REAL-LIFE stories detailing how people have triumphed over their addictions will be told for the first time in a fundraising book for charity.

Author Lisa Cherry hopes to raise £3,800 to publish the book, which will feature a range of stories about people who have gone through rehab and how they continue to live their lives afterwards.

It will be made up of true stories from people who have benefited from the The Ley Community, a therapeutic recovery centre based in Sandy Lane, Yarnton.

Mrs Cherry, 44, walked part of the Great Wall of China last year to raise funds for TLC and now has set her sights on raising more.

Some of the royalties from the sale of her book will go to the centre, which helps people tackle drug, alcohol, sex and gambling addictions, among others.

She said: “The Ley Community holds no legacy of the recovery stories that have happened.

“There has been a lot of people who have gone through the process and I always ask people: What do you know about what then happens after?

“Most people don’t know and because I’m an author I thought I would do a book on it and have some of the royalties given back to the centre.”

The author, from Witney, has currently raised just under £2,000 through crowdfunding and hopes she can reach her target before the deadline in 17 days’ time.

If the money is raised then it will pay for the costs of publishing, marketing and editing the book, which could be released as early as next year.

Chief executive of The Ley Community, Wendy Dawson, said: “The book will give hope and inspiration to individuals and families who are living with a person with problems of dependency and addiction that recovery is possible and achievable with the right support and interventions.

“It will demonstrate the power of residential rehab and in particular how effective The Ley Community therapeutic community recovery model is in helping save lives and restore families.”

The stories will be based on real-life events to show how the road to recovery works at the centre.

The chief executive added: “All will be real-life stories – nothing will be made up. We don’t need to as we have over 44 years’ history.”

The programme at the centre is 26 weeks followed by a 12-week resettlement phase where residents engage in a range of voluntary work placements in order to craft a CV as they look to secure full-time employment.

Mrs Cherry added: “The book will help people who want to go into recovery. It will act as a guidance to people that don’t know anything about how addictions can be cured and how people can have lives after it.

“It will also help families know whether someone they know has an addiction or is currently going through it.”