Martin was expelled from school at the age of thirteen and spent the next year wandering the streets and getting involved in petty crime.

He went to prison for just under two years when he was eighteen for GBH. He now volunteers for a Nacro prison resettlement project in Kent.

Martin says

“My mum was dad split up when I was a baby and my mum couldn’t look after me so I was brought up by my dad and step-mum. I didn’t get on with my step-mum, and we were always arguing. I was a pretty angry kid."

Drawn into crime

"I got excluded from school when I was thirteen and did nothing for over a year. I wasn’t trusted to be at home all day on my own, so I was kicked out at eight every morning and couldn’t come back until after five. I just used to wander the streets, as I didn’t have any money.

I ended up hanging around with other kids who’d been expelled and we started shop lifting. Sometimes I did it because I literally had nothing to eat.

I was always getting arrested for petty crime and I got locked up in young offenders for a month-and-a-half when I was sixteen. Once I was out, things got even worse. By the time I was eighteen I was drinking heavily and taking drugs, eventually I was sentenced to 21 months for GBH."

Life on the outside

"When I got out in 2005, I went back to live with my family. In some ways it was good, but in other ways it was like nothing had changed.

Emotionally, it was tough. When you’re in prison you’re in a constant paranoid state, always looking over your shoulder for trouble. I found it hard to re-adjust, and I was constantly on edge.

The hardest thing was getting a job. Employers just don’t want to know when you’ve got a criminal record; you automatically go to the back of the queue. I managed to get short-term building work through friends and agencies, but nothing permanent.

It’s been almost five years since I was released, and I still haven’t been able to get a proper job. I hang around with the same group of friends, but I’m a completely different person.

Now I know how to avoid situations where I might end up getting into trouble. I’ve cut down on my drinking and I often go home early when I’m out with my mates."

Giving something back

"To help me get back into work I decided to start volunteering. I help out on a prison resettlement project in Kent run by Nacro. We support ex-offenders coming out of Cookham Wood Prison.

It’s a fantastic project because the staff go into the prison for a month before they’re released, so once they get out they know us and trust us.

I can really relate to the young lads I work with because I’ve been through exactly the same things they have. I wish something like this had been available to me when I came out, as I know it would have made things a lot easier for me.

I’m really enjoying volunteering for Nacro because I’m giving something back to the community, while building up my skills and getting loads of great work experience.

I’m hoping it’ll help me get a paid job and I’d love to get into youth work one day.”