"Confidence, achievement and ‘pride" were the words used by residents from Addaction Chy after they took part in an innovative new veteran-run course.

Residents at the drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre in Truro learnt team-building, mentoring and presentation skills as part of the course, which was put on by veterans volunteering with Active Plus. The week-long course was organised thanks to partnership work between Right Turn, Active Plus and Addaction Chy and involved a variety of activities, finishing with a presentation and award ceremony.

Mary Greener, co-ordinator for Right Turn, an Addaction project in the South West that specialises in supporting veterans, commissioned Active Plus to run the course. Active Plus, based in Cornwall, uses the skills, experience and expertise of injured veterans to deliver programmes that build confidence, motivation and self-belief with the aim of unlocking potential within the participants.

The majority of veterans who volunteer to deliver the courses go on to find full-time employment, having developed their own mentoring and life skills.

One Chy resident said: “I gained a sense of achievement and spoke in front of the group, which is a massive development for me. I feel very proud of this achievement, which will help me to go forward into the community and do some volunteering.”

Cornwall commissioner Kim Hager presented the certificates at the end of the course. She said: “This is exactly the sort of partnership we want to support in building the recovery capital of our service users. I was very moved by seeing people who had not only had a history of the most complex alcohol and drug problems, but suffered debilitating anxiety and low confidence, standing up and giving a presentation at the end of the course. It took me years to be able to do that.”

Active Plus instructor Pete Botheras, said: “The developments within some of the clients and how they are able to handle stress and anxiety now compared to the beginning of the course is a credit to their ambition, determination and improved motivation to keep going in the face of adversity. On a personal note, this has been one of the most positive and rewarding courses we have experienced in a long, long time.”

Right Turn SW will now be working on a criminal justice project for veterans with Active Plus later this year.