I'M ON THE MEND

We continue to help Glen

I grew up on Hillock estate, in Whitefield, Manchester. My boyhood wasn't that good but it wasn't that bad. It turned sour when my mum and dad split up in 1990. Since then I became a drug addict. I went on Amphetamine. Things became really bad. While I was living with my mum I was stealing off her and stealing off my friends. I became very much a loner. I knew I had to do something about my future, about myself.

I went to see the local priest at my parish, which is Saint Michael's. Father John got in contact with Father Jim who runs the T.H.O.M.A.S. Project at Saint Anne's House. Since then my life has took on a lot more meaning. Meaningful for me, for my family and for my future.

When I was at school I had a lot of friends. I never really wagged school; I always went in for my lessons and that. My favorite lessons were Geography and English. I never hung about with the lads from school because they were all from different areas. But I got on with my teachers and in the end I passed five GCSE's. They were all C's and D's but to have them certificates meant a lot to me.

My first job when I left school was at FD Kitchens. It was working in a kitchen place making units and cabinets for them. I didn't stay there long because I had just left school and I wanted to go out and have a bit of fun. My next job was at Macdonald's. I worked cooking the food and operating the tills.

Then things started to get a bit iffy and the drug scene came into it. The jobs that I started having I left them after two weeks, maybe a month, because I wanted to be on my own and drugged up, but the opportunities were there for me. The jobs were good that I had.

Since I have been with the T.H.O.M.A.S. Organization I've learnt about myself. That I am worth it, I can succeed in what I go out to achieve. It's been my saviour really, I need to save myself, and I needed to want to do it, which I did. This project has helped me beyond words.

I would say to Edges readers keep on reading. It's all real life. We've come from not nice places really. It's a really big thing; a really big step to come to Saint Anne's house, the T.H.O.M.A.S. Project but everybody has been such a good help. A big thankyou to everyone.