Peter – Drug Harm Reduction and Health Advocate Volunteer
Volunteering opened up a whole new world for me and I’d highly recommend it to anyone.
I was born in London but moved to Northamptonshire when I was 2 as my Father’s firm moved. I didn’t do well at secondary school due to familial problems, my mother had died when I was 4 years old. After leaving school I decided to move back to London in 1987. I initially worked in local government, but became disheartened with this role and studied in the evening to go to university where I gained a BSc(Hons) 1st class in Social Sciences and then won a scholarship to study an MA in Cultural Studies at Leeds University in 1993.
Unfortunately, I had been injecting opioids since aged 14 and had became dependent. Upon moving back to London after finishing the MA I got onto Opioid Substitution Treatment, but I contracted bacterial endocarditis and had an aortic heart valve replaced spending 6 months in hospital and spent time recovering once I was discharged.
I then decided to volunteer in Drug Harm Reduction Work and then as a Health Advocate in Camden. This led to a part-time job which I am still in and is the most rewarding post I have had.
Volunteering opened up a whole new world of experience, training and skills and I would recommend it to anyone currently not working to look at volunteering in the area they are most keen on working in.
Would you like to become a lifeline in London?
By volunteering, you could make a difference.