“Drugs are very dangerous. Don’t follow fashion and don’t be bullied into it, be different and say no!” This is the message ex-drug user Patrick Davies hopes to get across to drug-misusing offenders as a mentor for Red Kite Learning.
But it is his long and arduous journey from being a drug-user involved in crime on the streets of Hackney to becoming a mentor that should inspire his mentees.
And it is his tenacity and determination to turn his life around that has been recognised by the Hackney Drug Intervention Programme (DIP) and Red Kite Learning who have trained Patrick, 46, to be a mentor and are supporting his long term goal to become a drugs counsellor.
Patrick was put in touch with Red Kite Learning through the Hackney DIP after serving a three year prison sentence for robbery. “As soon as I was arrested I decided that I wanted to be drug free,” says Patrick. “I was determined to break that cycle and fill my time with something positive which was in line with what I wanted for my future.”
Red Kite Learning trained Patrick on a four week mentoring course covering subjects such as boundaries, drug awareness and personal health and safety. He is now mentoring people who have drug addiction problems and who may also be involved in the criminal justice system.
Patrick said: “I felt that being involved in this programme would benefit me by turning my negative past experience into a positive one.”
Red Kite Learning is also helping him with ongoing training for his own personal development referring him onto courses such as ‘working with adults’ and ‘motivational interviewing’ and ‘drugs counselling.’
He said: “Working with Red Kite Learning has helped me to see the progressive steps to achieving my goals. It also linked me into other organisations that could benefit me - it has unlocked the doors that had been locked securely for years.”
Now, with some stability in his life, Patrick is able to put something back. Recently he was thrilled to hear that he passed his ‘introduction to drug counselling’ course at Lambeth College, he is now hoping to progress to the next level, so he can realise his goal of becoming a drug counsellor.
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(Published July 2008)
