Jeremy Eparaima's message is a simple one – it's never too late to change if you've lead a life of abusing your loved ones.

The Te Puke 'It's not OK” project will host Jeremy at The Orchard Church in Te Puke, where he will tell his journey from abuse to abuser, to turning his life around.

Jeremy Eparaima. Photo: Supplied.

As a child, Jeremy was subjected to physical, emotional and sexual abuse in his home and at boarding school.

He says like many men who have been abused, this became the basis of how he perceived life and relationships.

As a partner and then father, Jeremy started off mainly as a verbal abuser who would 'nut off”, and yell and scream whenever there was anything not going his way.

'By the time I was in my early 20s, I was a full-blown physical and emotional abuser to my then partner and children.”

At 40, Jeremy turned his life around when he was introduced to an anger management group and the lady who was the facilitator named Ngaire.

'This wonderful lady opened my eyes to what I had been doing all my life and the course sent me on a journey of change and gave me some new skills to deal with life without using violence and abuse.”

Jeremy now travels the country telling his story hoping to be able to change someone's life around.

'I never thought all that happened to me and all I dealt out since, would ever amount to anything good.

'But being given the opportunity to spread my story of change in order to change another man's and his family's future has been the most rewarding thing in my life,” says Jeremy.

'If I'm speaking to 10 people or 1000 people and one person gets the message then it's worth me doing this.”

He says his message is a simple one.

'If you are a young man heading down this dark road then ask for help before you go on to damage yourself and the ones you love. If you are older like I was, then it's never too late to make a change in your life, to make a safe environment for your children and grandchildren and become the positive role model our families deserve.”

Come and hear Jeremy talk about his journey of change at The Orchard Church on McLoughlan Dr, Te Puke at 6.30pm.

Entry to the event is free.