living the edge. generally, seriously, one slip would kill me because i'd feel like there would be no going back. a sharp scratch. at a time when drug and alcohol deaths are soaring, something has to change. i simply hope that people who have been treated rather like lepers are now on a journey which treats them as people with a health condition and that they have hope that it can be better. hello. mike? yes. jeremy. didn't recognise you with your mask on, mate. you all right? yeah, good to see you. thank you. it's early may 2021... come on, we'll have a seat. yeah, that's fine. ..and i'm meeting mike. you look younger in person than on... yeah. my god, i almost look like your granddad! yeah. we've spoken before on zoom, so i already know he has got plenty of troubles. but now it is time for a brew. thanks so much, that's brilliant. cheers, lovely. time for some more detail. when i used to have a drink, cocaine would come hand in hand. so i'd have a sip of a pint and then i would be wanting to, you know, get a bag. the mike i'm meeting today is a different person. you could say a lucky person. he's managed to get off the booze and drugs, even as the death rates from both are rising across the country. deaths associated with cocaine have increased five—fold since 2010 and many of the victims are young men, like mike. this isjust showing people that love and care for me, and also showing me myself in the process that i needed to make a change. for the next year, i'm going to be seeing a lot of mike. to rebuild his life. i think he knows that it's going to be tough. but i also get the sense he is determined to become a better person, a better partner, a better son and a better dad. when i got a drink i'd just turn into this person that people didn't want to be around, didn't want to associate with. aggressive? yeah, aggressive, nasty, narcissistic as well, i would really say. violent? violent, yeah, definitely. that's a real dark moment for me. and a real moment that i don't ever want to sit in again. nightingale's is a great place for a coffee and a bite, but, as we'll be finding out, for hundreds of people like mike it's way more important than that. it's helped turn his life around and there's no going back. if you did have a slip, would one slip be a catastrophe? yeah. one slip would kill me. seriously? seriously. genuinely, seriously, one slip would kill me, because i would feel like there would be no going back. broken promises again, this is the thing i have tried to understand with the academy about finding your values, your core values. to me that's scary because you're setting your own bar so high, you're incredibly tough on yourself. yeah, i need to be. you need to be disciplined. and if i'm not disciplined, i'll fall. at birkenhead, mike's not the only one who's been struggling. just across the mersey from liverpool, this place took the full force of the 1980s recession. as the shipyards failed, unemployment rose and heroin and other drugs took hold. birkenhead is a deprived area — the sort of place we know can be especially vulnerable to drug and alcohol problems. but this is a community which is fighting back. and here in birkenhead they've come up with this concept of a recovery village. what is that? a recovery village? well, there are already loads of different services here working to help people struggling with addiction, but now they're working together in much closer cooperation, so the rehab hub, the recovery cafe down here, and the place where groups meet for mutual support round the corner, they're all working in really close co—ordination to get people off the drink and off the drugs. it is organisations coming together, as a collective on the wirral to work with a kind of shared goal. so we will do this test for you today... one of the main players here is wirral ways, a drug and alcohol service, and they're right at the heart of the recovery village. it's notjust another person that is coming in, it's an individual and that individual has got their own needs, their own self—defined goals, and we're there to support that person to connect them with the community, to reconnect them. in the recovery village it's a no wrong door policy. the idea is that anyone approaching any of the services gets help or gets linked up with another team who are more matched to their needs. feeling 0k? no problems with this last time? so here, for instance, a heroin addict gets a specialist drug to reduce cravings. right, there'll be a sharp scratch. there's emotional support for the most vulnerable. i know you've recently been through some form of assault. so is he actually out of prison now? and even advice on housing. we will help you move, get you some money on your gas and electric to start you off. you will be safe. you will. it's all a response to just how many people desperately need help. the stats are grim. deaths from alcohol and drugs are high and rising. the worst figures ever recorded. what about your recovery, mike? so, recovery for me, as you know, is vital. sobriety is the first thing i think of every morning. still? still. that doesn't change? never will change, that. it's the end of may now and i'm catching up with mike again, outside the recovery centre. this is where i used to drink. that place is the devil — the devil. honestly? honestly. it can be like this for everyone coming out of addiction. temptation can feel ever—present. for mike, it'sjust across the road — birkenhead's bars and pubs and nightclubs, just steps away. it depends on what side of the street you want to be on, doesn't it? when you look over there is there any temptation in that now? no, no. it's just disgust, more than anything. really? really. and i'm just like, oh! because i sort of get a flashback to, like, me being kicked out by a bouncer because i was too pissed or something. and i'mjust like, oh, what were you thinking?! yeah. you're very positive. you've got to be. you have to be. laughter. is everyone 0k? yeah. i want to know more about how all of this works. how, with support, addiction can be overcome. it makes me feel stronger when i don't give in to that temptation. and upstairs in nightingale's i have been invited for a unique insight, a close—up look into the engine room of recovery. it's showing you that you can enjoy life without substances. and yet, in the height of addiction you can't see that, can you ? everyone here has chosen to step away from the chaos of addiction. and how do you feel when you get feelings like that, but you don't pick your drink up? do you feel stronger? yep. every single time. they've all completed a three—step rehab programme. it gives us a choice that we can be the best possible person that we want to be. and today mike'sjoining the ranks of graduates. thank you very much. i really, really appreciate that. he's come a long way since his darkest days. my mental health was at rock bottom. i was taking anxiety and depression pills — and drinking and using on top of that. going to cut a circle around the base. this is the spider project, another part of the recovery village. it's been around for decades. we're going to do an improvisation between the two of you. it is nice to do it with some help. activities and classes to fill the void when drugs and alcohol are history. be patient. when you come out of addiction, it leaves a big gap in your life. yeah. it's about filling that gap with positive stuff. you do feel very alone. you feel like you're the only one in the world that it's - actually happened to. a lot of what they do here is peer to peer support. many volunteers and staff have lived through addiction themselves and they're now helping others. jennifer works as a co—ordinator. i'm in recovery myself. i'm a recovering alcoholic. yeah. there's nothing worse than having doors closed on you because i think for a lot of us we've experienced doors being closed, closed, closed. i've been in that desperation and if i'm not constantly working on my recovery, i could be back there in an instant. even if someone is still drinking or using, we're not just going to kick them out. what we're going to do is make sure that they get the necessary help to move them on. just giving people hope that they're no longer alone. you remember when you were in that position, where you'd isolated yourself. it's good to give something back. once you'd printed it, it looked good. | this is community self—help. i wouldn't be where i am right now if i'd not had peers around me, if i'd not had people who were so willing to share their experience, their knowledge, and make me feel that i wasn't alone. and it can be a matter of life and death, can't it? you see that time and time again. it's pretty staggering how many people who have lived through the crisis then want to pass their experience and their help on to others. it's really good to see. the people there that are struggling with their mental health and not being able to have that day—to—day contact... i'm back to see mike. none of this recovery stuff is easy. but at least he's getting support. here at nightingale's and at home too. i have got, like, a really good network of support around me. and hannah being one of them. i wasjust going to bring it up. here's hannah, your partner. yeah. how has mike been, have you noticed that he's been a bit stressed out? yeah, he has been stressed out, but it's, like, bound to happen, isn't it, with what's going on with this situation, but he has been amazing. he is still amazing and he is doing amazing. and it's not making him go back to what he was, but he's still going forward and still doing everything he can. so, yeah, he's ok. yeah. so it's the repetitive cycle. it's only when we are out of that madness that we can recognise that. i canfeel mike growing in confidence. he's a new volunteer doing peer to peer support. there's no shame in admitting you have a problem with drugs and/or alcohol. the shame is when you don't think you have a problem. he's sharing his stories in a presentation to others. the last time i was arrested was in february 2020. this was a couple of weeks before i started here. this project came about with mike for a 12 week process, looking at how written exercises can tell our story of addiction and how important it is to society and what society needs to learn about addiction and raise awareness. caira is a professional, but, you know, mike's not bad at this either. i was in for a long, long time, then i had a light bulb moment that i didn't want to this person any more. mike tells the story of a rock bottom moment, another arrest, another police cell, a realisation something had to change. it was a relief that i was not the only person who had or was struggling with addiction and it gives me the drive to carry on moving forward with my sobriety. i accepted i had a problem and this is my story. thank you. applause. mike's volunteering hasn't gone unnoticed, and guess what — he has the chance of a job here at recovery care. we're at the caff again, but you haven't dressed like that for a cup of tea, have you? no. what's going on? i've got a job interview for a recovery co—ordinator, recovery support co—ordinator for the non—opiates team. a maternity leave position. i didn't get to where i am overnight. i can tell you that right now and i didn't do it without no sweats, cries, or heartache. so, yeah, excited and nervous, but give it my all, really. a few days later, mike called. he got thejob! ok, it's temporary, but after years of booze, cocaine and depression, it's proper, paid employment. carefully watching mike's progress is dave dunne. i am suffering from depression. but i am getting antidepressants. himself, a recovering alcoholic. it's a long journey. i am 23 years in recovery. i believe i'm in recovery and always will be. i haven't beat it. i haven't picked up a drink in 23 years. next tuesday, 23 years was the last time i drank. you measure it to the day? absolutely, yeah. there are plenty in birkenhead who regard dave as a lifesaver. he has been there and done it. it's always nice to hold onto where i was and what i've got now. he commands respect because he cares for people like mike. it was obvious he was a different person then than when you speak to him now, because he was in pain. you could see it. he couldn't necessarily look you in the eyes, you know. he was kind of talking to you, head down. once you put all these things in place and get a hold of this, and making those changes, he started to lift his head up, he looked at you when he talked to you, started to like himself more. he didn't like himself. a lot of people who come to these doors don't. hannah, you are guiding me on the path i am on and i hope you are proud of me, i love you so much and you are sorely missed. it's autumn. a milestone. she never let it get her down. it was only... the last two months, wasn't it? the two months, about eight weeks, yeah. there was a hospital bed here. mike's mum would have been 68 today. she had secondary breast cancer and died at home five years ago. a massive blow for a young man. it went for my dad, for my mum, and that one from my sister. today, like every year, mike and his dad kevin are together to mark margaret's birthday and to visit her grave. you don't let go, do you? you find it difficult to let go. of course you do. margaret was a dog lover and dedicated mum with a passion for family life. for mike, it's a time of sadness, but also some regrets. i knew it was coming, but i don't think i was the best person to be around when it happened because i was in the madness. that was a photograph taken a few months before your mum died, wasn't it? it's a lovely picture. believe it or not, i was still in active addiction there. were you? how do you know? i'm looking at myself, i remember what i wore that night and i got in trouble. crosstalk. mike was still drinking on the day his mum died. when you look at that, what goes through your mind? heartache. what was your lifestyle? drinking and using. all the time? just all the time, yeah. any opportunity. oh, i had a bad day at work. to the pub. when you say you had a drink then, it's because you always had a drink, probably? yeah. that was just another excuse to drink, wasn't it? in hindsight. i still drink now, don't i, mate? yep. do you? yeah. would you say you have a problem? i don't know, really. in a way, i have because i do like my drink, don't i? so yeah, i suppose i have got a problem. it's brave of kevin to say he has had his own struggles with the drink, but through it all, i can tell he is really proud of his son. he has done marvellous. he really has done marvellous. mike is doing well, but his dad's drinking can be, well, less than helpful. i put all my energy into finding how my dad is as an individual when he is sober than when he is drunk. i was struggling because his friends stayed and they drank for four or five days, and there was drinking in the kitchen on the side and i asked him to pop it away. but once you've had a few, you forget and you forget at the best of times. my recovery took a back step for two weeks. that was not really good for me. so it was about realising i'm 18 months sober and clean, but i need to still be doing that recovery. you've told me in the past that you will always be vulnerable. yeah, definitely. i am going to put the flowers in that pot. there you go, spot on. off to the cemetery and a chat with margaret. happy birthday, mum. happy birthday. not sure what's going on with the balloons but yeah. miss you loads, love. miss you loads. mike has got some news to share. i got a job now, mum. so yeah, got a job. gonna be helping other people, as well as keeping myself sober and clean. she is always there, dad. you all right? yeah, i'm 0k, mate. good. you've had a tough time, haven't you? how has he been? he has been a bit in on himself and stuff, but he got out - of a routine, then that took you a step back from not i sticking to a routine, i but he has been good. you've identified it, haven't you? - yeah. and corrected it. have you been low, mike? yeah, i have had moments of depression and moments of being down and that can creep up at any time. you could have the greatest day and something that happens is, like, oh, what if i could do that? what if i could have a drink? it's the first 30 seconds, but then it's about realising, back to reality sort of thing and then, boom, you know where you need to be. it's march and andrew is welcoming a vip visitor to birkenhead. shipbuilding was closing. young people didn't see a future. literally, in some estates in birkenhead, were some of the first places where the heroin epidemic started. we've been telling dame carol black, the country's top independent advisor on tackling drug misuse, about the recovery village here. this is our cafe. is this your cafe? yeah! and she has asked to come and see it. this place has been- called the beating heart of the recovery— community of birkenhead. she has written the latest major report on addiction and recovery services in england. there are very good areas of practice, but actually what i found was a broken service. i didn't find good, ifound bad. she wants improvements — a morejoined—up approach. how many people can you take at once? as many as you can fit in the door. we don't have a limit. and huge investment in specialist staff, maybe something like we are seeing here. we have been working with people who are often amongst the most marginalised in our communities, who come in broken and who leave healed. dame carol told the government they needed to spend £1 billion to change things. she got £780 million. not a bad result — the most money recovery services have seen in a generation. my question to you is how do you measure your success? if you get people into good treatment and good recovery programmes, we know from international research, murders go down, acquisitive crime goes down, less people go to prison. the challenge now is rebuilding a broken system, not with more of the same, but with new ideas for future treatment. think it's their moment of opportunity. i really want us to have around the country innovation, supporting peer workers, people who have been there, who know what it's like to be addicted. i want them to be treated with respect and employed. going through mental health services via a gp... nightingale's, then, is a good example of good practice. they are notjust people that ring you up on the phone and then just totally ignore you. maybe because of an ethos to put people first. i don't believe you should ever let anybody go. it is not a measure of success to discharge somebody from an addiction service because it's a chronic condition. i am very excited because i have actually seen a variety of things, not just treatments. i have seen a real attempt at recovery, which is so important. hello! michael, you've got a new home! we have. come in. it's beginning to feel like mike is really getting somewhere. how long have you been here? moved in about 2.5 weeks ago. he and hannah have moved in together to a new place. that's our bathroom. it's all looking good. it's not that long, but lots changed. you've turned things around pretty dramatically. yeah, i mean, being able to be in a place where i can help people like myself... where i was — it's a really privileged position. so many clients and so people want support, seeking help and needing help. are you happy? extremely. i put on my life where it was, like, when i met you. black and white, isn't it, really? because you were — i was drinking and using and there was a lot of conflict and stuff like that, but with, when i went into recovery, i knew what i wanted out of it. i feel like i'm still getting something out of it now being able to work in that field, so yeah, i'm extremely happy. we are sanding down the decking and going grey. they are planning a future. mike is rebuilding his relationship with his little boy and hoping he will soon join hannah's son here for overnight stays, making it a properfamily home. for mike, dame carol's visit here is a unique opportunity. mike introduced himself. he has been with us through service, volunteering, the discovery academy. it's not every day the lad from birkenhead gets to tell his story in person to the government's most important drugs advisor. it is my two—year birthday today. i am two years clean and sober today. i have got a real passion for this and i really want to help people. what was your problem? drugs or alcohol? both. alcohol and drugs were hand—in—hand for me. they saved my life and from volunteering i applied for a job, and now i am recovery co—ordinator for the non—opiate team. fantastic. that makes me very happy. dame carol is happy because mike's story is one of hope. perhaps most importantly, it shows others caught in the vortex of the drugs or the drink, that things can change. that there can be life after addiction. i am extremely happy, i'm not depressed. there are a lot of things that drugs and alcohol stripped me of, but there is a lot of things now that i am rebuilding. you can follow more of my year in birkenhead next weekend on the bbc news channel, as i discover the toxic link between addiction and mental health. and an extended version is also available from today on the bbc iplayer — addiction: the road to recovery. hello, again. i think it's fair to say eastern england had the best of wednesday's weather. durham was the sunniest place, eight hours of sunshine. and the warmest spot was holbeach, in lincolnshire with 20 degrees celsius. it was a lovely end to the day meanwhile in worcestershire. right now, the weather is quite quiet. we've got a few showers for the northwest of scotland, but thickening cloud moving into northern ireland starting to bring outbreaks of rain. it's mild for the most part, but quite chilly air with us in scotland today, and if you look at where the air is coming from, although across the uk we'll all pretty much have westerly winds, in the south, the air is coming from a long way south, whereas in the north, the air is coming around, past iceland, so from polar regions, eventually working into northern scotland, so they'll be big temperature contrasts across the country, from north to south. now, we start off with our band of rain thursday morning, in northern ireland, pushing eastward across northern england, and scraping into the far south of scotland, north wales, the north midlands, as well. the front itself weakens as it slowly trickles down towards lincolnshire, through the afternoon. brighter skies to the northwest. blistery showers in scotland. to the south, some sunny spells and feeling warm, with temperatures up to 2! degrees, but the air gets cooler and cooler the further north you go and so in stornoway and lerwickjust 11 degrees. there'll be some fairly brisk, blistery winds making it feel quite chilly. now, through friday, the winds turn to more of a northwesterly direction. those winds will bring plenty of showers to northern and western scotland. there'll be one or two for northern ireland, the northwest of both england and wales, but otherwise, most of you will see some spells of sunshine. in the sunshine, not feeling bad again for the southern areas of uk — 20 in cardiff, 2! in london, feeling warm in the sunshine, but across the far northwest, a little on the cool side once again. now, for the weekend, high pressure is influencing our weather, but it is moving to the northwest of the uk, allowing these northerly winds to dive in. might well start off sunny where you are and a cold start to the day but the cloud is likely to build up, particularly for northern and eastern areas. the best of the sunshine and the highest temperatures for southern parts of wales and southwest england, where we should get up to about 20 degrees, butjust 12 in aberdeen. cloud might be a bit thicker on sunday. perhaps one or two showers around and temperatures for the most part will be just dropping a few degrees. it will start to feel a little bit cooler. should still be a bit us sunshine around, but i! in aberdeen, feeling on the chilly side, and just 14 in london. welcome to bbc news — i'm rich preston. our top stories: it's been revealed that 19 schoolchildren murdered by a teenage gunman in texas were in the same classroom. minutes before the killings, he'd posted that he was going to attack an elementary school. as families in the town of uvalde try to come to terms with what took place, president biden says he's sick of the carnage caused by gun violence. the idea that an 18—year—old can walk into a store and buy weapons of war, designed and marketed to kill, is i thinkjust wrong. in other news: ukrainian officials collect and bury the bodies of russian soldiers left behind by the invading forces. we have a special report.