Surrey and south west London’s Cocaine Anonymous meetings are growing in size year on year, as more people fighting to kick their addiction turn to them for support.

The little-known group, which has been running sessions in Sutton since the 1980s, draws addicts together to share their experiences and work through recovery.

Cocaine Anonymous members continue attending meetings years into their sobriety, with many taking on leadership roles to help those yet to break free.

Users of the Surrey and south west London service are striving to raise awareness of their work, to encourage more people grappling with addiction to come through their doors.

A former user known only as Ray had never even tried the drug before, but gradually became hooked after dabbling with it on his 41st birthday.

Ray, who lives in North Sutton, said: "My friend offered it to me and it just felt like a really great idea.

"After the first line I had an obsession with taking it again. I was always waiting for the next event where I could take it.

"I eventually started taking it every day and I was unable to function without it. I would snort a line as soon as I woke up.  I would walk my kids to school while high on coke."

Ray, who has three children aged 11, 13, and 17, has now been sober since 2013, and still regularly attends Cocaine Anonymous meetings.

He claims to have spent tens of thousands of pounds on the drug during his three-year dependence.

He continued: "It all came to a head for me when social services came into my life. The addiction was so bad I didn’t want to live anymore. 

"I was no parent at all during this period. My eldest daughter had to bring up my children, and I struggled with that guilt for a long time.

"I eventually tried to kill myself by overdosing on painkillers. After that I knew I had to change."

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Meetings take place at the Thomas Wall Centre in Sutton

Ray found about the service after a Cocaine Anonymous meeting came to the rehabitlation clincic where he had been referred.

In a typical session a guest speaker shares their experience of addiction, before the group is invited to tell their stories.

The practice is designed to help people identify they have an addiction, and to come to terms with the fact they need help.

To break free members are urged to commit to the 12-step daily programme of recovery.

Ray has been part of the Cocaine Anonymous fellowship for more than two years, and says more and more people have been coming there since it started.

Bob will have been sober for two years in February after a teenage recreational drug habit spiralled into addiction in his early 20s.

The 28-year-old father-of-two racked up huge debts which eventually resulted in threats on his daughter. 

He said: "I was borrowing money left, right and centre just to feed that addiction. I was no kind of parent, no kind of person.

"I would take my daughter swimming, and then five minutes later I would say we had to go. I would do the same down the park. 

"I couldn’t be a dad when I was trapped.

"Some nasty people were pursuing me, and wrote me a note saying they knew where my daughter’s bedroom is and would harm her if I didn’t pay up.

"Eventually I started contemplating suicide. I really couldn’t take it anymore."

Meetings are held in several locations across borough including the Thomas Wall Centre in Sutton, as well as places in Hackbridge, Wallington, Worcester Park and Rose Hill.

If you need help from C.A visit: www.cauk.org.uk. You can also call 0800 612 0225 or 0300 111 2285.