Report by Duncan Williams for Pulman's Weekly News
At one point, Ben Cookson had lost everything. His house, his business, his family – all gone. What followed was a decade-long spiral into addiction that left him homeless on the streets of East Devon. Today, though, the 50-year-old spends his Wednesday evenings in a very different place: leading boxing classes inside St David’s Church, Exeter.
“I basically went on a 10-year bender and just smashed my life to bits and ended up homeless,” he said. “Since the day I came to church, I've never touched drugs or alcohol – that's four years.”
Cookson’s story, which has been reported by the local BBC Devon network, is as much about survival as it is about transformation.
After first walking through the doors of the city-centre church four years ago, born-again Ben began using fitness and boxing to reconnect with himself, his Christian faith and other members of the community.
What started as personal healing has grown into a free weekly program…
