Supporting second chances

People come up to me and say I’m looking brilliant. They say they want to get help and ask the best way to do it. I always tell them: WithYou.

Stuart, Glasgow

Terri and Stuart's story

Where did it all start?

Terri and Stuart first met 12 years ago, not long after Terri’s two sons were received into local authority care. Terri turned to heroin as a way of numbing her profound feelings of loss and, she says, from that first moment, she was hooked. 

Stuart had been using heroin for years at this point. 

“From the age of eight, I was taking one substance or another. I got into heroin because I used to go out from Friday to Sunday. I used to take ecstasy when I was at the dancing, then take Valium for the comedown, so we could go out again the next day. There was no Valium one day, so I took a line of heroin to make myself feel better.

“You would go out on Friday night, then take it on Saturday morning, then again on Sunday morning for the comedown. Then you would be taking it on a Wednesday, when you weren’t even going out. Then a Thursday. Then you’re not even going out at the weekend, but you’re still taking it.”- Stuart

What support did you seek?

After years of using heroin, Terri and Stuart made the decision to stop using drugs and seek help from WithYou. They received prescriptions for methadone, and began attending groups at our Glasgow Recovery Hub. 

“We’ve always been this way, we are a team. When one of us wanted to come off it, that meant it was time to do it together. No matter what it takes.” - Terri

A few years later, the couple discovered they were pregnant. They were overjoyed - but a difficult road lay ahead.

“I fell pregnant in November. We were clean by that point but we were both diagnosed with HIV in January. Thanks to support from We Are With You, we stayed clean through that time. We didn’t relapse when we found out about the HIV.” - Terri

Their baby was taken into care immediately at birth - and both parents vowed to do everything in their power to bring her home. During this difficult time, the team from the Glasgow Recovery Hub helped them to prepare for, understand, and cope with their social work meetings.

“I felt deflated after the social work meetings but I knew I could pick up the phone to We Are With You. I would talk to them during the walk home, and by the time I got home I would know ‘I can do this’.

"It might sound like a boring life to some people, but I love taking my daughter to nursery, picking her up, making her dinner… having a life that we never had." - Terri

What’s your message to others who may be experiencing challenges?

“If you’re not ready to get clean, you’re not going to get clean. I was ready because of my daughter. I didn’t do it for my sons, I had a second chance with my daughter.”- Terri

“People come up to me and say I’m looking brilliant. They say they want to get clean and ask the best way to do it. I always tell them: WithYou.”- Stuart

Terri and Stuart’s daughter is now back in their care, and they’ve recently celebrated her third birthday with a party.