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Read Sue’s Story
Background
I found myself on probation for ‘Conspiracy to Supply Class A Drugs’. This was not my first offence, I had been on probation numerous times before from the age of 12.
Leading up to the offence I found myself on a downward spiral, I had lost all hope and I just didn’t care anymore. I was in a really vulnerable place. My daughter had been taken into care and then shortly after I lost her father who took his own life, I was struggling with my mental health and at this point I had a really bad drug habit. My life had spiralled out of control. I felt I had nobody and, before I knew it, I was back inside again.
How we helped
Initially I was defensive, I had just been released from prison and inside it’s a different environment. I had to keep my walls up and always be on my guard, my social skills were completely broken down. After a while I saw the group as an escape, a safe place to vent my emotions and frustrations, here I learned how to socialise again without being afraid of what people might say or do.
When Kaysha and Nadia, the support workers at Women’s Work, started talking to me this made me feel more at ease. They let me take things at my own pace, they didn’t badger me into talking about my feelings and experiences instead they gave me room to grow. Step by step, week by week I grew in confidence and before I knew it, I was sharing my experiences with the other women in the group. I enjoyed the groups so much that I stayed on voluntarily and did the programmes all over again.
The programmes made me think about my relationships and the choices I have made in my life, it made me realise that I wanted to change. During the programme Nadia talked about setting healthy boundaries with other people. This made me think about the people in my life, especially those on drugs I was around, and made me realise that I didn’t want to be around these people anymore.
