From drug dealer to pals with Prince William: Burnley pastor who set up Church on The Street to share his life story in autobiography and new TV drama

Pastor Mick Fleming is a former drug addict and gangster who found God and set up Church on The Street, a charity supported by Prince William and Kate Middleton.

His life is now set to become the subject of a new series The Pastor, with Top Boy director Brady Hood currently in talks with Herd to direct it.

He will also share his incredible story in his autobiography Blown Away: From Drug Dealer To Life Bringer, which will be published with SPCK on Thursday.

Mick has been working with actors and writers William Ash, of Waterloo Road, and Andrew Knott (Gavin and Stacey) to help them write the script, and the show will shoot in both the UK and Portugal.

The pastor first shot to fame in December 2020 when 50 million people watched a BBC news report about his work delivering food and necessities like fridges and beds to desperate Burnley families struggling with poverty, loneliness and mental illness during the pandemic.

He fell into a life of crime in the 1990s after suffering trauma as a child when he was raped by a stranger, lost his older sister and turned to drugs. One day, waiting to shoot a man who came out of a gym with his two small children, he had a spiritual epiphany that led him to God, and a mission to serve the homeless and most vulnerable in society.

During this mission, Pastor Mick came across the man who sexually assaulted him as a child. Instead of taking revenge by murdering him, Mick helped the man recover from his alcoholism and reunite with his family.

He will also share his story at a London event organised by SPCK called Made to Rise on Thursday, September 22nd. He will join two other authors – poet John-Paul Flintoff and singer-songwriter Lily-Jo - to talk about the ways in which they have bounced back from mental illness after finding God.

For more information about Church on the Street, visit https://www.cots-ministries.co.uk/