A voluntary project in prison turned Pete Sams life around - and gave him something to live for
Since I can remember I’ve always been in trouble. I was brought up mostly in care, my parents said I was uncontrollable and that was pretty much the case for most of my childhood.
When I ended up in prison at 17 for stealing cars, I remember saying to myself this was how my life was going to be – a cycle of remand, release and return as my probation officer put it. I had few reasons to doubt him.
Something clicked early on in my sentence however. I’d never read books but I started reading anything and everything out of boredom. I was never good at reading or writing but in those six months inside I learned more than my entire time at school.
The prison also ran skills classes. They were voluntary so again out of boredom I signed up for an engineering course. It was basic stuff but interesting. We learned about machinery and how to use specific tools and for the first time in my life I began to feel I could do something meaningful in society.
The course was run by Success Routes – a project aiming to equip young people for the outside. The idea is that by skilling up offenders, they will be less likely to re-offend. Instead they’ll discover what they are good at and hopefully use this to get work when they leave prison.
It worked for me. For the first time in my life I actually felt I was worth something. When I got out I took a placement at BT helping engineers install fibre optic cables in workplaces. It was initially for three months but I got kept on for a year before getting full time work with a cable TV company.
Because I was part of Success Routes they dealt with employers, making it easier for me to be interviewed. When I spoke to the interview panel at BT the HR manager told me she wasn’t interested in my background. Instead she said I’d be treated like any other employee – with trust and respect.
A job puts you in touch with people, enables you to earn a living, make new friends
I never thought I’d turn things around. Prison doesn’t teach you much except how to be a criminal. That’s why this project is so important. At the very basic level it gives offenders a status beyond criminal. It makes you aware you can contribute to society, get a job and earn money.
I’ve now got a flat and a steady income. I like to see myself as a good worker – one who’s trusted by my employer and my colleagues. The project gave me that. It also gave me ongoing training to equip me better for a life outside and one where I wouldn’t return to prison.
Most of all, it gave me confidence and a feeling of self-worth. Work is the best way to make you feel part of society. A job puts you in touch with people, enables you to earn a living, make new friends and, importantly, it is a financial foundation. It’s taught me that earning an honest living is the only way to live. And crime just doesn’t pay.
