Russell Brand’s backing for town tale of homelessness
A MAN who has been through addiction, homelessness and subsequent recovery has released a book - which has already caught the attention of two well-known actors including Russell Brand.
Enton Barefoot, who lives in Barrow-upon-Soar, has completed and released his new autobiography Laid Bare.
Russell Brand commented on Enton’s book, saying: “What an astonishing story of the power of recovery in people’s lives. Enton’s life can serve as an emblem of hope. Change and salvation are always possible.”
Another supporter is Stephen Graham, star of This Is England, who said: “Enton’s journey into recovery is honest, uplifting and truly inspirational... a book that’s good for your soul.”
Enton was born and brought up in Wales before moving to the East Midlands in the mid-1990s. Leicestershire has been his home for most of that time.
The front cover of ‘Laid Bare’ shows Enton standing in front of the railway arches in Loughborough which he used to call home.
Enton said: “Everyone who battles an addiction has a unique story to share. I get that now but when I started writing ‘Laid Bare’ I really didn’t.
“It’s only been through the support and encouragement of friends, colleagues, family and people like Russell that I put pen to paper and came to a point where I realised that this book might just help someone either entirely avoid what I’ve been through or help them to get to a place of recovery faster.”
It was the former chief executive of Loughborough-based charity the Exaireo Trust and one of the directors of a community interest company associated to The Exaireo Trust, G & S Services, Scott Wheatley, who first encouraged Enton to tell his story.
Enton said: “The Exaireo Trust have been very good to me.
“They helped me to get off the streets and into housing and through them I got to meet lots of different people and they asked, as people do, what my story was. I started giving Scott snippets and his response was always the same – he wanted to hear more.”
Fast forward a few years and Enton met his partner Vicky. Enton said: “Vicky has been a massive part of this book. She has always encouraged me to write it. She used to say to me, ‘never mind about titles and headings just get it all out onto the page’.
“That was a great piece of advice. As I started doing exactly that Vicky started finding people who might be able to help me turn these stories into a fully formed book.”
Elaine Pritchard of Caittom Publishing is Enton’s Editorial Consultant. With a background in homelessness and addiction, Elaine understood Enton and his book, and put him in touch with a few potential publishers, and later Sarah Houldcroft of Goldcrest Books.
Also, Elaine’s connection with the BAC O’Connor Centre in Burton-upon-Trent led to a meeting with its founder and managing director, Noreen Oliver and staunch supporter, Russell Brand.
“I was absolutely blown away by the support and encouragement from both Noreen and Russell. It has now been confirmed that I am doing a reading on February 6 over in Burton-uponTrent in support of the BAC O’Connor Centre as a very small thank you for their time, generosity and support.”
He added: “My biggest wish now is that it helps someone who’s going through addiction or who’s started on the path of recovery. If I can help just one person via this book then I’ll be a very, very happy man indeed.”
Enton launches his book on Thursday, January 30, at 6pm at Lilly’s Live Bar in Leicester. Full details can be found at https://bit. ly/37kzIQH
Having completed his book Enton has returned to complete his BA Hons in sports management at Loughborough College. He is also a volunteer rugby coach at Loughborough University (BUCS 3’s and 4’s) and a Leicester Tigers sessional coach with their community team.
You can follow Enton and his story on Twitter: @EntonBarefoot; Instagram: entonbarefoot; and FaceBook: Enton Barefoot