From Hospital to Royal Visit: How Linden House Changed My Life and Freed Me from Alcohol

Richard John Kerr

I came as a resident to Linden House on 21 November 2022, to recover from my alcohol addiction because I wanted to change my life and become sober and gain sobriety as my heavy drinking had caused me many problems including hospitalisation for lengthy periods of time, so I made a decision to give up drinking permanently once and for all for good.

Because Linden House is a dry house, where residents do not have access to alcohol and are encouraged in a nurturing engaging and proactive way not to drink it is a very helpful and worthwhile environment to live in for those suffering from alcohol addictions and other problems associated with heavy drinking.

I have enjoyed each day whilst staying in this remarkable caring accommodation.

Every single member of staff, each, and every one of them are absolutely fantastic and their care and dedication is exemplary and without equal, and I would strongly encourage anyone facing or suffering from alcohol addiction to come and live here as you will certainly not regret it.

All that is required is engagement, strong willpower and determination not to stray and not to consume alcohol and this way, you will get better and naturally, you will feel much much better as a result and you will be able to normalise and live a happy fulfilling life.

With particular regard to the many staff members there are too many to mention, and to avoid favouritism. I would not single anyone out, but I would like to say that without exception each and every one of the members of staff, give you attention, care, dedication, respect, and empathy, and treat you like a normal human being, and as such, you can rest assured that your tenure at Linden House will be worthwhile, enjoyable fulfilling and it is a great pathway and milestone on your way to recovery, so if you are lucky enough to become a resident here, please grab it with both hands and embrace all the care that will be offered to you and enjoy it as it will make a massive positive difference to your life and your recovery from addiction.

On the 3rd of February 2023, we were very lucky enough to receive a personal visit from Her Royal Highness, the Princess Royal Princess Anne who came to Linden House to visit our care home and engage with residents and staff. Her Royal Highness, not surprisingly, was very impressed, indeed with the cleanliness professionalism and utter dedication to caring and support that all our support workers and management give to each, and every resident in equal measure upon leaving she remarked, as she got into her car. What a fantastic place. Linden House is what remarkable work, the charity does and wouldn’t it be nice if funding could be provided to have more exemplary care homes like Linden House, which, as we all know is without equal shining example of what can be done by a charity with support from people who kindly give financial support to enable such a fantastic, caring supporting facility like this to exist.

I consider myself extremely lucky to have been offered accommodation in this care home. It has made a huge difference to my life and my expectations and milestones and enabled me to get my life back on track. I will never forget my experiences here and all the fantastic staff who go well above what you might expect. Simply put Linden House is fantastic, and I doubt it very much. There is no place in the United Kingdom as good as this one.

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