An Aberdeen charity is darting forward at the first anniversary of a new initiative which trains those who have struggled with substance abuse to help other people facing the same problems.
Alcohol and Drugs Action, based in Hadden Street, has completed the first year of its Drugs and Alcohol Recovery Training course, with 57 graduates emerging successfully from the scheme.
The DART programme enables participants to learn key skills to increase their self-confidence, build social skills and develop personal responsibility in an effort to overcome their issues.
And, once they graduate from the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework course, they are offered the chance to learn how to help others battle their own demons, by drawing on their own experiences.
Suzanne Winpenny, 43, is one of the charity’s users who joined the DART scheme and now volunteers with ADA.
She explained: “I’ve been living with addiction for 22 years, and this course allowed me to see my assets and helped me to set goals for myself – something I’ve never had an ability to do.
“It allowed me to see me for myself, and not what my disease wants me to think – I am not a low life, I am not that person.”
“I think that the best people you can talk to about this stuff are the people that have been through it already – and if I can help somebody, that’s what I’ll do.”
Gavin Wright, a member of the ADA staff behind the DART enterprise, added: “With the insight, knowledge, tools and understanding you gain through this initiative, you can take those skills and use them in a one-to-one setting with someone else, and help them to identify their own goals, and move forward in their own recovery process.
“Not everyone wants to take that step up from personal to recovery coaching, but it’s something we encourage.
“Once people qualify and go on to assist others, it can really be hugely beneficial to maintaining their own recovery process.”
ADA is open seven days a week. For more information visit www.alcoholanddrugsaction.org.uk or call their helpline on 01224 594700.