“Jesus set me free 23 years ago,” said Barry Woodward,,,
Barry Woodward spent 16 years in jail for drugs offences. After turning to Jesus, he went back inside for a very different reason.
A former drug addict and criminal is thanking God after the charity he launched celebrated its 20th year anniversary.
Barry Woodward’s Proclaim Trust has given 45,000 copies of his ‘Once An Addict’ autobiography away, reaching many prisoners and addicts with the story of hope. It’s a far cry from when the Mancunian started the charity in 1999 when he had just £10 in the bank.
“We see lives that were once shattered, broken and with no hope changed,” Barry told iBelieve.
“People are transformed by the gospel!” The charity was set up to work alongside local churches and prisons throughout the UK. Barry sees hundreds of people become Christians every year and his diary is packed speaking at churches and outreach events.
ADDICT
“I understand a lot of the culture,” he said. “I’ve been in jail; I’ve been a criminal and addict so I can talk on their level. I’m there to help people connect with God for the first time. Twenty years on, I’m in awe of what God has done.”
Barry was inspired through reading the Bible to go back to the people groups he was once a part of.
“I read the words from Exodus, ‘Go back to Egypt!’. They hit me like a ton of bricks! For me, my Egypt would be the drug, club and crime world. This was the culture that I understood because I’d been immersed in it for over 15 years.”
This concept has helped form what Proclaim Trust has become. Over the years Barry has taken teams to Ibiza to reach clubbers, done events in schools and prisons and they’ve been able to provide thousands of copies of his book to inmates.
He is now looking to raise funds to get a further 2,000 copies out into prisons and also runs a conference, Fixed, for recovering and ex-drug addicts that is packed out every year.
“Jesus set me free 23 years ago,” Barry said. “We did our first Fixed conference in 2013. The idea was to bring together all the different organisations that work with addicts, former and recovering drug addicts together and see what God would do. It was a God idea and it was amazing! So we have done one every year since then.”
And Barry’s story speaks hope into the lives of those he comes into contact with.
PASSIONATE
“I’m so passionate about working with local churches because it was in my local church that I had an encounter with Jesus that changed my life – and I’m still living with the after effects of that,” he said.
“I love the verse from the Bible that says, ‘Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation.’ I was a drug addict and a lost cause but God still had a plan for my life.’”
Barry grew up in Salford, Greater Manchester. At 16, he left school with no qualifications and became drawn into the Manchester music and drugs scene. This led to a life of heroin addiction and drug dealing.
After being dependent on heroin for 15 years and spending a number of terms in prison, Barry had what he describes as a ‘religious experience’, which resulted in his life being totally transformed. This led to him becoming an evangelist.
Since then, he has studied full time at Cliff College, where he was awarded a Diploma in Biblical Studies and Evangelistic Ministry from Sheffield University, and has worked with many Christian organisations.
He is a contemporary communicator and speaks at approximately 130 events a year. He also occasionally contributes to discussions related to drug issues on the BBC, Channel 4 and Sky TV.
