Francis Daffern
Francis suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, an
acute form of autism. He had a difficult relationship with his
family and spent his childhood in special needs schools. By the
time he left school Francis had developed a serious drug problem
and spent most of his post-16 years in care and on rehabilitation
courses.
He had very low self esteem and serious mood swings as a result
of his drug taking. He was extremely depressed, suffering at times
from paranoid psychosis and self harming.
Reaching rock bottom gave Francis the motivation to turn his
life around. He was assigned a leaving care mentor from The
Prince’s Trust.
Mentoring brought Francis to life. Bill, his leaving care
mentor, never judged him, wanting only to help get him where
he wanted to go.
Francis knew the effect drugs were having on his life and was
determined to break the habit. Following counselling he managed to
stop taking drugs altogether and has been clean since then, a
massive feat.