Recovery Month drew to a close last night with a candlelight ceremony paying tribute to those lost to addiction, and those who worked to help others overcome it.

Dozens of people, including those in recovery and who work with recovery services, took part in the Candlelight Vigil of Hope and Remembrance at Victoria Park.

Laura Walker, of the Department for National Drug Control, told attendees: “We are here to let others know that recovery is possible. People do it every day.”

Over the course of the evening, several people took the microphone to tell their own stories of addiction, recovery, relapse and eventual success.

Rickeesha Binns said that she had lost several family members including her parents to the disease of addiction.

Ms Binns said: “My first treatment experience gave me my faith. My second treatment experience taught me how to do the work.”

She said she has now officially launched her own charity, Overcoming Obstacles, intended to help others who find themselves struggling.

Ms Binns said: “I want to help people understand addiction. I want to challenge stigma and I want to make it easier for people to ask for support.”

Tio Weeks, meanwhile, said that he was introduced to a “lifestyle he shouldn’t have been exposed to” at a young age and had many struggles in the subsequent years.

During a period of incarceration, he was offered a chance at treatment and, while he said he initially resisted, those at the Right Living House continued to offer him support him during his recovery journey until he realised that he was the problem.

Mr Weeks said: “During that time I tried to dig in but I didn’t dig in enough.”

He said he later came to the realisation that drugs were only about 2 per cent of his problem, with his behaviour and thinking making up the remaining 98 per cent.