Now thanks to an innovative scheme, former users are taking up gardening in order to conquer their addiction.

The St Mungo's Putting Down Roots Project helps homeless and formerly homeless people transform ugly, unused public spaces into thriving green urban gardens. Participants work with trainer gardeners to design, plan and work on gardening projects which rejuvenate around 11 local areas around London.

Although the scheme was not specifically designed for people with drug problems - it has provided many former addicts with a therapeutic, time-consuming occupation preventing them from spiralling back into addiction. The scheme provides on the job training and some participants have gone on to study horticulture or taken on full time gardening jobs.

Volunteer gardener and former drug user Mark Astley admits he had no interest in gardening whatsoever, but joined the scheme as a way of filling the hole left in his life when he stopped taking drugs.

"Putting Down Roots has helped me to learn a skill to do something I would never have considered normally, he says, "And mostly it keeps me busy, it keeps me from taking drugs and just sitting indoors watching telly."

The project's elaborate garden in St John's Churchyard needs constant year-round attention to keep it in shape. "Low maintenance is usually the watchword for gardeners but we have designed our gardens to keep people as busy as possible," says trainer gardener Lorin Caldwell. And participants find that the physical activity helps them get back into a normal routine.

"In the early days of the project I was worried that volunteers would be unwilling to join in the heavier, hard landscaping, elements of creating gardens," says Martin Snowden, the project co-ordinator, "In fact these are always among our most popular activities. It is best summed up by one of our gardeners who said after a hard day's graft '...I went back to the hostel, had my dinner, watched a bit of telly then went to bed. It was the first time in years that I had a proper night's sleep.' He was struck by how alien this normal way of living had become. Many of our gardeners highlight this as a benefit, not just the physical elements but the way you can lose yourself in gardening activities."

Putting Down Roots also allows drug users, often demonised by society, to be seen in a positive light. Local residents are consulted about the design of the gardens and in some cases work alongside the homeless volunteers.

The St John's Churchyard garden was formerly a homeless tent community and a no-go area for many locals. Although the park is still used by drug dealers and drug addicts - it's one of the only parks in London to have a sharps' bin - the improved environment means that local people are now starting to use the park again.

"Our working environment is in the public realm and we punch above our weight in our ability to regenerate those spaces," says Snowdon, "Our gardeners are rewarded by passers-by engaging them in conversation and thanking them for their work. Of course anyone would be thrilled by this so imagine the reaction of that drug user for whom praise is a rare experience."

This article originally appeared in Druglink Magazine