Testimonials

Some of the people who have turned their lives around with the help of Kenward Trust have shared their experiences in the hope that it will help others

Here are some real life stories that may be of interest to those considering a programme with us at Kenward Trust. They will help in understanding our approach and the individual projects we offer. We pride ourselves on our ability to engage everyone individually and to tailor our proven programmes to maximise success.

Past residents are very welcome to send us their story; please email us directly.

“Where to start?

I guess with the phone call 5 years ago from my son to say he needed to come home as he had a drink & drug problem and he needed to come home to sort himself out. As a mum my instinct was that I could cure him with love and support within no time at all things would be back to normal. Well normal was not going to return to normal actually for the next few years normal did not exist.

How to explain living with an addict and their lies is hard if not impossible to imagine and describe to anyone who has not experienced first hand what it is like. Within the addict is the child I raised and love dearly but at the same time was the addict who I disliked intensely as I and his sisters lived with the day to day reality.

Life could only be described as turbulent never knowing what we would walk into. At its best he would be on a high but we all knew the comedown would be horrific. Any family occasions ruined with the impact of drugs - Christmas, birthdays etc all experienced under the cloud of his addictions.

I have lost count of the number of times the police have been called as he'd gone missing, the journeys to locate him from various places. The times he stole from us and threatened us. The times he self-harmed as a result of the drugs. The fear we all lived in when he threatened to kill himself he might actually go through with it or accidently do it. To come home and dread opening the door left me sick to the core and his sister would never come home first as she couldn't cope with not knowing what she would walk into.

The feeling of guilt we all felt immense as none of us could reach him but all of us had to deal with him. When he avoided family time it meant we could almost enjoy it but then would feel terrible that he wasn't here.

Addiction took away my son and the girl's brother.

What Kenward has given us is lightness of being, we no longer live with the feeling of tension and fear. We can all enjoy time without Will as we know he is safe. Equally when we are with Will it is as though we have young Will back. He looks healthy and well and is able to interact with his sisters and his niece.

For all of us it feels as though a great weight has been lifted - some of the issues I hadn't even realised were issues. For example I can now go to bed rather than sleep on the sofa ready to stop Will leaving the house in the middle of the night or waiting for phone calls when he was living elsewhere. We can all have friends for dinner etc without fear of what Will might do or what state he might be in. My grandaughter can be here without being frightened of her uncle.

Without the help from Kenward we would all still be in a very dark place indeed. Now we can all see a future that will obviously have it's ups and downs as that's life but a life without addiction. The feeling of release is unbelievable and it is only now looking back I realise how terrified we all were but gradually that terror has receded and at the end of a day I realise that I have not panicked irrationally always waiting for bad news.

As a family we cannot thank you enough for the future you have given us.

Thank you”

Feedback received March 2025

“I love Kenward Trust. I was there in 2020 and havs been sober almost 4 years and if it wasn't for the staff and all the groups I done I wouldn't be sat here today with a beautiful baby girl (9 weeks old) and a stable partner. The hardest part was asking for help but once you do everything changes for the better. I'm so thankful to all the staff there and have so much love them.”-Natasha

Feedback received December 2023.

“Kenward is a unique, tranquill environment completely focused on recovery and above all residents. My time there was genuinely life changing. Staff are excellent and so proffesonal but have that loving quality the become friends . They get it . I left kenward in June 2023 and things are going so well, the hardest part was/is asking for help ! Ask kenward you get it .I couldn't recommend it highly enough . Anything is possible. Much luv all at kenward.”-Kev

Feedback received December 2023.

“I did all three stages at kenward and every stage was vital for my recovery excellent staff and safe environments to build on my recovery.” - Tommy

Feedback received December 2023.

“Kenward helped me re-educate my thought process [so] that I could beat this demon that taken over my life.” - Trevor

Kenward took me from a very dark place of desperation and taught me the value of life away from addiction. Kenward helped me re-educate my thought process [so] that I could beat this demon that taken over my life. The love and support I received and still do to this day has made me happy content and confident person that I’d lost through addiction. I love you all at Kenward. Thank you so much.

Testimonial received June 2023.

“Kenward has helped me develop the concepts around, and foundations of, my recovery journey through psychological, counselling and therapeutic work with the team and community of non-judgmental peers.” - JB

Feedback received May 2023.

“Changed my life for the better and helped me to realise anything is possible.” - HC

Feedback received May 2023.

“Kenward has helped me in so many ways first to realise just how bad my addiction was it's give me time to heal, showed me that I deserve to be happy built my confidence back and showed me that there is people who care and there's more to life.” - CP

Feedback received May 2023.

“The building itself and the grounds make it feel like a safe, warm, nurturing place where a broken soul can be secure to be vulnerable and start to repair.” - J

J was a recent resident in our 12 Steps Project, and she described it as being, “exactly what I needed, when I didn’t know what I needed… The whole essence of the Kenward Community feels like… there is an air of humour, empathy and courage on site and these all were things I needed.

The content of my 16 weeks here was great. The 12 Step work was essential. I’d been trying and trying to do this on my own but I needed to get away from the noise and control of day-to-day life to let this become part of my routine, to change my thinking and to build trust in a Higher Power. Being able to attend so many meetings in the community was vital, as were the speakers invited into the Barn from the fellowship.

The work we did around other psychotherapy models was also essential as it gave me context to my story, my history, and understanding of how to re-write trauma, and courage to face my consequences. The therapeutic elements gave a great balance, I’m using many of the tools I learnt - breathing, exercise and outdoors especially. Shame I can’t have an alpaca of my own yet.

Finally, for me, I couldn’t have been lucky enough to have such a great counsellor in Denise, but above all else Tricia and Lucy. These two strong, real, women are a formidable force of recovery - the straight talking, gentle questioning and professionalism with real honest personalities encouraged me to get honest, to hurt and cry, to forgive and to see hope. They are a credit to Kenward and I benefitted hugely from their knowledge.

Thank you Alice for managing such a great rehab and for all the staff you have in place. Every single one made an impact on me.”

Testimonial received in October 2022.

“I'm proof that recovery is possible, if you start talking openly and honestly about your addiction.” - Toby

Toby was a resident at Kenward Trust in 2015, and he was recently invited back to talk to current residents and staff at one of our Recovery Conventions. This is what he had to say about it:

“It was amazing to go back to Kenward and speak to the current residents seven years after I was a resident myself, and incredible to be given the opportunity to speak to those currently receiving treatment. It was also so nice to see some of the staff who helped me so much.

What I learnt whilst at Kenward still helps me everyday. I hope it's the first of many trips back. I'm proof that recovery is possible, if you start talking openly and honestly about your addiction. Something that I learnt at Kenward Trust the hard way. I bottled things up for a long time, which nearly killed me. When I started implementing the things I was being taught, my life changed forever.

Thank you to everyone who listened on the day and good luck! Recovery is possible.”

Story told in August 2022.

“The counselling is very good for me; I can’t sing their praises enough. I would recommend to anyone, 100% to come here,” - R

R has a long history of drinking, starting, as many do, drinking socially as a teenager. He became a DJ, which meant working in pubs and clubs, so drinking became a big part of his life. He realised he had a problem, sought help, and was sober for six months, ‘I was dry for six months, doing well. I was going to meetings, but it wasn’t enough; I wasn’t interacting because I was scared…’. After doing twelve-hour shifts, along with a long commute to and from work, and other difficulties life can present, he relapsed so severely that he ended up in hospital; ‘It was a build up of… a lot of things. It was a ticking bomb.’ It was recommended by a nurse who works with patients with addiction problems that R comes to Kenward Trust, and so he was referred here by the hospital. 

Whilst R has been at Kenward Trust, he has become very focussed on his recovery and been very self-motivated to remain sober. He has also learned a lot, both about himself and about the person he wants to be.

‘I had a very bad upbringing [and] I think the past caught up with me, with the drink. I can’t change the past; that’s one of the steps I’ve learned here. You can’t beat yourself up, obviously I have… but it is an illness. 100% I do believe that and everything I’m learning here, with the counselling and AA-side of things and that, it is, it really is. The counselling is very good for me; I can’t sing their praises enough. I do a gratitude list every morning… and it’s appreciating the little things you do take for granted. It’s learning to relax as well, which, you couldn’t ask for any more here, the surroundings are beautiful.

I would recommend to anyone, 100% to come here. You’ve got activities, you’ve got other addicts who understand each other, and that is a big thing. You have to put the work in, which I’m quite proud of myself that I’m doing that, [and] you have to be selfish in this programme… But if people can get here, I would 100% encourage it.’

Story told in May 2022.

"The Kenward staff convinced me that I did have a reason to live,” - L

”I did not deserve to live… that’s how I felt all the time. But the staff at Kenward are brilliant at listening, and when they’d done that, they would keep reminding me that my three girls needed me… It took me the first three months at Kenward just to clear my head, deal with all those bad feelings and see that there was hope for me. The next three months helped me to plan a life back in the community, without alcohol… It can be done, y’know – to lead a sober and happy life. And Kenward saved me and gave me the courage to get on with doing just that.”

Story written in February 2013.

"I’m very grateful to Kenward’s staff that I’m still alive today,” - D

“It was either Kenward House or a mixed-sex residential project with the freedom to come and go at will. But I chose Kenward for the discipline of having to stay on site for the first month and work hard at my recovery. It forced me to confront myself honestly and has made all the difference… To succeed in recovery you’ve got to want to do it yourself… For the first time ever I truly want that, thanks to Kenward… I’ve had too much pain because of my addiction, and I don’t want to go back to where I was. Thanks to Kenward, I don’t have to.”

Story written in February 2013.