Case Study

Before I began working with [addiction support services] Access to Industry and We Are With You, I wasn’t very reliable and wouldn’t make every appointment. I was awfully lonely and down; desperate to not go back to where I’d come from. My world is one where everyone takes drugs. I was isolated, but through my own choice, as I knew it was a better than the life before. I wanted to be an ‘Average Joe’ with stability.

I said [to my Access to Industry Caseworker] that I was interested in poetry and my main focus was trying to find something to do – steps in the ladder of getting my life together and bettering myself. Coming to see my Caseworker gave me routine and something to focus on. They have shown me what opportunities are out there and I want to grasp on to them.

Rae has begun engaging with a local recovery magazine where she will publish some of her poetry and has also been asked to write an article on why poetry is important to her and her recovery. In addition, she contributed a poem to Access to Industry’s Showcase of Creativity and attended the event solo, something that may not have been possible a year ago. Rae also took part in all three workshops at the event, covering Dialogue, Flash Fiction and Poetry. Rae was provided with a Chromebook through our Digital Lifelines funding, which has enabled her to access our NPA Mental Health that we are running via Microsoft Teams.

I now feel proud of myself when I look back at what I was doing and realise how much I’m doing now. When I see how busy I am, it makes me smile. It’s been a privilege working with Access to Industry for what it’s enabled me to access. The support I have had has been phenomenal.

You don’t often get asked the questions that my Caseworker asks. He really cares. I’ve been in services a long time with people who say that they are there to help. It’s not often that you meet someone who actually is there to help you. I pick up a sense for people, whether they are real or not, and I have seen the difference in the support I have received from Access to Industry, both regarding education and recovery.

When I get past some of my current hurdles, I hope that I will go on to employment and be able to give something back. I would like to finish my NPA Mental Health course and then go on to accessing more activities and personal goals, including volunteering and learning to take responsibility for myself.

More information on our Access Recovery Dundee service can be found here.