A DAD who says his life was saved by a local drug rehab charity is helping to arrange a candlelit vigil in memory of people in Inverclyde who have lost their lives through addiction.

Outreach worker Willie Carter and his colleagues at Teen Challenge Strathclyde want to unite grieving families at next month's event in Greenock and give a show of support to bereaved families and others who are suffering.

It was recently revealed that 33 people in the district died due to drugs last year.

Willie, 39, knows only too well the impact drugs can have.

He managed to turn his life around from their grip and says other can do the same.

Willie said: "I have been addiction free since 2015 - my life has flipped around.

"I am married and I have restoration with my family and relationships.

"I've got a full time job but I couldn't have done that without Teen Challenge."

Willie says he was trapped in a 'chaotic lifestyle' of addiction and criminality for 17 years.

He says the turning point came when he was persuaded to go on to the local Teen Challenge Bus.

Willie then completed an 18-month rehab programme at The Haven in Kilmacolm and went back to volunteer and he is now a support worker there.

He married childhood sweetheart Anne, who is also an outreach worker, and they have a teenage son, Maison, and Willie is stepdad to Anne's son and daughter.

In the light of the latest drug death statistics Willie wants to raise awareness of the help, available.

He said: "These people are just not statistics - they are brothers, sisters, mums and dads.

"It's so sad.

"We want to raise awareness about Teen Challenge and unite Inverclyde.

"With drug deaths it is not just about the person who dies, it is the impact on the families who are left behind.

"We offer hope to people and tell them that there is more in life than addiction.

"We are hoping to open drop-in cafes for families to reach out to families and children."

Group members also work with local secondary schools, sharing their stories to get the prevention message across.

Willie says the cheap availability of drugs, poverty and lack of hope are the main factors driving the drug death rate in the district to the top three in Scotland.

He said: "Crack cocaine is a big thing but it is street valium that is killing so many people because it's so cheap - that and prescribed medication.

"It's getting out of hand.

"For years there has been poverty in Inverclyde and from way back, it seems there has been a drug addiction epidemic."

Willie says he wouldn't be here today without Teen Challenge and The Haven and wants to see other people turn their lives around.

He said: "I would probably be dead or back in prison.

"We can refer people to residential rehab, we can get them access to practical help.

"We have rehab centres up north, the Scottish Borders - we can get them out of their environment into a positive controlled surroundings."

*The vigil will be held in Clyde Square in front of Wellpark Mid Kirk Church in Greenock on September 26 at 8pm.