"Changed my life"

I was trying to sort myself out, but in the end, I needed help. I came to STARS and it was a relief to be able to tell someone what I had been doing. No one else knew.

The staff I met were friendly and understanding. My case worker drew up a plan and involved me in the decisions. I was going through a very dark time and my case worker went the extra mile for me and referred me to other services for other help I needed. I had so much support from the groups and other clients. It is now over 3 years since I came to STARS for help.

I am not taking any of the drugs I was using. I have been reducing the subutex and aim to be off that by the end of the year. My mental health has improved and so has my relationship with my family. I have had 5 care workers over that time and 4 of them have been e excellent, unfortunately once was not punctual and was frequently unavailable when I turned up for my prearranged appointments. During my time with this worker, I did not have a care plan and rarely had the opportunity to talk things through. However, this worker has now left and was not typical of my average experience of the service.

From my point of view, I can’t think of any changes that would improve my experience of the service. To have a free service like this is amazing and I am grateful. It is not an exaggeration to say it has changed my life.