I am lucky to be alive. A year ago, I was drinking myself to death and would sleep wherever I fell. I barely remember why I landed up in Worthing or how, one day, I found myself talking to a counsellor at Addaction.

Much of the past 20 years has been a blur. I once had a steady job and friends but alcohol was always the constant in my life.

Even now, I can't pinpoint the time when alcohol became the drug that I needed, every day, all the time. As I gradually lost my job, my wife and my friends, I was still unable to see alcohol as the problem. What problem? All I wanted was a drink.

But I had lost something long before this. I had lost my self-respect without knowing it. To be honest, something must have clicked, or happened, but I don't remember why or how I sought help.

However, earlier this year, I found myself talking to a counsellor. I was shaking and sweating. It wasn't just the alcohol shakes. It was a cold fear of being treated respectfully and listened to by someone.

Being treated this way made me start treating myself with a little respect. Without the people at Worthing's Addaction, I would be dead.

I have since heard that this project is closing. Their help saved my life and, I'm sure, the lives of countless others. So where's the money to save them?

Where can I go now if I relapse? In a tiny space behind Iceland car park they help to change and save lives and I'm sad and angry to hear there is not the money to keep them going.

Without them, myself and many others will be a bit more fearful.

-name and address supplied