24/01/2016 Songs of Praise

Hello, and today on Songs Of Praise I'm at a pioneering Christian

rehab centre in Berkshire to discover how the residents are turning

to God in a bid to overcome all-consuming addictions to drink

and drugs and to rebuild their lives.

It saved my life. I would be dead now. There is no two ways about it.

'Also in today's programme, Radzi Chinyanganya meets the toy-shop

'entrepreneur whose faith has inspired him

'to stay closed on a Sunday.'

So, if we get round to having

a need to open on a Sunday, then we'll end up selling the business.

And as Scotland prepares to celebrate Burns Night,

I'll be exploring the religious upbringing of its most famous poet.

And as it is Burns Night tomorrow, we have music from Aberdeen

as well as a special performance from American opera singer Angel Blue,

but we start with an inspiring spiritual

from Holywood in Northern Ireland.

Drug and alcohol abuse cost Britain

tens of billions of pounds every year.

The latest government figures reveal that more than 3,300 users lost

their lives in 2014 and over 140,000 were treated for serious addictions.

Some end up here, in Yeldall Manor, a Christian residential rehab centre

in Berkshire which is helping to rebuild the lives of addicts,

but it's NOT a holiday camp.

Morning!

'It's 7.30am, and Yeldall Manor manager Dan Head

'is on his morning rounds to get its residents to breakfast on time.'

See, we've actually got a lot of different addicts on this programme,

from heroin to crack to alcohol,

from many, many, many different walks of life.

BELL RINGS

'Substances don't discriminate between rich and poor.'

Morning, Charlie!

'For nearly 40 years,

'staff here have been helping addicts kick their habits.

'The success of its intensive programmes is due to

'a Christian ethos and a strict regime.'

When an individual walks through the doors at Yeldall, I want them

to feel like they belong. I want them to feel that they're loved.

I want them to feel like they're a part of something

and that they are not judged, that they're accepted exactly where

they are unconditionally of what they present or what they've done,

because that's God and that's Christ

and that's the Christian part of what we do.

'For 25 years, Chris Wood was a chronic alcoholic.

'Now, eight years after Yeldall Manor helped him beat his addiction,

'he works here helping others rebuild their lives.'

-How are you doing?

-All right, yeah.

-Really?

-Er, well, there's some tough things going on at home at the moment.

-OK.

Seeing the guys come here in various states of disrepair

and unhappy and depressed,

miserable, sick, and seeing the transformation,

the way that God works here and all the stuff that the guys have to go

through and seeing them come out the other end is absolutely phenomenal.

You can't beat it.

'Chris started drinking when he was just 13 years old after

'stealing alcohol from a bar at the tennis club which his parents ran.'

To what extent were you drinking,

and when did you realise that it was a problem?

I realised much later in life that I probably became an alcoholic

when I was 15, but in my twenties I was drinking anything up to

two litres of vodka a day

plus any other beers I could get my hands on and, you know,

-existing on that.

-How did it shape you as a person?

Liar, cheat, thief, womaniser,

but, inside, you know what you're doing to yourself,

you're full of guilt, shame, embarrassment,

but you just continue with it. The power of addiction is...

you would think, at the time, unassailable.

You come from quite a privileged background, Chris,

so what was it, do you think, for you, was a trigger into alcoholism?

The thing that I found was actually through counselling here, that

I wasn't aware of, was that I had a fixation with my dad.

Mine's a really cool guy. He's a really lovely bloke.

I actually wanted to be him, but I didn't realise that.

And when it was pointed out in counselling that...

"Despite your faults, Chris, it's all right to be you,

"God loves you just the way you are,"

it was a huge burden off my shoulders.

BELL RINGS

'Chris's experience is typical of many residents' at Yeldall,

'who find structure, acceptance and Christianity.'

If we want to take addicts, their lifestyle is chaotic,

extremely unstructured.

To help an individual recover, what needs to happen

is they need to be stabilised,

and therefore at Yeldall our programme is extremely structured

so it aids the therapeutic process.

..and we know that Christ walks amongst us every day, all the time.

So, in a nutshell, what would you say walking through that door

-has done to your life?

-It saved my life. Simple as that. Saved my life.

I would be dead now. There is no two ways about it.

HYMN: In Christ Alone

LAUGHTER AND CHATTER

The rush of the January sales is over, but the topic of Sunday

trading continues to prove a hotly contested subject among politicians.

The Government is still considering plans to relax current laws,

which allow large stores and supermarkets to only open

on Sundays for a maximum of six hours.

Still, there's one high-street shop where you won't hear the tills

ringing on a Sunday whatever happens.

We sent Radzi Chinyanganya to a shop in Staines to find out more.

-All right if we go inside?

-By all means.

I never get bored of coming into a toy shop.

'For a big kid like me,

'I can only imagine how cool it would be to own a toy shop.'

So, as a child, my favourite toy was a scooter.

'But businessman Gary Grant is living that dream.'

Three, two, one, go.

Ooh!

'With shelves crammed with games and gadgets,

'you could shop till you drop,

'but never on a Sunday.'

One of the reasons that we don't trade on a Sunday is that

we're Christians. So we've never opened on a Sunday.

Gary opened his first shop in 1981.

Fast-forward 35 years,

and he now has over 100 stores in the UK and beyond.

Here we are, 7749.

'But then one day, a simple gift dramatically changed Gary's life.'

My wife bought me a ticket to a men's breakfast at a local church.

I was 33.

And I was fascinated by what I heard.

And I realised that, actually, I hadn't actually rejected Jesus,

I'd actually rejected church.

And I'd grown up thinking church was boring, but I found, actually, that

church was actually full of young people, the new, modern worship songs

I loved, and that's now been a journey I've been on for 25 years.

-ALL:

-# Lord, how we love you... #

'Soon, Gary realised his new faith would have a big

'impact on the way he made decisions for his business.'

I think people thought maybe, "The guy's having a nervous breakdown.

"What's changing?" - because there WAS a big change.

I remember when Sunday trading came in,

I was praying that God would say,

"Sunday trading, Gary, that's absolutely fine,"

and I felt I heard God say to me really quietly,

"Gary, no amount of praying will get me to change my mind."

But as the Lord's Prayer says, "Let thy will be done."

'But it's not all been plain sailing.

'Never were Gary's principles more tested than when recession struck.'

Well, 2008 really affected us.

Our business dropped by about a third overnight.

We had 1,000 employees relying on me delivering their monthly paycheque.

It was quite a lot of responsibility.

At one stage, it looked like we were going to lose £1 million.

We were challenged by our bankers at the time.

"Should you consider opening on Sundays?

"Wouldn't it be a quick result, the solution to what you're in?"

And I said, "Look, you know, if we get round to having a need to

"open the business on a Sunday, then we'll end up selling the business."

'Staying closed on a Sunday might have affected Gary's profit margins,

'but do his customers support his ethical stance?'

It's actually quite good that the shop's closed on Sunday.

When I was growing up, shops were closed on Sunday, just a time

to kind of not be consuming and buying and time to rest.

I'm a Christian. I actually think hours on a Sunday

should be open longer so it'd help other people

do their shopping, because they don't get time through the week.

I think people connect with that Sunday should be a special day

and that sort of religion.

I think it does attract people who have the same beliefs.

What's that?

'Despite remaining closed on a Sunday, Gary is opening new

'stores around the world,

'but whatever the financial weather,

'Sundays will always remain special for Gary and his business.'

# Do you hear the sound of change

# Growing louder through the pain?

# Praying hard to keep things going

# Lord God, you're ever-knowing

# Keep us planted on firm ground

# Trying to go the extra mile

# May take a little while

# But it will happen in God's time

# Let us all sing

# Sing together

# Let us all sing

# Sing till it's over

# Joy will come

# In the morning

# Like a fire

# Blazing through the night

# Looking for that destination

# May take a little patience

# It will happen in God's time

# We must go the extra mile

# May take a little while

# But everything will be just fine

# Let us all sing

# Sing together

# Let us all sing

# Sing till it's over

# Now you've reached your destination

# Don't forget your occupation

# Thanking God for all that he has done

# It is his grace by which I stand

# And now I lend a helping hand

# Praising him for this journey

# Let us all sing

# Sing together

# Let us all sing

# Sing till it's over

# Let us all sing

# We'll sing cos it's over

# Let us all sing

# Till it's over

# Ooh...

# Let us all, let us all sing. #

What a voice!

Coming up, as Scotland prepares to celebrate Burns Night,

we will be exploring the faith of one of its most famous sons,

but first, we've more music, this time from Manchester.

From ceilidhs to suppers of tatties and neeps, tomorrow Scots across

the world will be celebrating Burns Night to mark the bard's birthday.

Sally has been looking at the importance of faith

in the poet's upbringing.

# Should old acquaintance be forgot... #

The cottage in which Burns was born has long been

a place of pilgrimage for those who love his poems.

But in 2010, the National Trust for Scotland opened a £21 million

museum to display more than 5,000 artefacts and original writings...

# For auld lang syne... #

..the desk where he sat to write...

# For auld lang syne... #

..his family Bible...

..and a fascinating insight into Robert's family life

when he was a boy.

# For auld lang syne. #

This is one of the treasures here in the museum.

It's a manual of religious belief.

It was written probably in the early 1770s by William Burns,

the father of the poet Robert Burns.

It was written for Robert and also his brother Gilbert.

And in the Church of Scotland usually you would have had a catechism,

an instruction manual, where the questioner would say to the child,

"Who is God? What is the Christian religion?" etc.

This is slightly different, because the questions are asked by the child.

And what we have here is something that maybe doesn't look or read

all that striking to modern eyes, but in its day, in the late 18th century,

it's emphasising love, it's emphasising reason,

it tells us about repentance.

The child says, "Why should we repent? How do we repent?"

And the father says, "Well, we repent because we use our minds to work out

"when we've done something wrong, because God has given us

"that intelligence, that reason."

One of the phrases that's reiterated in the manual of religious belief

is "the moral law",

and that's the idea, more or less, that we

can work out for ourselves what is good and what is evil.

In his poem The Cotter's Saturday Night, Burns describes a family

gathering round the table for an evening meal and for family worship.

He wales a portion with judicious care

And, "Let us worship God!" he says with solemn air

Perhaps the Christian volume is the theme

How guiltless blood for guilty man was shed

How he, who bore in Heaven the second name

Had not on earth whereon to lay his head.

And Burns was in no doubt as to the importance for Scotland

of its families discussing the Bible.

From scenes like these, old Scotia's grandeur springs

That makes her lov'd at hame, rever'd abroad

Princes and lords are but the breath of kings

"An honest man's the noblest work of God."

Earlier, I discovered how faith is playing its part in helping addicts

turn their lives around here

at Yeldall Manor rehabilitation centre in Berkshire.

BELL RINGS

In fact, almost three quarters of its residents who

complete its programmes end up living free of drugs and alcohol.

Regular assessments track how they're measuring up in their attempts to get

clean, and this week is a big one for one of its residents in particular.

-Morning, guys.

-ALL:

-Good morning.

Right, the big news for today

is Tom completes the first-stage programme.

CHEERING

'35-year-old Tom is a former chef,

'and today he's celebrating being alcohol-free for the past six months.

'It's a massive achievement for Tom, who's been a chronic alcohol

'and drug user for more than 20 years.'

-How tough has it been for you here?

-It's been amazingly tough.

The toughest thing that I've ever done in my life

is being here, with the rules and how stressful it is being here.

And learning about the hurt and the damage you've done to people

through your addiction is a big, big part of it

and trying to realise that I was powerless with my addiction

and that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

'Because he's stayed clean,

'Tom's now entering the second stage of his rehab programme,

'which includes him living more independently to aid his recovery.'

So, this is the communal living room we have.

-It's a nice size, isn't it, as well?

-Yeah. Nice, big TV.

-All five of you share this?

-Yeah, all five of us share this.

We have a communal kitchen, and we all have our own bedrooms.

'In line with its Christian ethos,

'all Yeldall residents are required to attend

'church on Sundays during the first stage of their rehab programme,

'and for Tom it's proved life-changing.

'I really struggled with it.'

I actually walked out of church the first time

and got in a bit of trouble for that.

But four months down the line,

-I was getting baptised in one of the churches.

-Wow!

And now it makes my life so much easier.

If I am having struggles, I can take time out to pray,

meditate, and it makes life so much better.

For some residents, coming to Yeldall Manor is a last chance to get

clean after treatment at other centres has failed.

This place is just special. If I wouldn't have come to Yeldall,

I wouldn't have been able

to get clean anywhere else.

I've tried treatment before.

I was in treatment a few years ago, and I got told quite a while ago

that until I got a connection with God, I wasn't going to get clean.

I dismissed it at the time. It was never a truer word said.

I've come back to treatment, I've come to Yeldall. It had to be here.

You know, I believe God brought me here for a purpose,

for a reason, and that's to get connected with the Yeldall family

and the Christian faith.

CHEERING

BIRDSONG

Well, that's about it for today. I hope you've enjoyed the programme.

Next week, we'll be talking to Libby Lane,

the Church of England's first female bishop,

about her first year in the job.

But we end today with a rousing gospel hymn from London.

Thanks for watching.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE