A woman who turned to alcohol and drugs after the death of her father, is celebrating two years sober.
Kerry Wells began taking cocaine and drinking to cope with the loss of her dad, family relationship strains and the stresses of her studies.
But now the former drama and performing arts student is celebrating overcoming her addictions after receiving help from MPower People CIC (MPP) a mental health charity.
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Kerry told the ECHO : "When I first accessed MPP I was in an extremely dark place.
“My mental health had taken a battering. Everything I have ever known in my life became tipped on its head.
"I was self isolating, drinking and using cocaine, more as a way to numb the reality of how bad things were.
"Probably the hardest thing I have ever had to go through to be honest".
Kerry first approached MPP in 2019 after self-referring and they offered a support package to help fight her addictions.
Now Kerry is clean and sober, she helps others within the service.
Kerry said: "I still use the service as they’re my family and I wouldn’t be without them.
"I’m now a Recovery Champion Volunteer as I am two years clean and sober (this February).
"I don’t know what I would have done without this service, because I had no support at all.
"It’s given me a lot of self-belief, connected me with others who have compassion, empathy and understanding”.
During her time at MPP, Kerry and service users have taken training courses in confidence building, drama, creative writing, debt management and more, which allows Kerry to support herself in her own home and stay clean and sober.
Kerry added: "My confidence grew. I’ve got a family out of it in MPower People who love you back to life”.
MPP is a person-centred mental health organisation that works holistically with individuals and small businesses in accordance with their needs.
Set up by Michelle Smith in 2009 as an outreach service in youth and community centres they’re now based in The Gateway Conference Centre in London Road.
People can self-refer, be referred by their job centre or GP for their community support projects that cater for individual and group sessions each week.
They select professionals from the community to share their skills and help clients discover their best route forward as part of the care plans provided.
CEO Michelle Smith said: “We love our clients.
“It’s the nature of this organisation to get up close and personal, in complete confidentiality, with who our people are and who they want to be.
“Over 100 people benefitted from our digital skills training course (in the last year)
"Nine of our clients have moved on into employment with two more self-employed, and we’ve also brought clients out of the house into volunteering roles".
Neal, a current service user said: "I’ve used MPower People off and on for the majority of my professional life.
"When I was a young professional turning self-employed, Michelle and the team were there for me matching me with networking and skill-building opportunities.
"The support continued into my self-employment
“Having on the spot business support available at any time was amazing”.
While some MPP services are delivered on a private one-to-one basis, their group sessions are varied, fun-filled, action-packed and give service-users the chance to make new friends and develop their social skills while learning in a safe environment.
Kerry said: "I highly recommend anyone who may have been out of the mainstream of life for whatever reason, who may have lived through trauma, to come to MPP to boost your confidence and put you back on the right path".
For information contact: michelle@mpowerpeople.co.uk
