Littleborough alcohol and drug support

06/09/2026

21/08/2026

Warning to parents
I want to mention this not to scare anyone but to educate. there has been a huge rise in kids in schools using THC v**e liquids. Anyone who knows understands that cannabis oil is a black thick oil however so called THC v**e liquid is a synthetic version otherwise known as SPICE. clear tasteless with no smell so detecting it is very difficult and to make matters worse it can be mixed with ordinary ecig liquid and be almost untraceable until smoked. Cannabis oil is for the most part harmless but spice can be very dangerous so be vigilant unfortunately the only way to find out if your kid has it is to smoke the v**e and after just a few puffs you will know as you will get a cannabis like effect depending on the Strength it can be very powerful. take care of each other.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.

12/07/2026

Hi my Name is Adam Browne and I am an alcoholic and this is my story.
I have just celebrated my 47th Birthday and if you seen my car crash of a lifestyle over the past couple of years you wouldn’t believe that i am here to tell my story.
Although Alcoholism is an illness you will never stop picking up until you admit that you are an alcoholic and that this illness will kill you if you dont admit that. You have to want to stop or you will never do it.
So here we go how long have I been an alcoholic, well I guess most of my life from a young age i would nick spirits or cans out of the parents stash. By the age of 13 I was drinking on the streets on a Friday and Saturdays and even bunking off school to drink. It seemed the norm for me. by 15 i was in the pub any excuse to have a drink just because i could. Ive woken up in fields, the park and even under my Dads van when it was snowing. But these were all tales to tell over the next drinking binge with the gang.Do i think i had a problem did i BO****KS. I just carried on thinking this is the norm. Luckily or maybe unluckily i was a half decent Rugby player, so i had to keep fit, I just thought train hard, play hard. I had a pretty successful Rugby career but did alcohol hinder this hell yeah. I know without alcohol i could have definitely gone further.Looking back now i loved alcohol as much as the game. So if you have ever been in a team environment you will know there is a team camaraderie and having the crack is all part of it. .I didn’t need asking twice if i was going for a pint after training or having a few the night before a game or watching the rugby in the boozer. Then came game day once the game was done the saying was, win or lose have a booze.This could last from Saturday afternoon to the Sunday even the Monday on occasion. Even as i got older and most of the lads were slowing down,I was speeding up probably drink 4/5 nights a week. Being honest i liked it and it was my choice to drink. Did I ever see the damage i was causing all around me, nope-it was my life and i knew best. When the Rugby days were coming to an end the drinking continued, I couldn’t blame the social side anymore , it was me that wanted to drink. About ten years ago in my sane mind surely i knew I was an alcoholic but no in my mind it was just alcohol.It was not doing anyone any harm. how wrong was I Now I can look back and see what an absolute selfish BASTARD I was. I was blinkered by alcohol and my own pig headiness. What the hell was wrong with me. I had a Good Job, house, great kids Money and women came and went but I wasn’t ever bothered. I did try numerous times to stop but did i really want to Long and short of it NO. I was drinking everyday the really hard stuff polishing off 3/4/5 litres of vodka a day and anything else i could get my hands on, Co***ne, Speed,,Es, Billy wizz. You name it I probably well most definitely had it. I had to drink to function and thats the truth if i didn’t have a small bottle of vodka in the morning i could not do the simplest of tasks. If that was not a wake up call i don’t no what would be . My life was revolving around where my next drink was coming from. I did the try/fail sequence over and over again stop for a short while then convince myself just one wont hurt. But the saying is true “one is too many and one thousand is not enough”. So what changed? Well things got worse before they got better. I had some massive failures but I believe I really needed to hit rock bottom and that i did. I had the support there but still carried on. If you don’t want to stop you wont. The lies the deceit everything got worse the more I tried to hide the lies, I was lying about bloody lies. My Fiancee and Mother and my boys were on the verge of disowning me. I woke up in police cells and hospitals numerous times. I carried on and on regardless. My mother sadly passed away and this is how selfish I was I still carried on drinking and falling out and coming to blows with my loved ones. In my head i had lost everything so f**k it. Why because i wasn’t ready to admit the problem was actually me. Luckily for me the missus was my rock i new the support was there. One day in September last year a leaflet dropped through my door, I thought how uncanny is that I thought the Missus or one of the friends i have left behind had posted it, I was already thinking i will be dead by Christmas at this rate so Could this be the calling. the missus begged me to phone the number, but i put it off for a little while. Then one day in October I phoned, I said hello is that Ryan. Then he spoke, I was like s**t Ryan is that you? We both laughed as we have known each other for over 20 years. I came off the phone, my Missus in tears that i had actually picked up the phone.The relief was immense i felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders. Now This is where the work starts and i knew that i wanted to do it, not just for my family an friends BUT FOR ME! My Missus supported me and we or should I say she put a plan together. We spoke to the doctors and Ryan about coming off the alcohol safely. So that was it. me the Missus and the pooch went off grid to the lakes for two weeks-and believe me it was the toughest 2 weeks of my life.The pain of detoxing was horrendous. The sickness aches and pains where everywhere. Not to mention The tears we shared but it was worth it. Day by Day it got easier I was drinking less, I don’t think the missus could of taken much more catching my sick, wiping my arse, coating me in cold towels, I was in pain but I could see her pain too. When I look back the pain I went through to quit was nothing to the pain I had caused my loved ones. Looking back the tears and pain I caused for my missus, kids, family and close friends hurts me. but nothing compared to the hurt i was causing whilst i was still drinking. On December the 6th I had my last beer and came home. I phoned Ryan to say i would see him in the morning, he said you better because i know where you live. December the 7th 12.30pm i walked through the door. The smile on Ryans face was incredible.I remember him saying you have done it, you have walked through the door. Ryan and his team were so welcoming and supportive, I was apprehensive but sat down, then this voice from across the table said hey up so your an achy as well then. I was like oh bloody hell it was a friend I have known since school. this was a lightbulb moment I did not know this friend was an alcoholic and vice versa. Its amazing that so many of us walk around carrying this illness and people don’t know, but thats it we hide the problem with alcohol. What i found being in a room with others with similar problems it was so easy to talk. There is no judgement just support we all think we can do it alone but we can not do it alone at all.Being part of this group saved my life.
Ryan and his team put a plan in place the same day, with myself and the missus. Everyone-is different so the plan has to be tailored to the individual. The next day i felt awesome and walked through the doors of AA and felt just at home like Ryan said. These groups are great to get it all out, and to listen to others and see you are not alone. Next i asked Ryan if he would be my sponsor which he happily obliged. We spent the next couple of months going through the 12 steps, which was tough at times, but it makes you understand the pain and hurt that has been caused by my addictions. But it gives you the body armour to prevent this merry go round carrying on.STOP. THINK. RE EVALUATE your actions to prevent a relapse, all I can say is talk, talk and do not turn away support.Do not be scared to share your problems. Pick up the phone not a beer.So here I am 7 months sober and i will not lie, its not easy its just one day at a time. Surround yourself with the right people, get the support you need picking up the phone that day in October saved my life. so if you are struggling just pick up the phone. The one person who can help most is YOU, the day you admit the problem -is the day you start your life again.You just have to take one day at a time. Im not going to say life is perfect but when problems occur i now have the tools to face them head on and tackle them without burying my head in the bottle. Everyday you learn a little more about yourself and others. Life i short but with a sober life you can actually deal with life. Keep talking to those who actually have your best interest at heart, and those that dont F**K them. Life is to short!I have been given a second chance, I am so glad I made the phone call, it could change your life.. IT CHANGED MINE>

27/06/2026

We are a drug and alcohol support group not just for the addict or alcoholic but for the family too.

22/06/2026

I just want to say that it’s not just adults that suffer from addiction and alcohol abuse and as some of you are aware it happens to kids as well. With that I would like to mention that all of our staff at L.A.A.D.S are DBS checked for children and vulnerable adults. Our aim is to reach anyone no matter what the age or substance they use. Thank you for your support and please share. We need you too.

12/06/2026

I used to be a normal drinker, in my teens and early twenties. Or so I thought. The stresses of 10 years of owning a business (coffee shop) and raising 2 teenaged boys who were both on the spectrum, one of which has just started getting bullied in his first year of high school has taken its toll on my mental health and I’d drink quite often, not knowing then that it was to mask the noise or that it would spiral out of control.
The summer before Covid my favourite wine went on offer and I would buy 6 bottles at at time, thinking it tastes nice and I can stop any time. Fast forward to the first lock down in Covid (I still had the shop), the day it was announced something clicked and it all went out of control; going to the house parties of an old school acquaintance who was having them (because they’d been made redundant for Covid) every single day from 3pm-4am. That’s when the co***ne started. Every penny I had went in booze and drugs. There was nothing anyone could say or do about it! My daily behaviour was erratic and I treated everybody terribly. The partying dwindled out after just under a year but I carried on drinking 2 bottles of wine a day every day for another year until that wasn’t enough and I would then top it up with vodka. Somewhere in the madness I’d fallen in the shower and snapped my shoulder leading to an operation which came with codeine.. of course I became addicted and used it to come down of the co***ne whilst I was on that. I took so many that I started buying them on the streets. (I sold my shop to an employee in 2024 and spent nearly all of that money on codeine and alcohol!)
When my husband realised I was an alcoholic he would give me ultimatums over the final 1.5 years. I joined turning point in a bid to cut down or stop, and while they were a good stepping stone, it didn’t stop me. They put me on a prescription to stop the codeine which thankfully worked and I immediately stopped that. I tried everything to stop drinking; drinking every other day, switching drinks, starting later.
Over the five years I was deepest into addiction I did a lot of ‘out of character’ things.. drunk drove nearly every day, I’d randomly March up to a pub and be the person talking crap to strangers, almost getting in a few fights id book a local hotel so I could drink in peace then go to work hung over as usual, I stopped all house hold tasks, stopped doing anything parental for the boys, cut all extended family off, I’d wake up and remember as the drunk texts and fb posts came back. empty bottles were hidden literally everywhere all over the house and I’d take them to dispose off at work, in public bins, neighbour’s bins, I’d constantly be covered in bruises head to toe from the day/ night before, I’d go to the sunbed drunk in the afternoon.. one time I needed the toilet so w**d in the bin next to the sunbed! I’d go for drunken speed walks in the dark without a care for my safety, any phone calls, bills or appointments I’d put my head in the sand and ignore.
October 2025 The final ultimatum was here, my husband was looking for a flat for either him or me to move into, when one morning I found a leaflet on the couch for Ryan at the littleborough drug and alcohol support . I promised him I’d go as a final shot, I told my turning point worker that week on the Sunday and she said it’s a great idea. I was nervous that Sunday but it was the best thing I ever did. Ryan told his own story, put everyone at ease, put me onto AA where I still attend every week..I love it and it keeps me on track! Ryan even became my sponsor and took me through the twelve step programme. Now I’m 7 months sober, have joined 2 brass bands, attend a gospel choir, fill my time with painting, films (which I can now remember!), baking.
If anyone feels helpless in their addiction and is ready to quit I’d recommend going to see Ryan and the team. It’s changed my life and given me a new freedom.