My name is Allan Wood and this is my story. I grew up in Chadderton, Manchester. I had a good upbringing my parents did everything they could to provide the best for us. Before addiction I was into sports, swimming, golf, pool, and football. I often think if I could of have a career in sports. My family unit was very tight, I was especially close to my grandma and Auntie. I lost my grandma and Auntie to cancer, and I struggled to process the thought of never seeing or speaking to them again. My whole life fell apart and I didn’t know how to deal with my grief. Just a few months later my addiction spiralled out of control, and I was taking everything I could get my hands on to block out my emotions.
My family were ashamed of me and my addiction, my relationships with my family members were ruined due to my substance misuse. My sister called me a sheep for following in the footsteps of people using substances. The group of friends I was spending my time with all gave up using the substances, but I was too deep into addiction, and I couldn’t see a way out. I said my goodbyes to my family as the trouble I was in was forcing me to leave.
I moved to Wales and spent some time on the streets due to not receiving help as I had no local connections. I eventually moved into a flat in Pensarn. Looking back, I was at an all-time low here and my addiction had totally taken a grip of my life, but my truest darkest days were yet to come. My Dad died and yet again I was hit with grief I didn’t know how to deal with as I had lost such an important person in my life. My heart breaks to speak about it but I couldn’t attend my dad’s funeral due to my family being ashamed of me and by this time I knew I’d be disowned by my loved ones. I still struggle every year with my dad’s birthday and the anniversary of his death and funeral but what gets me through each day is knowing how proud of me he would be for battling this addiction and coming through the other side. I was attacked in my flat in Pensarn, it was so severe that I was at deaths door, literally only minutes from death. After this trauma I knew I had to turn my life around and become the true Allan again before addiction got hold of me.
I had an interview for Cornerstone in Llandudno Junction, and I knew I had to make this work as reality hit, this really was my last chance to turn my life around and make myself, my mum and my family proud. I have been living in Cornerstone for 3 and a half years and my life has completely changed for the better. I have reconnected with my family which I will be forever grateful to them for giving me another chance to prove myself to them. I’ve purchased my provisional driving licence and started my driving lessons, I purchased a passport, I attend the gym and I am now practicing for my theory test. I am struggling to pass this at the moment but if my life has taught me anything it’s that I wont ever give up.
My benefits are all in place and I’m proud of myself that when I get paid the thought is never there to go and buy substances. I have too much to lose and I have worked far too hard to let this all go. Lately I have been busy buying items ready for my move on as I’m on the housing list and hopefully I will be allocated my own property soon.
Since living at Cornerstone, I have learnt key independent living skills such as shopping for essentials, budgeting, cooking, paying bills on time and everything I will need for independent living, which I am now looking forward too, as in the past I would never give these things a second thought or do any of them, because all thought about in the past was where is my next drug(s) and drink coming from, these now don’t even cross my mind.
I have gained control of my health thanks to the support and guidance of the staff at Cornerstone. I have just recently had a hernia removal operation which has also made me feel better mentally and I finally feel my health is on the up.
I am very grateful to Shirley, Matt and all the staff at Cornerstones which have given me a new lease of life. I have been shown through my time here that there is more to life than addiction. I have made lifelong friends here who I want to keep in contact with when I move onto my next chapter.
A new project called pass it on, will be starting soon and I have been asked to be an advocate for Holborn house, with this project I will have the opportunity to help others that are either in addiction or homelessness and be trained as a peer mentor, also in the future I may be employed through Sanctuary trust doing just that. It is my goal now to help as many people as I can, just as many people helped me in my darkest times of my life.
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I started smoking cannabis at the age of 10 and crime became a daily thing, this resulted in me being in and out of prison most of my life. I progressed to harder drugs and became institutionalized towards the last few years of my addiction. I was either on the streets, homeless or in prison
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My name is Allan Wood and this is my story. I grew up in Chadderton, Manchester. I had a good upbringing my parents did everything they could to provide the best for us. Before addiction I was into sports, swimming, golf, pool, and football. I often think if I could of have a career in
I used to wake up and think, do I drink or do I kill myself? It was a very depressing time, felt like this for years. I am now at a point where I don’t feel this way. I don’t feel the need to drink, I am now 18 months sober. I still have my
