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North-east addiction centre marks anniversary

Support Worker and PR Coordinator Paul Beaton.
Support Worker and PR Coordinator Paul Beaton.

A charity has celebrated the 15th anniversary of the opening of an addition recovery centre in Fyvie.

Teen Challenge North East Scotland set up a residential home for men at Sunnybrae near the village in March 2003.

The Christian organisation has since provided more than 130,000 hours of support for 350 people.

Class-based studies, counselling, work duties and recreational activities have been on offer at the facility.

Fraserburgh man Paul Beaton entered a Teen Challenge rehabilitation centre in Glasgow 18 years ago to battle a drug addiction and is now a support worker at the Fyvie centre.

Mr Beaton said: “In the circles I grew up in drugs were the norm.

“Life was already very chaotic and messy, heading in the wrong direction, but then heroin came along and life got very dark.

“It was as if my soul and personality were ripped out of me and I descended into a horrible existence, made up of smack, needles, methadone prescription and squalor.

“I headed to Teen Challenge and it was exactly what I needed. It had structure, discipline and reflection time, giving me the tools and breathing space to really create a foundation from which I could build a life on.

“The most important part of my journey has been my Christian faith, which has changed me from the inside out. When caught up in serious drug abuse, you need your mind renewed, your attitude cleaned up and your outlook transformed.”

Gordon Cruden, area manager of Teen Challenge North East Scotland, said the group was “excited” about the future.

He said: “We’re extremely pleased to have reached 15 years and to see so many lives impacted.

“If you look at where some of our current residents were one year ago, you get a better appreciation for how far they’ve come. This time last year one was in jail, another was homeless on the streets of Aberdeen.

“Today, these residents are clean, sober, in their right minds and making lives that they and their families can be proud of.

“We’re excited for the days and years ahead and more lives being changed.”

Teen Challenge was founded in New York in 1958 and has grown to be one of the world’s largest addiction recovery organisations.

They also run a women’s recovery centre near Mintlaw.