next tuesday, 23 years was the last time i drank. you measure it to the day? absolutely, yeah. there are plenty in birkenhead who regard dave as a lifesaver. he has been there and done it. it s nice to hold onto where i was and what i ve got now. he commands respect because he cares for people like mike. it s obvious he was a different person then than when you speak to him now, because he was in pain. you could see it. he couldn t necessarily look you in the eyes, you know. he was kind of talking to you, head down. once you put all these things in place and get a hold of this, and making those changes, he started to lift his head up, he looked at you when he talked to you, started to like himself more. he didn t like himself. a lot of people who come to these things don t.
i am 23 years in recovery. i believe i m in recovery and always will be. i haven t beat it. i haven t picked up a drink in 23 years. next tuesday, 23 years was the last time i drank. you measure it to the day? absolutely, yeah. there are plenty in birkenhead who regard dave as a lifesaver. he has been there and done it. it s nice to hold onto where i was and what i ve got now. he commands respect because he cares for people like mike. it s obvious he was a different person then than when you speak to him now, because he was in pain. you could see it. he couldn t necessarily look you in the eyes, you know. he was kind of talking to you, head down. once you put all these things in place and get a hold of this, and making those changes,
just across the mersey from liverpool, this place took the full force of the 1980s recession, as the shipyards failed and unemployment rose and heroin and other drugs took hold. birkenhead is a deprived area. the sort of place we know can be especially vulnerable to drug and alcohol problems. but this is a community which is fighting back. and here in birkenhead they ve come up with this concept of a recovery village. what is that? a recovery village? there are already loads of different services here working to help people struggling with addiction, but now they re working together in much closer cooperation so the rehab hub, the recovery cafe down here, and the place where groups meet for mutual support round the corner, they re all working on really close co ordination to get people off the drink and off the drugs. it is organisations coming together as a collective of the wirral to work with a kind of shared goal.
literally, in some estates in birkenhead, were some of the first places where the heroin epidemic started. we ve been telling dame carol black, the country s top independent advisor on tackling drug misuse, about the recovery village here. this is our cafe. is this your cafe? yeah! and she has asked to come and see it. pleased to meet you. you are very welcome! thank you! this place is being called - the beating heart of the recovery community of birkenhead. she has written the latest major report on addiction and recovery services in england. there are very good areas of practice but what i found was a broken service. i didn t find good, ifound bad. she wants improvements a morejoined up approach. how many people you take it once? as many as you can fit in the door. we don t have a limit. a huge investment in specialist staff, maybe something like we are seeing here.
you know where you need to be. it s march and andrew is welcoming a vip visitor to birkenhead. shipbuilding was closing. young people didn t see a future. literally, in some estates in birkenhead, were some of the first places where the heroin epidemic started. we ve been telling dame carol black, the country s top independent advisor on tackling drug misuse, about the recovery village here. this is our cafe. is this your cafe? yeah! and she has asked to come and see it. pleased to meet you. you are very welcome! thank you! this place has been called the beating heart of- the recovery community of birkenhead. - she has written the latest major report on addiction and recovery services in england. there are very good areas of practice, but actually what i found was a broken service. i didn t find good, ifound bad. she wants improvements