A young Dumfries couple who struggled with addiction for years are opening a cafe to help others in a similar situation.
Andrew and Nicky Gilmour’s Recovery Cafe opens on Wednesday, May 31 at the YMCA centre in Lochside Road at 7.30pm.
Visitors will be offered a free hot meal and the opportunity to hear stories of hope from those who have recovered. Those who need support will be directed to the appropriate agencies for help.
Andrew, whose whole family battled addiction over many years, said: “We really had got to rock bottom, we had lost everything and were at the point that if we didn’t do something we were going to both die.”
Andrew lost his father in 2019 to a drug overdose after years of battling to overcome his addiction and sadly there are around 1,100 suspected drug deaths a year in Scotland.
Nicky, Andrew’s wife, said: “We saw no hope, every day was a battle that we were losing and even though people tried to help, we had to get to the point where we wanted to finally get that help for ourselves.”
The couple entered rehab in 2019 in Aberdeen in separate centres for a year-long programme.
Andrew said: “It was so hard but with God’s help we made it and now we are completely clean and want to support others in the journey to recovery.”
