0:00:04 > 0:00:08Hello, and today on Songs Of Praise I'm at a pioneering Christian
0:00:08 > 0:00:12rehab centre in Berkshire to discover how the residents are turning
0:00:12 > 0:00:15to God in a bid to overcome all-consuming addictions to drink
0:00:15 > 0:00:18and drugs and to rebuild their lives.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22It saved my life. I would be dead now. There is no two ways about it.
0:00:22 > 0:00:27'Also in today's programme, Radzi Chinyanganya meets the toy-shop
0:00:27 > 0:00:29'entrepreneur whose faith has inspired him
0:00:29 > 0:00:32'to stay closed on a Sunday.'
0:00:32 > 0:00:33So, if we get round to having
0:00:33 > 0:00:36a need to open on a Sunday, then we'll end up selling the business.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39And as Scotland prepares to celebrate Burns Night,
0:00:39 > 0:00:43I'll be exploring the religious upbringing of its most famous poet.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58And as it is Burns Night tomorrow, we have music from Aberdeen
0:00:58 > 0:01:02as well as a special performance from American opera singer Angel Blue,
0:01:02 > 0:01:04but we start with an inspiring spiritual
0:01:04 > 0:01:06from Holywood in Northern Ireland.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18Drug and alcohol abuse cost Britain
0:03:18 > 0:03:20tens of billions of pounds every year.
0:03:20 > 0:03:25The latest government figures reveal that more than 3,300 users lost
0:03:25 > 0:03:31their lives in 2014 and over 140,000 were treated for serious addictions.
0:03:34 > 0:03:39Some end up here, in Yeldall Manor, a Christian residential rehab centre
0:03:39 > 0:03:43in Berkshire which is helping to rebuild the lives of addicts,
0:03:43 > 0:03:45but it's NOT a holiday camp.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49Morning!
0:03:49 > 0:03:53'It's 7.30am, and Yeldall Manor manager Dan Head
0:03:53 > 0:03:58'is on his morning rounds to get its residents to breakfast on time.'
0:03:58 > 0:04:03See, we've actually got a lot of different addicts on this programme,
0:04:03 > 0:04:06from heroin to crack to alcohol,
0:04:06 > 0:04:10from many, many, many different walks of life.
0:04:10 > 0:04:11BELL RINGS
0:04:11 > 0:04:14'Substances don't discriminate between rich and poor.'
0:04:14 > 0:04:15Morning, Charlie!
0:04:15 > 0:04:17'For nearly 40 years,
0:04:17 > 0:04:21'staff here have been helping addicts kick their habits.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24'The success of its intensive programmes is due to
0:04:24 > 0:04:27'a Christian ethos and a strict regime.'
0:04:27 > 0:04:30When an individual walks through the doors at Yeldall, I want them
0:04:30 > 0:04:34to feel like they belong. I want them to feel that they're loved.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36I want them to feel like they're a part of something
0:04:36 > 0:04:41and that they are not judged, that they're accepted exactly where
0:04:41 > 0:04:46they are unconditionally of what they present or what they've done,
0:04:46 > 0:04:49because that's God and that's Christ
0:04:49 > 0:04:53and that's the Christian part of what we do.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58'For 25 years, Chris Wood was a chronic alcoholic.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01'Now, eight years after Yeldall Manor helped him beat his addiction,
0:05:01 > 0:05:04'he works here helping others rebuild their lives.'
0:05:04 > 0:05:08- How are you doing? - All right, yeah.- Really?
0:05:08 > 0:05:11- Er, well, there's some tough things going on at home at the moment.- OK.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14Seeing the guys come here in various states of disrepair
0:05:14 > 0:05:16and unhappy and depressed,
0:05:16 > 0:05:20miserable, sick, and seeing the transformation,
0:05:20 > 0:05:24the way that God works here and all the stuff that the guys have to go
0:05:24 > 0:05:27through and seeing them come out the other end is absolutely phenomenal.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29You can't beat it.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33'Chris started drinking when he was just 13 years old after
0:05:33 > 0:05:37'stealing alcohol from a bar at the tennis club which his parents ran.'
0:05:37 > 0:05:39To what extent were you drinking,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42and when did you realise that it was a problem?
0:05:42 > 0:05:45I realised much later in life that I probably became an alcoholic
0:05:45 > 0:05:49when I was 15, but in my twenties I was drinking anything up to
0:05:49 > 0:05:50two litres of vodka a day
0:05:50 > 0:05:54plus any other beers I could get my hands on and, you know,
0:05:54 > 0:05:57- existing on that. - How did it shape you as a person?
0:05:57 > 0:06:00Liar, cheat, thief, womaniser,
0:06:00 > 0:06:02but, inside, you know what you're doing to yourself,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05you're full of guilt, shame, embarrassment,
0:06:05 > 0:06:07but you just continue with it. The power of addiction is...
0:06:07 > 0:06:10you would think, at the time, unassailable.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12You come from quite a privileged background, Chris,
0:06:12 > 0:06:16so what was it, do you think, for you, was a trigger into alcoholism?
0:06:16 > 0:06:20The thing that I found was actually through counselling here, that
0:06:20 > 0:06:23I wasn't aware of, was that I had a fixation with my dad.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Mine's a really cool guy. He's a really lovely bloke.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29I actually wanted to be him, but I didn't realise that.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31And when it was pointed out in counselling that...
0:06:31 > 0:06:34"Despite your faults, Chris, it's all right to be you,
0:06:34 > 0:06:36"God loves you just the way you are,"
0:06:36 > 0:06:38it was a huge burden off my shoulders.
0:06:38 > 0:06:39BELL RINGS
0:06:39 > 0:06:43'Chris's experience is typical of many residents' at Yeldall,
0:06:43 > 0:06:46'who find structure, acceptance and Christianity.'
0:06:47 > 0:06:51If we want to take addicts, their lifestyle is chaotic,
0:06:51 > 0:06:53extremely unstructured.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55To help an individual recover, what needs to happen
0:06:55 > 0:06:58is they need to be stabilised,
0:06:58 > 0:07:02and therefore at Yeldall our programme is extremely structured
0:07:02 > 0:07:06so it aids the therapeutic process.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09..and we know that Christ walks amongst us every day, all the time.
0:07:09 > 0:07:14So, in a nutshell, what would you say walking through that door
0:07:14 > 0:07:19- has done to your life?- It saved my life. Simple as that. Saved my life.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22I would be dead now. There is no two ways about it.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26HYMN: In Christ Alone
0:09:59 > 0:10:01LAUGHTER AND CHATTER
0:10:01 > 0:10:05The rush of the January sales is over, but the topic of Sunday
0:10:05 > 0:10:09trading continues to prove a hotly contested subject among politicians.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12The Government is still considering plans to relax current laws,
0:10:12 > 0:10:16which allow large stores and supermarkets to only open
0:10:16 > 0:10:18on Sundays for a maximum of six hours.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21Still, there's one high-street shop where you won't hear the tills
0:10:21 > 0:10:23ringing on a Sunday whatever happens.
0:10:23 > 0:10:28We sent Radzi Chinyanganya to a shop in Staines to find out more.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31- All right if we go inside? - By all means.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33I never get bored of coming into a toy shop.
0:10:33 > 0:10:34'For a big kid like me,
0:10:34 > 0:10:38'I can only imagine how cool it would be to own a toy shop.'
0:10:38 > 0:10:41So, as a child, my favourite toy was a scooter.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45'But businessman Gary Grant is living that dream.'
0:10:45 > 0:10:47Three, two, one, go.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49Ooh!
0:10:49 > 0:10:51'With shelves crammed with games and gadgets,
0:10:51 > 0:10:54'you could shop till you drop,
0:10:54 > 0:10:56'but never on a Sunday.'
0:10:56 > 0:10:58One of the reasons that we don't trade on a Sunday is that
0:10:58 > 0:11:02we're Christians. So we've never opened on a Sunday.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05Gary opened his first shop in 1981.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08Fast-forward 35 years,
0:11:08 > 0:11:12and he now has over 100 stores in the UK and beyond.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14Here we are, 7749.
0:11:14 > 0:11:19'But then one day, a simple gift dramatically changed Gary's life.'
0:11:19 > 0:11:24My wife bought me a ticket to a men's breakfast at a local church.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26I was 33.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29And I was fascinated by what I heard.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33And I realised that, actually, I hadn't actually rejected Jesus,
0:11:33 > 0:11:36I'd actually rejected church.
0:11:36 > 0:11:39And I'd grown up thinking church was boring, but I found, actually, that
0:11:39 > 0:11:43church was actually full of young people, the new, modern worship songs
0:11:43 > 0:11:47I loved, and that's now been a journey I've been on for 25 years.
0:11:49 > 0:11:55- ALL:- # Lord, how we love you... #
0:11:55 > 0:11:58'Soon, Gary realised his new faith would have a big
0:11:58 > 0:12:01'impact on the way he made decisions for his business.'
0:12:01 > 0:12:05I think people thought maybe, "The guy's having a nervous breakdown.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08"What's changing?" - because there WAS a big change.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10I remember when Sunday trading came in,
0:12:10 > 0:12:12I was praying that God would say,
0:12:12 > 0:12:15"Sunday trading, Gary, that's absolutely fine,"
0:12:15 > 0:12:18and I felt I heard God say to me really quietly,
0:12:18 > 0:12:20"Gary, no amount of praying will get me to change my mind."
0:12:20 > 0:12:24But as the Lord's Prayer says, "Let thy will be done."
0:12:26 > 0:12:30'But it's not all been plain sailing.
0:12:30 > 0:12:35'Never were Gary's principles more tested than when recession struck.'
0:12:35 > 0:12:37Well, 2008 really affected us.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40Our business dropped by about a third overnight.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44We had 1,000 employees relying on me delivering their monthly paycheque.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46It was quite a lot of responsibility.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48At one stage, it looked like we were going to lose £1 million.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50We were challenged by our bankers at the time.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52"Should you consider opening on Sundays?
0:12:52 > 0:12:55"Wouldn't it be a quick result, the solution to what you're in?"
0:12:55 > 0:12:58And I said, "Look, you know, if we get round to having a need to
0:12:58 > 0:13:02"open the business on a Sunday, then we'll end up selling the business."
0:13:02 > 0:13:06'Staying closed on a Sunday might have affected Gary's profit margins,
0:13:06 > 0:13:09'but do his customers support his ethical stance?'
0:13:09 > 0:13:12It's actually quite good that the shop's closed on Sunday.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16When I was growing up, shops were closed on Sunday, just a time
0:13:16 > 0:13:20to kind of not be consuming and buying and time to rest.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24I'm a Christian. I actually think hours on a Sunday
0:13:24 > 0:13:27should be open longer so it'd help other people
0:13:27 > 0:13:30do their shopping, because they don't get time through the week.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34I think people connect with that Sunday should be a special day
0:13:34 > 0:13:36and that sort of religion.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38I think it does attract people who have the same beliefs.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40What's that?
0:13:40 > 0:13:43'Despite remaining closed on a Sunday, Gary is opening new
0:13:43 > 0:13:45'stores around the world,
0:13:45 > 0:13:46'but whatever the financial weather,
0:13:46 > 0:13:50'Sundays will always remain special for Gary and his business.'
0:13:54 > 0:14:00# Do you hear the sound of change
0:14:02 > 0:14:09# Growing louder through the pain?
0:14:09 > 0:14:11# Praying hard to keep things going
0:14:11 > 0:14:13# Lord God, you're ever-knowing
0:14:13 > 0:14:17# Keep us planted on firm ground
0:14:17 > 0:14:19# Trying to go the extra mile
0:14:19 > 0:14:21# May take a little while
0:14:21 > 0:14:24# But it will happen in God's time
0:14:24 > 0:14:29# Let us all sing
0:14:29 > 0:14:31# Sing together
0:14:31 > 0:14:37# Let us all sing
0:14:37 > 0:14:40# Sing till it's over
0:14:42 > 0:14:45# Joy will come
0:14:45 > 0:14:48# In the morning
0:14:50 > 0:14:53# Like a fire
0:14:53 > 0:14:57# Blazing through the night
0:14:57 > 0:14:59# Looking for that destination
0:14:59 > 0:15:01# May take a little patience
0:15:01 > 0:15:05# It will happen in God's time
0:15:05 > 0:15:07# We must go the extra mile
0:15:07 > 0:15:09# May take a little while
0:15:09 > 0:15:12# But everything will be just fine
0:15:12 > 0:15:17# Let us all sing
0:15:17 > 0:15:20# Sing together
0:15:20 > 0:15:25# Let us all sing
0:15:25 > 0:15:29# Sing till it's over
0:15:29 > 0:15:31# Now you've reached your destination
0:15:31 > 0:15:33# Don't forget your occupation
0:15:33 > 0:15:37# Thanking God for all that he has done
0:15:37 > 0:15:39# It is his grace by which I stand
0:15:39 > 0:15:41# And now I lend a helping hand
0:15:41 > 0:15:44# Praising him for this journey
0:15:44 > 0:15:49# Let us all sing
0:15:49 > 0:15:52# Sing together
0:15:52 > 0:15:56# Let us all sing
0:15:56 > 0:16:00# Sing till it's over
0:16:00 > 0:16:04# Let us all sing
0:16:04 > 0:16:08# We'll sing cos it's over
0:16:08 > 0:16:14# Let us all sing
0:16:14 > 0:16:16# Till it's over
0:16:16 > 0:16:18# Ooh...
0:16:18 > 0:16:25# Let us all, let us all sing. #
0:16:31 > 0:16:33What a voice!
0:16:33 > 0:16:37Coming up, as Scotland prepares to celebrate Burns Night,
0:16:37 > 0:16:41we will be exploring the faith of one of its most famous sons,
0:16:41 > 0:16:44but first, we've more music, this time from Manchester.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16From ceilidhs to suppers of tatties and neeps, tomorrow Scots across
0:19:16 > 0:19:20the world will be celebrating Burns Night to mark the bard's birthday.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23Sally has been looking at the importance of faith
0:19:23 > 0:19:25in the poet's upbringing.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31# Should old acquaintance be forgot... #
0:19:31 > 0:19:34The cottage in which Burns was born has long been
0:19:34 > 0:19:38a place of pilgrimage for those who love his poems.
0:19:38 > 0:19:42But in 2010, the National Trust for Scotland opened a £21 million
0:19:42 > 0:19:47museum to display more than 5,000 artefacts and original writings...
0:19:48 > 0:19:52# For auld lang syne... #
0:19:52 > 0:19:54..the desk where he sat to write...
0:19:54 > 0:19:57# For auld lang syne... #
0:19:57 > 0:19:58..his family Bible...
0:20:00 > 0:20:03..and a fascinating insight into Robert's family life
0:20:03 > 0:20:05when he was a boy.
0:20:05 > 0:20:11# For auld lang syne. #
0:20:11 > 0:20:14This is one of the treasures here in the museum.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17It's a manual of religious belief.
0:20:17 > 0:20:23It was written probably in the early 1770s by William Burns,
0:20:23 > 0:20:26the father of the poet Robert Burns.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30It was written for Robert and also his brother Gilbert.
0:20:30 > 0:20:34And in the Church of Scotland usually you would have had a catechism,
0:20:34 > 0:20:40an instruction manual, where the questioner would say to the child,
0:20:40 > 0:20:44"Who is God? What is the Christian religion?" etc.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48This is slightly different, because the questions are asked by the child.
0:20:48 > 0:20:53And what we have here is something that maybe doesn't look or read
0:20:53 > 0:20:57all that striking to modern eyes, but in its day, in the late 18th century,
0:20:57 > 0:21:02it's emphasising love, it's emphasising reason,
0:21:02 > 0:21:05it tells us about repentance.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09The child says, "Why should we repent? How do we repent?"
0:21:09 > 0:21:13And the father says, "Well, we repent because we use our minds to work out
0:21:13 > 0:21:16"when we've done something wrong, because God has given us
0:21:16 > 0:21:19"that intelligence, that reason."
0:21:19 > 0:21:23One of the phrases that's reiterated in the manual of religious belief
0:21:23 > 0:21:25is "the moral law",
0:21:25 > 0:21:27and that's the idea, more or less, that we
0:21:27 > 0:21:31can work out for ourselves what is good and what is evil.
0:21:32 > 0:21:37In his poem The Cotter's Saturday Night, Burns describes a family
0:21:37 > 0:21:42gathering round the table for an evening meal and for family worship.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45He wales a portion with judicious care
0:21:45 > 0:21:50And, "Let us worship God!" he says with solemn air
0:21:51 > 0:21:54Perhaps the Christian volume is the theme
0:21:54 > 0:21:57How guiltless blood for guilty man was shed
0:21:57 > 0:22:01How he, who bore in Heaven the second name
0:22:01 > 0:22:03Had not on earth whereon to lay his head.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08And Burns was in no doubt as to the importance for Scotland
0:22:08 > 0:22:10of its families discussing the Bible.
0:22:11 > 0:22:15From scenes like these, old Scotia's grandeur springs
0:22:15 > 0:22:18That makes her lov'd at hame, rever'd abroad
0:22:18 > 0:22:22Princes and lords are but the breath of kings
0:22:22 > 0:22:25"An honest man's the noblest work of God."
0:24:56 > 0:25:00Earlier, I discovered how faith is playing its part in helping addicts
0:25:00 > 0:25:01turn their lives around here
0:25:01 > 0:25:05at Yeldall Manor rehabilitation centre in Berkshire.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07BELL RINGS
0:25:08 > 0:25:11In fact, almost three quarters of its residents who
0:25:11 > 0:25:15complete its programmes end up living free of drugs and alcohol.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19Regular assessments track how they're measuring up in their attempts to get
0:25:19 > 0:25:24clean, and this week is a big one for one of its residents in particular.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28- Morning, guys. - ALL:- Good morning.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30Right, the big news for today
0:25:30 > 0:25:34is Tom completes the first-stage programme.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36CHEERING
0:25:38 > 0:25:41'35-year-old Tom is a former chef,
0:25:41 > 0:25:45'and today he's celebrating being alcohol-free for the past six months.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48'It's a massive achievement for Tom, who's been a chronic alcohol
0:25:48 > 0:25:51'and drug user for more than 20 years.'
0:25:51 > 0:25:56- How tough has it been for you here? - It's been amazingly tough.
0:25:56 > 0:26:01The toughest thing that I've ever done in my life
0:26:01 > 0:26:06is being here, with the rules and how stressful it is being here.
0:26:06 > 0:26:12And learning about the hurt and the damage you've done to people
0:26:12 > 0:26:17through your addiction is a big, big part of it
0:26:17 > 0:26:23and trying to realise that I was powerless with my addiction
0:26:23 > 0:26:26and that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29'Because he's stayed clean,
0:26:29 > 0:26:33'Tom's now entering the second stage of his rehab programme,
0:26:33 > 0:26:36'which includes him living more independently to aid his recovery.'
0:26:36 > 0:26:39So, this is the communal living room we have.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42- It's a nice size, isn't it, as well? - Yeah. Nice, big TV.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44- All five of you share this? - Yeah, all five of us share this.
0:26:44 > 0:26:49We have a communal kitchen, and we all have our own bedrooms.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51'In line with its Christian ethos,
0:26:51 > 0:26:53'all Yeldall residents are required to attend
0:26:53 > 0:26:57'church on Sundays during the first stage of their rehab programme,
0:26:57 > 0:27:00'and for Tom it's proved life-changing.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02'I really struggled with it.'
0:27:02 > 0:27:04I actually walked out of church the first time
0:27:04 > 0:27:07and got in a bit of trouble for that.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09But four months down the line,
0:27:09 > 0:27:12- I was getting baptised in one of the churches.- Wow!
0:27:12 > 0:27:15And now it makes my life so much easier.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19If I am having struggles, I can take time out to pray,
0:27:19 > 0:27:23meditate, and it makes life so much better.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28For some residents, coming to Yeldall Manor is a last chance to get
0:27:28 > 0:27:32clean after treatment at other centres has failed.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35This place is just special. If I wouldn't have come to Yeldall,
0:27:35 > 0:27:36I wouldn't have been able
0:27:36 > 0:27:38to get clean anywhere else.
0:27:38 > 0:27:39I've tried treatment before.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43I was in treatment a few years ago, and I got told quite a while ago
0:27:43 > 0:27:46that until I got a connection with God, I wasn't going to get clean.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49I dismissed it at the time. It was never a truer word said.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52I've come back to treatment, I've come to Yeldall. It had to be here.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55You know, I believe God brought me here for a purpose,
0:27:55 > 0:27:58for a reason, and that's to get connected with the Yeldall family
0:27:58 > 0:27:59and the Christian faith.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20CHEERING
0:31:23 > 0:31:24BIRDSONG
0:31:25 > 0:31:29Well, that's about it for today. I hope you've enjoyed the programme.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31Next week, we'll be talking to Libby Lane,
0:31:31 > 0:31:34the Church of England's first female bishop,
0:31:34 > 0:31:36about her first year in the job.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39But we end today with a rousing gospel hymn from London.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41Thanks for watching.
0:33:40 > 0:33:42CHEERING AND APPLAUSE