To celebrate the National Lottery’s 30 year anniversary, the National Lottery have awarded 30 ‘Game Changers’ from nominations across the UK. Marcus Fair, MD and founder of Eternal Media was awarded a game changer award for his work in the community.
Marcus Fair survived a 25-year heroin and crack cocaine addiction, vast swathes of homelessness and multiple prison sentences before going on to found charity Eternal Media. Marcus’ life had spiralled to the point where he endured many rock bottoms and countless overdoses on the streets, lost in the cycle of addiction. He recalls a moment in prison where he only knew it was his 40th birthday because the methadone nurse dispensing a heroin substitute saw it on his prescription and sang happy birthday to him.
He started making films again in prison and knew that if he could just get back into that creative space, he might be able to find his return ticket from hell and become drug free.
It was during his last stint in prison – a sentence which Marcus credits with saving his life – that whilst sat on his prison bunkbed staring through the bars of his cell, Eternal Media was conceived. The charity works with offenders, ex-offenders and those who are susceptible to offending, focusing on people seeking, or in recovery from addiction. By offering support, education, volunteering and training opportunities in filmmaking and other media formats, Eternal is a safe space for participants to explore their creativity with like-minded people in various stages of recovery. Working out of a 1960’s Cold War Nuclear Bunker in Wrexham, Marcus uses his personal experience as someone who has found way out of long-term drug addiction, homelessness and crime, to now being able to show others a way out of the living nightmare of addiction, offending and all too often a lonely avoidable death on our streets.
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“For the vast majority of my life, I was what only can be described as a hopeless addict. My only reason for existing and purpose in life was to take heroin. Addiction took me at such a young age and had me trapped in the revolving door of police stations with multiple prison sentences and hospital visits. I didn’t know that recovery was possible for an addict of the hopeless variety like myself. I started Eternal Media as a ‘life after addiction’ project because nothing like it existed and I thought to myself, ‘I’m the worst addict I know, and if it’s having such a profound effect on keeping me clean and out of prison, surely Eternal could do the same for others?’ And it does, day in day out.”
As part of the National Celebration, portraits of seven of the chosen game changers were invited to sit for portraits painted by the artist Luis Gomez De Teran.
The portraits were exhibited at the Blue Bridge in St James park, London.
