“ I realised there’s more to life than sitting indoors drinking.”
★ Anthony, Community Member
“I’m Anthony. I’m an alcoholic addict, and I’m three years into recovery.
I came into recovery by accident. My friend wanted to come to acupuncture, but she wouldn’t come on her own.
So I came with her, I stayed, and she never came again.
I came in and couldn’t speak to anyone. It took me six weeks before I said a word. I was listening to what was going on, and I started going to meetings.
I did 104 meetings in 90 days. They recommend you do 90 in 90.
It’s friendly and inclusive here, I know it’s going to be welcoming when I come. You don’t get judged, which is great, really.
I come here for lunch, for teas and coffees, and it’s been good. It’s nice to come and play chess. Other things have been really good too.
You get the encouragement you need, you get pointed in the right direction for meetings, and you can have one-to-ones.
I had one-to-ones with Sarah when I first came into recovery, which have been really helpful.
We’ve stayed friends ever since.
[As part of my recovery,] I come here, I go to AA, and I run an AA meeting here on Sundays now. I also go to AA in Portslade, and sometimes I go to CA, which has been really helpful. Even though I’ve never taken cocaine, the meeting is really calm, and I’ve really enjoyed it. So I try to go to different things.
I’m also doing a course about dealing with depression, which I’ve suffered from for years. I had my first meeting last week, I’ve got another one this week, and it runs for five weeks. So that should be helpful.
I also come to the dual diagnosis group here on Mondays, which is really helpful.
You’re here with people who understand what you’re going through because they’ve all been through it themselves in different ways. So you feel a connection with people.
Before I started coming here, I didn’t go out or interact with people. I drank to blackout for 30 years.
Once I started coming here, I realised there’s more to life than sitting indoors drinking.
So now I come out. I like clothes. I’ve been buying lots of different clothes.
I’ve joined a choir on Saturdays with Cascade Recovery, which is another place that’s very helpful. I go to karaoke once a month and open mic once a month.
They’re all things I wouldn’t have thought of doing before.
If you’re new to recovery, this is a place to come. It saved my life.
When I was in hospital, they told me that if I ever drank again, I would die. That was the kick I needed to do something about it.
So far, it’s been three years and one month, and I haven’t been tempted to relapse. So it’s great.”
Your support makes stories like Anthony’s possible
Anthony’s story is why we do what we do. For one week this Christmas, every gift to Kennedy Street is doubled through the Big Give Christmas Challenge. Giving opens at 12pm on Tuesday 1 December and closes at 12pm on Tuesday 8 December.
That means a gift of £20 could become £40, helping keep the door open and the kettle on, so people like Anthony have somewhere to come, at their own pace.
Get ready now, and we’ll remind you the moment your gift can be doubled.
