'I was addicted to drugs, homeless and had 62 criminal convictions - it left me with two choices'

In a crippling cycle of drugs and crime, Steve Wyatt felt he was faced with just two options - prison or death. As his life was marred by addiction for 22 years, he flitted from prison to the streets to rehab.

For Steve, who spent 11 years in Solihull, it began with cannabis and drinking with 'local lads' in parks from the age of 14. Harder drugs like acid and ecstasy soon followed as he grew up through the 90's rave scene in Birmingham.

After a later move from Brum to Glasgow, he found himself injecting crack cocaine and heroin, racking up 62 criminal convictions in the process. While there, he spent three years on the streets, four in rehab and three in prison. Over the years, more than 30 friends died in the midst of addiction, while two more were tragically murdered.

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Through hard-work, a successful 12-step rehabilitation in Small Heath and skills learned during his recovery, Steve managed to escape the clutches of crime to transform his life. Now aged 47, he's ten years clean and runs successful furniture restoration business, Restored Retro - which he set up with the help of a Nest Pensions scheme in Dorset.

Steve, who lived in Birmingham from the between the ages of 12 and 23, told BirminghamLive: "I was very lucky, I've overdosed and come back round, I've been in some horrific situations with some very dangerous people and only realised what could have happened when I've stepped away from it really. I've had friends murdered, I've lost probably over 30 friends in the last ten years that I've been in treatment with.

"When I was in treatment, I wanted to throw myself under a bus, that's where I was at. I was left two options in the end really; prison sentence if I was lucky or pretty much life or death in the end for me.

"At the end of my addiction when I cleaned up ten years ago, I had racked up 62 criminal convictions." His crimes over the years ranged from affray and burglary to theft and "some violence". In the end, he was given a second chance at Birmingham Crown Court as the judge handed him a suspended sentence for possession of counterfeit money and class A drugs.

He recalled: "I'll never forget it, the judge looked at me and said: 'Mr Wyatt, it's very rare I see a man in your position, with your record, trying to change his life.' He said: 'I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt and going to leave it in your hands' and he suspended the sentence for 18 months. The condition was that I stayed in treatment for 18 months."

During a 12-step rehab at Livingstone House in Small Heath, he finally found a treatment that worked for him. Weeks of being clean rolled into months and he began to see his family again.

He recalled: "Going into a 12 step rehab, I had to look at myself and I understand why I did what I did. The first thing was to get honest and say sorry. 22 years of carnage and I had all the answers, but I didn't have the tools to change my life."

While in early recovery, Steve began learning new skills to upcycle furniture, working with other addicts to source, transform and sell the furniture. "When I was using drugs, I was raising money for drugs, using drugs and buying drugs, and we'd found this thing where it was looking for the furniture, working on the furniture and selling it. So it was taking that negative behaviour that I used for all those years and turning it into something positive," he added.

Funding proved a challenge to take the enterprise further in Birmingham at the time, but later down the line, he moved to Poole, Dorset. It was here that he reignited his passion for restored furniture, initially selling his mid-century pieces on eBay and Facebook.

His business was then given the kickstart it needed when he discovered an offer with Nest - the country's largest workplace pension scheme. And after sharing his inspiring story and plans for Restored Retro, he was chosen from hundreds of other applicants to open a shop "rent and rate free" for the first two years.

He explained: "I was really nervous, cautious and scared about putting everything I'd saved into something. I picked a shop, kitted it out, built some raised areas, a workshop at the back. I really worked hard.

"It's been an amazing journey, I actually go back into prisons now and I share my story. I have a dream to help prisoners in the future, helping to integrate them back into society and teaching furniture restoration."

Asked how he managed to stay clean, he replied: "It's really important who you surround yourself with. I have some very good people in my life that I can phone 24/7 when I'm struggling and equally they can phone me. I had to let a lot of people go, people who are still in the madness. There's been times I have really struggled, and thankfully I haven't picked up. It's been incredible, I've done things I could have never dreamed of."

He added: "We wouldn't be where we are today if it wasn't for Legal & General and Nest pensions, the deal and the incentive they gave us in the start was incredible and it's been a massive game changer for us.

"People invest their money into the pensions and it's their money that's made a difference, if this could be rolled out it can help a lot of people across the country. With the way the High Street is at the moment, it's a real positive thing that they've done."

Do you have a positive story to tell? We would like to hear from you. You can contact us by emailing stephanie.balloo@reachplc.com