My story - We’re here to help you, not them!

My Story
Born in Bolton in 1960, I was the son of a successful millionaire businessman who believed money to be the be all and end all of life. Although I had every privilege and wonderful possessions available to a growing boy, I always felt lost and unloved, other than by my mother and Nelly, the nanny that brought me up.

I was kept from school, and taken to work with my father, who paid me peanuts for grafting my nuts off, pardon the pun, however, from about 13,  I had learned to steal from him to get the things that I wanted, perhaps! this is where it all went wrong, who knows? Being short and fat and having to dress like a dork, I had no luck with the girls, even with a big posh house with a swiming pool on the promenade in Blackpool, and, plenty of money to impress them.

By 18, I was married, with a child at 19, now detached from the family business, I ran a dodgy security company and sometimes I had to resort to shoplifting to feed the baby.

At 20, I got involved in a scam to make ends meet, and was sent to prison for 3 years, where I discovered other forms of crime. and of course, !!DRUGS!!. This changed my life forever, and, on release I spiraled out of control, resulting, in a progressing, and ever increasing cycle, of more advanced drug use.

At 30, there was the inevitable, divorce, now, with two children left alone with their mother, and then, came the heart problem, brought about through copious amounts of amphetamine. Still at 30, came a second marriage, which only lasted 3 very difficult  years, and, after a few more failed businesses, and accumulating around 50k of debt, it led to yet another divorce, after she ran off with my friend,  followed with bankruptcy and homelessness.

I was now about 35 and doing voluntary counselling and mentoring of  addicts, whilst  still grafting and conning my way through life, but I soon found accommodation and a third marriage at 40, to someone half my age, with yet, another child, who, after 3 years, turned out not to be mine, so that was that, another divorce.

Now, at 43, I was a proper tramp, in every sense of the word, homeless and traveling like a sort of journeyman, but life continued, until the illnesses got more and more, I was unable to live on the streets, or, do any casual work anymore. So, I got myself a little boat on Lancaster canal, untill, I was finally helped into accommodation in Garstang, and then married my fourth and final wife, and this one! was 27 years my younger, and, the biggest bundle of trouble you could ever imagine.

Between us, we masterminded and committed, a multi million pound VAT fraud, and lived life to the max, between 2004 and 2010, before, being caught and jailed in 2015. Whilst in jail, of course you guessed it, she ran off with my best friend and I came out penniless, homeless, and in a wheelchair.

After ticking all the boxes, and conforming to the system, the council found me a home, and after a year, I moved to a lovely two bedroomed ground floor flat, out of town ,in a nice area, and life continues.

The point of all this, if your still with me,
Throughout this troubled life, I’ve been homeless, been bankrupt, had 4 failed marriages, taken drugs, been an alcoholic, been to prison, been beaten, punched, kicked, stabbed, slashed, and pissed on in the gutter, I’ve been there, done it, and got the t-shirt.

But never, and I mean never, have I let myself go so low, as to sit and beg for drugs, and drink money, or take any sort of drug in public.