A PROGRAMME launched to help people overcome addiction and tackle a range of problems will host recovery sessions in Culcheth.

Encounter Hope is running meetings every Tuesday from 7.30pm until 9.30pm at Culcheth Christian Fellowship on Hob Hey Lane.

The programme offers a 12-step recovery course designed to assist people with issues ranging from alcohol addiction to depression and anxiety.

One member who attends the sessions, but has asked to remain anonymous, has shared her experience of working with Encounter Hope.

She said: “I struggle with anxiety and as far as I can remember, life has always been a struggle.

“From being told what to do as a child, being abused, bullied and divorced, and now coping with the love of my life having a terminal illness, life sucks.

“Encounter Hope is my tow truck. It can’t fix me, it can’t make me a new creation underneath."

She added that the sessions have helped her to find focus while on her road to recovery.

She said: “Confidentiality really is everything in a small group.

"I feel safe, understood, tacitly supported, yet unless I speak out, who will know the impact God is having in my life?

“Becoming a Christian does not exempt me from needing the services and MOTs in life, nor having accidents and breakdowns on the route.

“It is, however, a way of repairing and improving the old model, keeping me running until I am like an invaluable classic car.”

Encounter Hope is welcoming new members who want help with a range of issues. To find out more, call 07587 853910.