JUST RELEASED FROM PRISON |
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| Aaron
and Simon have just come out of prison. They are aware of the problems they face now they are released.They come to our centre each day for a hot meal. |
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 My name is Simon Turner and I’m twenty-one. I got out of
prison three years ago and since I’ve come out there have been plenty of
problems like trying to find accommodation, trying to get benefits and food.
Basically, there’s no support that I can find and luckily I’ve had
friends that could put me up. It’s a slow process to get yourself
sorted.The Drop-in Centre here helps. It gives you friendly advice, food and a bit of shelter from the streets. It’s a good place. My criminal record began when I was about fourteen. I’ve got numerous offences, theft, burglary, assaults and speeding amongst others. I have not committed an offence for years, they just keep coming back to haunt me. I’ve now got a clean slate so I can start afresh and just get on with it. What I would like to do with my life is get a good job as a head chef in a hotel, sort out a flat of my own and that’s what my aim is really. I’ve got my qualifications, my City and Guilds, Basic Health and Hygiene, NVQ Level 2 Business Administration, RSA’s and seven GCSE’s from grade C to A*. I trained to be a chef at the Royal Oxford Catering College and I was there for two years. My life started to go wrong when my dad kicked me out at the age of sixteen. He basically just threw me out on the street and said he wanted nothing more to do with me. I was on my own going from hostel to hostel and not able to get anything sorted. People tried to help me but there wasn’t much they could do, so I’ve been independent for much of my life. When I was at school it wasn’t a very good experience because of all the problems I had at home with my father. I would take all those experiences to school with me and my work started to slack a little. The teachers would pull me to one side and I would be abusive to them. It was during the last year that I realised I needed GCSE’s for the rest of my life, so I got my head stuck in and got the marks I needed for my GCSE’s and that. I have been in prison four times. I have been in for burglaries, thefts and assault. It wasn’t a serious assault, someone provoked me and I hit him. Now I have got a clean slate I’ve got a chance to get on with my life and work everything out. I know my ambitions and I’ve got my goals, which is the job and to get a place of my own and that. |
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 I’ve just got out of jail and I’m still
looking for somewhere to live at the moment. So, basically I’m still on a
downer, trying to get off the drugs and pick myself up. Hopefully I’ll
make it because I don’t want to go back to jail. Lancaster Farms is not that bad, it’s a young offenders institute. You still have to go for your breakfast, dinner and tea at certain times and get banged up. There are also things like not getting on with the screws. Apart from that it’s not that bad. |
