This website uses cookies for anonymised analytics and for account authentication. See our privacy and cookies policies for more information.





The voice of Scotland’s vibrant voluntary sector

Published by Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations

TFN is published by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, Mansfield Traquair Centre, 15 Mansfield Place, Edinburgh, EH3 6BB. The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Registration number SC003558.

I turned a life of crime into a life worth living

This opinion piece is about 7 years old
 

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.

Pete Sams
Pete Sams

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.