THE art of cooking has helped transform the lives of two men living at a Worcester hostel who are facing Christmas with renewed hope for a better future.

Darren Miles said St Paul's hostel had helped him overcome his drug addiction, after he spent his £36k inheritance on crack cocaine within six months.

Mr Miles, aged 38, said: “I was grieving for my dad and he left me a large sum of money.

"I wasted £36,000 on gear in the space of six months. I had a habit and a half. When I spent my last penny, I felt so much relief. I knew then I didn’t want drugs in my life anymore. I was rattling 90 percent of the time; I was in so much pain.”

The addiction followed a rocky few years in Mr Miles's life.

When he was just 18, Mr Miles went to prison after being caught with a knife during a stop and search.

He said. “I am naturally really soft, I hate violence and fighting. I would never go out of my way to hurt anybody.

"When I was younger me and my friends got into quite a bit of trouble, a knife made me feel safe. It was a way of getting people to leave me alone. It stayed in my pocket and I never would have used it.”

But, when in prison, Mr Miles completed educational courses, achieving maths and English certificates alongside painting and decorating and IT.

He has now been at St Paul's for nearly two years and works in the hostel kitchen as well as at the Diglis hotel.

Mr Miles turned his life around after taking Subutex and decreasing his dose from 8mg to 0.8mg in just three months.

He said: “St. Pauls is the place that has helped me to sort my life out.

"Anything that you shouldn’t do, that is what I was doing. But I’ve now been out of jail for six years and sober for three months. I have had enough of that life.

"I was drinking a lot before I was drunk all the time, I became a danger to myself. This is the longest I have ever been off the drink. I have a very addictive personality; I am not one of these people who can have one drink and stop. I keep going until I black out.”

He continued: “I have screwed up half my life and I don’t want to screw the rest of it up. I am nearly 40, I don’t want to be in a hostel forever.

"Working in St. Pauls kitchen has really changed my life, I am so much more motivated now. I used to think that I was a waste of space, throughout my life I have been told I would never amount to anything.

“When I first volunteered in the kitchen, I had no idea it would lead to employment.

"I take pride in what I do, I know how to run a kitchen, I know how to feed 46 residents here at the hostel and also how to cope with the high pressure of working in a professional kitchen at the Diglis hotel. I have a lot of responsibilities now and it motivates me to succeed, I want to prove to people that they were wrong about me.”

Paul White has been living in St. Paul's for just under a year and has also landed a job in the kitchen.

The 21-year-old has faced difficulties since he was 15 and his father died from a collapsed lung.

His mother turned to drink and was unable to cope with her five children resulting in him being moved to a care home.

He said: “I was put into foster care for a couple of weeks after my dad died, then moved into a care home, that is when I first got a passion for catering. I would ask the younger children at the home what they wanted to eat and help the staff in the kitchen to make it. It reminded me of being at home and looking after my younger siblings. I love to cook its one of the things I am good at.”

Mr White was given independent accommodation at 16 with a nightly support worker but was required to move out when he reached 18. His social worker then found him a space at a hostel in Malvern. Two years later he was asked to move on again and taken in at St. Pauls.

He said: “I really like it here, one Sunday I asked if I could use the kitchen to make an apple crumble, the staff said yes, and so I made it for the residents here.

"I believe food helps bring us all together, it is comforting. From that day forward I have been volunteering in the kitchen and was employed as a chef five months ago.

"I work four days a week here, it is the first proper job I have ever had. I am constantly learning new things, and it gives me immense satisfaction to feed people food they actually like.

"We have a really good laugh here, sometimes we put the music on and put on a bit of a show in the kitchen for the residents. It helps brighten the mood.”

The two chefs are now hoping for a brighter future.

Mr Miles wants to find a home, full-time job and to reconnect with his young daughter while Mr White dreams of owning his own restaurant.

Mr Miles said: “I see laughing smiling families on the tv and think why can’t that be me? Then I remember it’s because I haven’t earned it.

“I want to become a fully “functioning” member of society, I want to pay my taxes and live a normal life just like everyone else.

“It frustrates me when people judge us and think we are scum, but we are doing our best, I want to prove to people that we are not all the same.”