In their words

"I was just finishing a 4 month sentence for credit card crimes when the prison drugs worker told me about a project in my area I could access when I got released. It was called Barnardo’s Streetlevel project. I was 26 and onto my sixth sentence, my 8 year old daughter was living with my mum, I had no home, no self respect and no hope, I was on my knees.

I had distrust in services, I’d had the usual mish mash of people saying they’d help but been let down, I didn’t expect Streetlevel to be any different. Two weeks after my release I had a ‘habit’ again, my addiction to heroin and any other drug I could get my hands on was back in full swing. I rang Streetlevel to see if they could help me to get a prescription from my local provider.

I went along and found a great service with a friendly staff. I felt welcome as soon as I arrived. I was allocated a worker who set about helping me to get onto a maintenance prescription. Once that was achieved she attended all appointments with the social services and the housing department etc, very slowly they were helping me to rebuild my life. My worker and other members of staff helped me work out each problem I had until all that was left for me to deal with was my addiction. I found that once all my other problems had been sorted it was easier to focus on getting drug free.

Now, 18 months on, I have a nice home and my daughter back with me. I have been drug free for six months now and am still going strong. I have gained good computer skills and am usually in the internet café within the project.

There is so much you can do here and that’s important, when trying to get drug free. I have never once felt a burden or that anything I needed was too much trouble. At a time when I felt awful within myself, the staff all took time to show me how likeable I was. There is no need for any of us to suffer in silence, so if you live in the South Tyneside area and you or someone you care for is involved in drugs, please come along.

There is a future for us all and Barnardo’s Streetlevel project can help to find it."

“ If I’ve got any problems I can come and have a chat, to get things off my chest”

“ They helped me get a place in a detox centre, when everyone else said there was no chance”