at the bars and nightclubs in the City of Sheffield. Eventually, I ended up with my own successful Bar and Nightclub. My co***ne use grew and addiction set in. Over the years to come I started to lose the things I thought at the time were important - materialistic items, houses, businesses and false friends. Through addiction I gave away my family life to live a life of isolation and using large amounts of Class A drugs often for weeks at time. I would regularly go without sleep, food or bathing for over several days. I constantly experienced drug fuelled psychosis and became very unwell. At the age of 45, when I had been using drugs for over 3 decades, the pain of using became too unbearable. I surrendered myself and arrived at the doors of a 12 Step Rehab - Ark House, where my recovery journey began. In recovery I've experienced lapses and relapses, which I learned from. The last time I used drugs, including alcohol, was over 6 years ago. These days relapse is not an option. Living a life without using drugs and working a recovery program to the best of my ability has given me the freedom to set up my own charity - KickBack Recovery. We are a Lived Experience Recovery Organisation that collaborates with other services, charities, collages and organisations throughout the City of Sheffield. We hold 4 Group Therapy Sessions a week, provide individual support at our Well Being Clinic, hold Fitness Sessions, 1:1 Mentoring, Teaching Educational drug Awareness / Recovery at our meetings and in schools and collages. We organise day events and activities to help raise awareness and promote connection. We offer our services to help people battling Substance Use Disorders and their affected family members. WE CHALLENGE STIGMA. We use social media as a tool to celebrate recovery and make it visible to all that,
RECOVERY IS POSSIBLE! Today I am grateful to be a productive member of society - LIVING MY BEST LIFE.