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Discovering A Whole New World
By Ash Davidson
I don’t know if it’s because I am getting old that I tend to notice more things or that the protective bubble of home life is slipping away. In all honesty I would put Carlisle, England as a really nice place to live. Low crime, decent size population and a nice city to be in. Although the employment is poor it’s still a nice place to grow up. However I did not expect to discover the amount of drug problems it actually holds. Carlisle is currently the second highest city I believe for steroid use, this became as a shock to me because I thought Newcastle would be higher with it been a bigger city. The longer I have been volunteering as a substance misuse worker the more I know. I get the chances to talk to the users. They tell me information about their life; they give me tips on how to manage people like them which are good because of me been young and inexperienced. But with this information I am beginning to learn a whole new place I grew up. I know that the comforting bubble I had when growing up was disappearing and real life was beginning. I had to begin to open my eyes and observe all around me. My parents used to say “never take people at face value” Their 100% correct on this never trust no one you don’t know. I also learnt a lot through retail you tend to know the honest characters to the so called dodgy characters. Although I have only been working as a volunteer a matter of months, I have learnt one valuable lesson. Never ever judge a book by its cover. At first I was scared because drug users can be unpredictable and it could kick off but this was my imagination playing tricks on me as well as my parent’s opinions on the matter. In all honesty drug users who come into the needle exchange and ask for needles are more polite and well mannered than the customers I get at work. Strange I know but this is one of the most satisfying moments I can gain from this experience. You’re offering a service to them and their very happy to appreciate the service and you as an individual offering the service. I wish people who go shopping would appreciate the staff more.
Drugs within communities have been a problem for decades. However this should never change your approach towards the person who uses them. A lot of my family refer to my volunteering role as “helping out the druggies”, “helping out the smack heads”. It’s not my family don’t understand what I know and see for my own eyes, they are not a minority. They have an addiction we all do things in certain ways, would you class that as an addiction? I love helping people and offering a service which people are grateful for and at the same time there is always an opportunity to help these people overcome the power of an addiction. This is just the start. The tip of the iceberg. Learning Outcomes:
Never judge a person on a stereotypical view. In the past I have and boy was I wrong. You will be too. Everyone is equal and everyone should be treated with the same respect as the next person in line.
University student studying Policing & Community Safety and also work in the retail sector for some extra month. I am a volunteer drug-worker and this is what I crave do in the future. By been a volunteer it motivated me to make the website www.myroutetohelp.co.uk I set this website up in the summer 2011. Its grew massively and changed direction many times. I wanted a website which offers basic drug and addiction knowledge and for people to share their own stories of addiction to others. Recently I have created a message board for my website on www.myroutetohelp.com
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This intel was contributed by blackout7
blackout7
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May, 2012
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