HEROIN addiction infected every part of John's life but now he wants a new start helping others beat drugs.

John (not his real name), from Darwen, decided to give up heroin while recovering in hospital after being beaten up with a baseball bat in a drugs-related incident.

Aged 24, he has been using heroin for eight years and met Fr McCartney in January when visiting THOMAS' (Those On The Margins Of A Society) St Anne's House, Blackburn, a drop-in service for the homeless, after he was evicted.

"I worked with a few of the staff in St Anne's, they've got a lot of time for people and they see you as a person even if you are homeless or a drug addict."

He has been drug-free for three weeks and is spending a week with befriender Sister Teresa Kennedy in a small Christian community in Glossop, Derbyshire while waiting for a rehabilitation place.

"I decided eight years is long enough, it's a third of my life," he said. "But giving up is not as easy as everyone thinks. It's totally affected my life in every way.

"It's to do with your circle of friends and where you live, everything's got to change. It definitely helps to be away, it gives you time to think." He plans to leave Lancashire after rehabilitation and start a new life training as a youth worker or drug counsellor at night school. "I feel I can help to pass something on," he said. Sister Teresa, the community leader, read about the befriending service in the THOMAS magazine "Edges" and said she had learnt a lot from the four young people she has met since joining in Easter.

"When the newness wears off they are very open and I have got to know them," she explained. "They have lived a kind of life that I have not lived and have gone through many of the more difficult aspects of life and suffering."

Organiser Father Jim McCartney, of St Anne's Church, Blackburn, said finding funds for rehabilitation courses can take a long time but if addicts can live in a safe environment they are less likely to return to drugs while they wait.

"We have two Blackburn flats used for preparing people for rehabilitation where there's no family support and people are drifting," he said. "Volunteers are a listening ear and a friend to support people, whether it's inviting them for a meal or going to play football.

"We are trying to mobilise religious communities all over Britain to reach out and befriend people so they can live in a stable environment."

Father McCartney plans to expand the service to help ex-addicts and young offenders leaving Lancaster Farms prison, Lancaster, and stop them returning to their old lives.

"Rehab can be useless if there's no guidance and direction when people are released," he said.

Anyone interested in becoming a befriender can contact Fr McCartney on 01254 59240.

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