A woman who overcame alcohol misuse with help from a peer mentor scheme in Wrexham is now working in the role of the person who helped support her.
Kate Hopkins is now working with others to get them the support and skills they need to change their lives with Cyfle Cymru.
Kate was in supported living and had a problem with alcohol for a “long time” when Antonia Jones first began working with her.
Antonia had only just joined the Cyfle Cymru project when she met Kate, and supported others through peer mentoring.
READ MORE: Scheme sees peer mentors supporting others in recovery to get employed
At the time, Kate’s addiction meant that sometimes she wouldn’t even be aware that there were people in the room with her, but Antonia visited her on a weekly basis at the same time to help her.
Antonia said: “We built up a relationship of trying to make positive choices. It can be very small at first and we’re trained in resistance so it's key to consistency. You have to keep coming back and I would go to the project she was in every week, same time, check in with Kate see how (she was) doing and then Kate decided she was going to change her life. I’m so proud of where Kate is now because what did was go to rehab (and) detox.”
Kate went through detox for a month and then rehabilitation for three months, coming out in April last year.
Antonia said: “When she was no longer drinking we built a CV, we trained her so she did her peer mentoring level three, she did safeguarding; all the skills that you would need to do and then I applied for another job within the company as community engagement, and Kate applied for my job and is now in the role that I was in.
“What is absolutely fantastic is that we now go to the project where I first met Kate and inspire other people, so they can see that actually what we do really does work.”
Antonia said she is “incredibly proud of Kate” and that it was the choices that she made alone that has led to her sobriety, just with a bit of support.
She added: “We’re there to give those positive choices, empower people, self-confidence is a massive thing.”
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The project, which is now being funded with the help of the Welsh Government, also supports those who are unemployed by giving them the skills and confidence they need to get on track.
This includes volunteering projects, which Kate also participated in, and which Antonia regards as an “invaluable service.”
Kate said: “I didn’t think that I had anything to offer at all, I thought I was a goner pretty much and I’d almost given up until I did meet Antonia.
“I got on board and just getting out and about and meeting people and getting courses done, anything that’s put me in the right direction so I know I could do something about it, and here I am.”
“Just get on board, it does help and there is a way out and even when you think there isn’t, there is. That’s what we’re here for.”
Kate is living proof in the job that something can be done, and Cyfle Cymru, based at Champions House in Wrexham, continues to support those who need it.
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