Tanya Jane East
Tanya had been a drug user for twenty years. On release from prison in 2009 she went to rehab and began learning to change her behaviour and thought processes, starting with overcoming addictions. She attended counselling, lectures and group discussions, and graduated from rehab, ‘clean’, with her first-ever certificate. When she regained custody of her children in 2010, she was worried she’d not be able to manage their behaviour so she completed a Raising Children Parenting course, followed by a Freedom Programme to learn about breaking the cycle of domestic abuse. Then followed a ‘Focus on YOU!’ confidence course and a presentation skills workshop. Tanya now undertakes voluntary roles, including running support groups for people who have had similar experiences.
Tanya will be studying for an NVQ3 in Voluntary Support Work in 2011, which she hopes will lead to a degree in Sociology or Psychology. “When my learning journey started I was broken and had nothing,” said Tanya. “I now have ambition and dreams and although I find being in recovery hard I know the more I learn the further I can get.”
