When I was told about the Life Course I wasn’t keen on attending. I have been in recovery for over 2 years and attended many groups and meetings. Unfortunately, the groups felt pointless and they had very little impact on my life. There is a lot of help in Bristol but I was unable to find a place where I was comfortable and happy to attend.

My support worker, who was amazing and a great help, told me about the Life Course. My first reaction was to dismiss the idea and I refused to go. Anyway, as usual my support worker thought it would be good for me and referred me anyway. One week later, I had a phone call from Ant. He told me he was from the Life Course and asked me to pop down for a chat. The conversation over the phone immediately felt different from the other groups. A few days later we met up for a coffee and talked about the course. I’m glad I went and gave Ant and the course a chance to help me.

On my first day I was really impressed with everything. I felt comfortable and welcomed by everybody and met with the other people doing the course. The course was twice a week and we talked about different topics at every meeting. We talked about everything that would help with our individual life journey. Every person there had different issues and problems to deal with. Nobody was labelled an addict or someone struggling with their mental or personal wellbeing. I learned new things about myself and was given the tools needed to continue my recovery journey. Life is full of potholes and every week I learned ways to avoid them. I finished the course with new friends and confidence. I can’t believe I nearly didn’t bother to give it a chance.

Amazingly, I’m now a peer volunteer for the Life Course and I’m enjoying every moment. Continuing to make new friends and have new experiences is great. I have also opened my mind to new things in life and started walking a spiritual path.

I can’t thank everybody at inHope enough for the time I have had there.

Find out more about what the Life Recovery team can offer people wanting to live well in recovery.