DEFYING addiction and campaigning for change were discussed at a Yarnton rehab centre this week during a visit from Alastair Campbell.

The former Labour spin doctor related his own 'shattering' alcohol-induced breakdown on a visit to The Ley Community.

Speaking along with his son Calum, also a recovering addict, Mr Campbell said the UK was still 'light years away' from understanding mental illness.

He said: "There is a really important campaign to fight here. The NHS constitution says there should be parity between physical and mental health.

"This government needs to deliver on those words. Places like this around the country are getting cut, piecemeal. They are in danger at the moment."

For 50 years the Ley Community has offered residential rehabilitation for people referred from across the UK, including those with alcohol problems.

During the visit on Wednesday Mr Campbell, the first in a series of high-profile speakers to attend the Sandy Lane site, recalled his drinking in the 1980s.

His recovery began following a psychotic episode aged 27, when he was arrested in Glasgow following an all-day bender during a trip to write about Neil Kinnock.

He said: "My mind had cracked. I felt the inside of my head was like a plate glass window and it was literally shattering inside my head.

"I use it as a yardstick for everything that I do. Even now I get quite bad depression, but every day and every night I compare it to how I was in 1986."

Following the incident Mr Campbell was able to go without a drink for 13 years and today campaigns for mental health charities including Time to Change.

He said: "Hopefully people here will get out and be great, productive members of the community, and I hope you will also become ambassadors for places like this."

About 28 people are currently residents at the Ley Community, which offers abstinence-based and peer-driven recovery before participants move into work.

Residents raised concerns they would be 'left on the scrapheap' by government under-funding despite charities like the Ley Community saving money in the long run.

Calum Campbell, who is four years clean this Saturday, also received a round of applause for his candid words on the nature of recovery.

He said: "Our family traditionally has many mental health issues. It played a critical role in forming the individual I became.

"I had loads of resentment when I first got sober. The best way to recover is to face who you are, no matter who that is, and start to be honest with yourself."

Wednesday's event also coincided with the formal handover of duties from Huseyin Djemil, the CEO for the past 12 months, to new CEO Darren Worthington.

Speaking after the event, Mr Djemil said: "We set up these events so that we could inspire residents, lift their horizons and help them realise recovery is possible."

Mr Worthington added: "Very few people in Oxford realise this asset exists on their doorstep. I would welcome people to learn more about the work we do."