Charity celebrates 40 years as 'a beacon of hope'

It took ex-punk metal drummer Alison Felton 25 years to find her love of music again while managing her drug use.

She was supported by the Bristol Drugs Project (BDP), established in 1986, which stuck by her through the good and bad days.

The charity has since reached 40 years of service and within that time started an arts-based recovery scheme called Creative Communities.

This is where Felton said she found herself again through connection and confidence - something she thought she had lost in the 1990s when things took a turn for the worse.

At the time, Felton had started smoking heroin with a partner from her band Corpus Vile and after many years reached out to BDP which helped her into a rehabilitation programme and has since become a rock in her life.

She said in the beginning she wanted the charity to "instantly cure" her, but soon realised she had to put in a lot of work.

When she got out of rehab, Felton started doing more creative things and took part in art classes which eventually led to her joining the charity's Recovery Orchestra.

"It was another step to get back into my music again. It's taken almost 30 years to get here," she said.

"It's not my style - orchestra to punk music - but I like it.

"It's an escape away from things for a while and the feeling of playing is just brilliant, it's so uplifting.

"I feel like me again. I've got freedom back, I've got myself back because the drugs just rob you of everything."

Felton said she feels "pride and privilege" to celebrate the organisation's 40th year.

"And getting behind the drums again - it just gives you goosebumps, it's great."

Delroy Decordova, 50, from Bristol, first sought help from BDP in his mid 20s.

"Having that creative and fun element to recovery has been huge for me. It was important to tap into that other part of me that was being stifled," he said.

"It allowed me to flourish."

Through BDP's Creative Communities programme he has been learning how to play the drums, write and perform poetry and take part in theatre and hip-hop groups - a life far removed from what he was living in his early 20s.

"Crack cocaine brought me to my knees," he said.

"I kept that a secret for around three years until I ran out of excuses. It was like hell," he said.

When he reached out, BDP helped him access a treatment centre, but he explained his journey was not "straightforward".

"It took many attempts, but at each relapse BDP was always there," Decordova said.

Now with support from BDP and a focus on performing he said he understands who he is again.

"The ability to express yourself though art is paramount to many addicts because they've spent to so many years suppressing themselves," he said.

"It holds up a beacon of light that says, 'anything is possible'."

Sophie Wilsdon, first started working with BDP 18 years ago as a student doing research, and now coordinates its Creative Communities projects.

She is also a musician and started the Recovery Orchestra as a way to channel what she knew through her passion.

"It's not like what I created was new - we had a music group - but what I did that was different was I created something that happened every week - our groups just perform and rehearse," she said.

Wilsdon said the music allowed people to heal without having to talk and "go into the darkness".

"For people new to performing on stage it's like a rebirth, it's amazing," she added.

"It's empowering."

To celebrate four decades of changing peoples lives through performance and art BDP will host a 40th anniversary event at St George's Hall on 3 November.

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