Romey's Story

My name is Romey and I am 16 and live in England. I attended a wilderness programme. When I was first sent to wilderness I was a very angry and immature young girl. I was only 14 years old, my father died 2 days before my birthday and I didn’t know how to react. I turned to hard drugs and alcohol and my life spiralled out of control from there. My mum sent me to wilderness to help me and to have an understanding of what I was doing wrong, and to find myself again as an individual. When I first came I sat on hikes and refused to appreciate that everyone was trying to help me. After a month I realised I should start getting on with my phase work. I found it really hard to build fires but with a little help from my friends I managed. I made lifelong friends I still speak to some of the people I graduated with. When I graduated I went back to my old school. The school is extremely proud of me and how I’ve been able to change my life. Since I graduated from wilderness over a year and half ago I have not touched a single drug, neither have I gone back to my old ways. My relationship with my mum has been amazing. Wilderness helped me acknowledge my strengths, I am now very certain on my career path for the future. I owe my future to my programme and I guess what I am trying to say through all of this is THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BELIEVING IN ME. You gave me the confidence and courage and showed me I can achieve anything in my life if I put my mind to it. If my mum hadn’t sent me to the wilderness I don’t know where I would be now. You showed me there were greater things in life than running away from problems and taking drugs.