A FORMER drug addict and dealer whose chaotic lifestyle took her to rock bottom has spoken about her journey back from the brink.

Ann Johnson’s substance abuse led to her having two of her six children taken from her care; to being shot during a drugs pick-up; and being arrested for the violent assault of her ex-partner.

Now the 37-year-old, of Lord Street, Barrow, has turned her life around – and has praised the organisation which has helped her do so.

Ms Johnson reached rock bottom after being arrested for assault; but after turning to The Well Communities Project in Barrow, she was able to pull herself back from the brink.

The Well was set up to help integrate ex-offenders and addicts back in to society by David Higham, who is an ex-offender and addict himself.

Mr Higham found a strong faith when he was in prison and that drove him to turn his life around. He has now been clean for 11 years and has dedicated his life to helping offenders repair the damage they have caused to themselves and others.

Ms Johnson is one of those offenders who has been helpd by the project, which has just received a £96,000 boost from Cumbria’s police and crime commissioner Peter McCall.

The project took Ms Johnson through a 12-step programme and offered her a safe place to go when she sought help for her addiction to drugs and alcohol. Ms Johnson said: “I don’t even remember my first meeting or my first two months in recovery and they were a struggle.

“The best and worst thing about The Well programme is that you are helped by your peers. They are other addicts and they can see right through you.

“I have now been clean for ten months and The Well helped me find the inner power to make that possible.”

Ms Johnson began taking drugs such as cannabis at the age of 10 and then went on to deal drugs at school during her early teens.

She soon graduated to dealing and taking heroin and was forced to give up her two oldest children for adoption. After suffering with crippling anxiety, depression and anorexia, she says she could not see a way out for herself and her involvement in drugs increased.

She received bullet wounds when she was shot during a pick-up in Wolverhampton and was later put in to a coma after being badly beaten up.

Ms Johnson said: “I now feel constant gratitude that I am allowed to see my younger children and I appreciate all the time I am able to spend with them.

“Two of my older children were adopted when they were toddlers and I used to be so afraid that they would grow up, look for me and discover that I was a drug dealer and addict and be ashamed of me.

“Now I feel as if I am ready for them to meet me and I can finally be somebody who deserves to meet them again.

“The Well has shown me the way through faith in God and through sharing experiences with my peers. At meetings I am not judged, I am not afraid to tell people the horrible things I have done in my life.

“One of the best things about the meetings at The Well is that they teach you to like yourself again and after that you can start to like others again. I used to be very aggressive and I blamed my mum for many of the horrors in my past.

“Now I have managed to build a better relationship with my mum and we have now had seven months with no arguments whatsoever.

“This summer I am going on holiday with her for the first time since childhood and we are taking some of my children too. I am so excited about it – I no longer just exist or struggle through life, now I love my life and look forward to each new day.

“I am loving the experience of being a mum and it’s a privilege to be a parent putting my children first rather than my substance abuse.”

Ms Johnson now supports other ex-offenders. Her ambition is one day to visit prisons and help spread hope and inspiration to other addicts by telling her story.

She said: “If I could give a message to anybody who is suffering I would tell them to take that first step, contact The Well. Ask for help, you will be surprised what a relief it is to share your problems. Do not be ashamed because you can repair the damage you have done and start enjoying your life again.”

Cumbria’s new police and crime commissioner Peter McCall attended a meeting at The Well this week and was impressed by the stories shared by Ms Johnson and her peers.

He said: “I feel really strongly about supporting this project because my goal as PCC is to promote a ‘we not them’ attitude. I want to give ex-offenders a chance to rejoin society and encourage them to help themselves.

“It is incredibly inspirational to hear these stories today and the impact it has had on cutting crime is fantastic.”