What do we do at Venture Trust, and who do we work with? This is Mark’s story…
Mark’s life had been chaotic. He’d been dealt some of life’s toughest challenges – losing his wife and his father, ending up sleeping rough and entangled in substance misuse, and moving in and out of the prison system. He felt like he’d hit rock bottom.
Desperate to change his life and get back in touch with his family, Mark decided it was time to reach out for support. While Mark was at Turnaround Residential, a charity in Glasgow, he heard about Venture Trust and the Living Wild Programme. He felt like this was a programme he could benefit from, and his key worker at Turnaround decided to make a formal referral to us at Venture Trust.
Mark understood what had led him to this point in his life, and he had a good idea of what it would take for him to remain in recovery. Supported by his outreach worker, Mark took time to consider his personal goals and what would make a good first step on the road to recovery.
Mark’s Living Wild journey was an opportunity to work on his goals and change his perspective; allowing him to work on his boundaries and learn how to build solid, positive relationships. Mark’s Living Wild group faced challenging weather, and some group members decided to turn back. Working through this challenging journey, Mark formed some valuable friendships and allowed himself to open up about his issues and goals along the way.
The time spent away from his day to day life with professionals and other people who had been through similar challenges gave him the time, space and positive, non judgemental support network he needed to help him move towards recovery – one step at a time.
Following his wilderness journey, Mark is still at the beginning of his journey to recovery. But after working with Venture Trust, he’s made amazing progress.
Solid foundations have been laid and goals set – and he’s focussed on a brighter future, connected with his loved ones and perhaps one day working to help others to overcome their own challenges.
