Marek started taking drugs as a teenager with friends and by 17 was addicted to Ketamine.

He said: “The first drug I was addicted too was ketamine. I took that regularly, pretty much every single day when I was in college, and between the age of 17-19.

“I didn’t really see it as an addiction, I thought I could stop at any time but chose not. In fact, it was the other way round, I couldn’t stop using that already, I had a tendency to use that more and more.”

He then progressed to taking heroin after exploring the Talk to Frank website, which on reflection was a clear indication something was wrong.

“I first introduced myself to heroin with friends at college. We used to go on the Talk to Frank website and look at drugs on there and what the effects were.

“I knew there wasn’t something normal about that aspect, as most people would look at heroin and think I wouldn’t want to take that, people do horrible things to get that drug, but my brain said it must be good if they’re doing that sort of stuff, that’s how it started.

“We managed to find people that were on heroin and get some. We didn’t really know what we were doing, just trying to smoke it in different ways.

“I didn’t take it for a little while but then I moved to a new city and there was no ketamine available, so I went onto heroin because I could get that and that’s when I got a physical addiction to it.”

It was during his addiction that Marek became less involved in paid, legal, work and turned to crime and selling personal belongings to fund his habit.

“When you’re on drugs anything is for sale really. The next fix is the most important thing. Money wasn’t money, it was drug tokens. It had no value; it was a means to get drugs.

“At one point some teenagers asked me for if I had any fake ID, so they could go out drinking and things like that. I had my passport and I said you can have it for £20 and I went and spent it all on drugs.

“At the start of my addiction, I was working, I was hard working when I was younger. I had three jobs, in the daytime in a chip shop, then a pizza shop and in the evening’s I’d work at a pub.

“As I got older and my employability decreased, I did start committing crimes. I was a drug dealer for many years, then I turned to crimes like burglaries and then ended up as a shop lifter. That was what I was doing when I got clean. “

After having been arrested on multiple occasions, Marek spent time in prison and it was while he was in prison that he realised he needed to make a change in his life.

“The last little bit before I got clean for good, I was arrested,” He explained. “I was on bail for a string of offences, then I got arrested again for another seven offences. I got remanded in custody and was in Nottingham Prison.

“I got a glimpse of reality of what my life had become. I was actually relived to be in prison because my life on the outside was so chaotic, at least in prison I got three meals a day, there was drinking water and other facilities.

“I was still planning crimes before I got out though and I thought to myself this is me for life if I carry on doing this sort of stuff, I’m in here for life. I then remembered there was a rehab I’d bumped into when I was going to 12 step meetings, and I thought as soon as I get out, I’m going to ring them. That was the moment things turned and I decided to take the right path.”

When he got out of prison, Marek did exactly that and spent time at Jericho House, a rehab based in Derby. It was during his time there that he became involved in Derby County Community Trust’s Active Choices programme.

“Active Choices work with Jericho House, and I did some of their sessions when I was attending rehab. When I left, I thought that was something I wanted to get into.

“Before my addiction I was really into football, being a lifelong spurs fan so I was like I want to get involved in football and sports, that’s where Active choices came in.

“As soon as I got out, I really got involved and it became the highlight of my week. I used to go the Tuesday morning football sessions and really enjoyed it. It became an important part of my life.”

After being a participant with Active Choices, Marek used his experiences on the programme and his own experiences with addiction to help others as a Support Worker. After that role he became a staff member with the Trust, working on the very programme that helped him with his recovery.

He explained: “A job came up at Active choices, and I’d been attending sessions still when I could and was working with the staff.

“So, when I heard about the job vacancy, I’d built up enough experience in my role as a Support Worker and with my recovery experience to apply and get the job.

“It was amazing. I could emphasise with where the participants were at, and I had that professional experience where I could help them along with my recovery experience.

“I was really privileged to do that, and it was a good experience to see people come through and be where I was and helping to get them to a good place and into recovery.”

Learn more about our Active Choices programme below!

Active Choices