Tammy had always suffered from alcohol and drug addiction, as well as being heavily medicated for a number of years. When she arrived at the Old Tea Warehouse* she was on an unstable and rocky path of Class A drugs, alcohol, methadone and a cocktail of anti-depressants. The hostel staff helped her along the road to recovery by ensuring she kept off drugs although she found it hard to become completely free from alcohol.

Tammy went through several detoxification programmes, but there was always something holding her back. She had to deal with the death of her father and partner (also a resident at the Old Tea Warehouse) during these detox programmes and became emotionally unstable.

Recently, Tammy had an operation and decided to start an alcohol detox herself, without any assistance from medication and this proved to be extremely successful. Tammy has now been alcohol-free for over two months – the longest period she has ever completed a detox.

Having routine and structure to each day helps many former addicts and played a big part in Tammy’s successful recovery. Thanks to funding secured by CHT she was given the chance to work with horses locally at least three times a week. It turned out that Tammy was very knowledgeable about horses having attended dressage classes when she was a young girl and the therapy of working with horses made a big difference to her confidence.

Church Housing Trust has recently received a donation of £1,000 pounds from theBuckinghamshire Community Foundation for The Old Tea Warehouse and we are excited to be putting this towards enabling other residents such as Tammy to take part in social activities which help them on the road to recovery.

*The Old Tea Warehouse is a hostel based in High Wycombe offering temporary self-catering accommodation for 42 homeless people. During their stay residents are offered the support they need to help them overcome their problems and gain the confidence and skills they need to live independently.