DANIEL'S STORY

Daniel was given a five year sentence for GBH and sent to HMP & YOI Swinfen Hall in 2004 when he was just 19. Before coming to prison his lifestyle was centered on friends, crime, drugs and gangs.

He approached New Bridge about getting help from a mentor a few months before his release. A match was found and the mentoring partnership started in prison and continued ‘on the road’. That was seven months ago and things have been going well…

How did you feel about leaving prison?
I had loads of positive thoughts before I left prison about finding a job, getting a car and starting a family. I wasn’t thinking about the past, I was going to do it all legit.

I wouldn’t say I was worried about anything but I considered the way forward, it was my way of thinking. I hadn’t thought like this before. When I was growing up I just thought negative but as you get older you find you have to be positive, but it’s hard and it’s easier just to live in the past but you just end up getting caught and coming back to jail.

What was it like meeting your mentor for the first time?
I was pretty relaxed about meeting him but at first I didn’t know what to say, I just introduced myself. Paul spoke positively and I did the same, I talked about my plans. We bounced off each other and it was good.

How do you stay in touch with Paul?
We meet every couple of Saturdays and speak on the phone every Sunday but sometimes in the week as well. When we speak he makes sure I’m on the right track and that I’m still staying positive, it makes me think the right way, I think about what I am doing.

What kind of stuff does Paul help with, what have you learned?
You know, I’ve learned a lot from Paul. I do things at my own pace and stay in my own lane; he talks about the hare and the tortoise story. The hare loses by going too fast. But I’m not racing I’m climbing to the top of the ladder. If you rush then you’ve got no foundation to fall back on if things go wrong. People want cars, a house and money but they don’t want a job, so you get into a situation and then you’re back in prison. My way – by the time they come back out of jail they’ll see me, what I’ve got and where I am because I did it legit and at my own pace.

I’ve signed up with (job) agencies and am on standby. I phone them at 8 everyday of the week and as soon as that call comes in I’ll be straight in there. I go down the job centre and use their machines and I buy the Evening Mail every Thursday to look at the jobs. I’m doing my forklift training, the written side of it. I’m starting the practical training soon.

My record makes it hard to find work, but it was 3 years down the drain and now I’ve got to build it back up but I’ll feel good about myself doing it the right way, I feel good about myself now.

What I have learned is just right, there is no more or less he could do, everything we’ve talked about I’ve taken on board and learned from.

What does the future hold?
It’s the final push, I set myself a target - in the next two months I want to be working in the next five months I want to be driving, get a passport, saving some money and making sure I am okay and everyone else is. At night walking the streets you’ve got to look over your shoulder every two minutes and sometimes someone will ask you where you’re from and if it’s not the right area, the right postcode or whatever, you’ll get beat up. It’s hard to avoid it so I want move somewhere else and get myself sorted, but that’s a bit later on.