FOOTBALL star Paul Gascoigne has told how The Providence Project in Boscombe has helped him turn his life around.

Speaking yesterday on ITV’s This Morning, he said that without the help from the Project and its staff, he wouldn’t have quit his addiction to alcohol.

He said: “If it wasn’t for the Providence Project and for Steven Spiegel, who runs it, I wouldn’t have been able to come back.”

He added: “You get a lot of people at the project who think ‘Can I go out and play golf today?’ They have to think about it because they want a drink afterwards.

“Whilst I was there I went fishing, I went to football matches and I went to the gym, where I could go without having a drink afterwards.

“Steve kind of acts as management to me now.

“I pop in and see the newcomers there because I want them to make that change (in their lives).”

Speaking about his health, Paul said he is mentally back in the mindset of when he was playing football.

“I’m in a good place right now. I don’t need to go to the bar to get a drink so I can talk to someone.

“When I was drinking, I was miserable, whereas I’m enjoying life now. The obsession to want to drink has gone.”

Talking about his time as a world-renowned footballer, he said that there was “no way” that he would have wanted to do anything else.

“My dad gave me a football for Christmas when I was a boy. I mean, I’ve wanted to be a professional footballer since I was seven.

“I was still winning throughout my career. I won Man of the Match when I was 35. In fact, I won three of those awards.”

Paul Gascoigne’s book Glorious: My World, Football and Me, described as a celebration of his career, has just been published.

For more details about The Providence Project and how to get involved, visit the website http://www.providenceproject.org/