From December 3rd to the 10th Switchback will be ‘painting a different picture of prison release’. For this appeal we have collaborated with London artist, Fran Copeman, and we will be sharing with you some of the first-hand stories and experiences of four inspiring Trainees. Each individual and their personal story will highlight how your support will directly help our Trainees to thrive on the outside and build a life full of positive opportunities. During Big Give week all donations will be match-funded, making them worth double until we hit our target of £40,000. Please consider a donation today.
“I was born and raised in Camden in a two-parent household with my two brothers and three sisters. The first music I ever listened to in my life was Congolese music. It was a typical African household with lots of music and dancing and a wedding every Saturday.
“In school I was always the class clown, but I made it all the way to my GCSEs. I wasn’t the best, but I was alright. I liked PE, music, media and English. I’m a creative so those are the subjects that piqued my interest. Aside from school, I used to chill with my siblings a lot until I got old enough to hop off the porch and go outside. Then I had friends from my area. We weren’t a gang, but that’s how the police portrayed us. I had a lot of close-knit friends, and we just always used to hang out, whether in a park playing football or at youth clubs having fun.
“And then life happened. We started getting the negative influences, you know the story, you’re watching what the older boys are doing, and you want to be known and have some sort of status. I ended up going to jail.
“I missed my family the most when I was inside. I’m a family man so I went straight to my family on the day I was released. I was with them for the whole day. Then I hit up all the Camden food spots and got waffles and chicken and dessert. It was food, family, and good vibes.
“I feel like most of the reason I’ve been on the straight and narrow since prison is because I’ve had a good support system behind me. Switchback being there has given me that extra push to stay on the right path because it’s given me structure. I’m coming in weekly and doing action plans and they’re helping me engage in things in the community.
“If it wasn’t for Switchback, I wouldn’t have achieved all these things or gone down all these roads. I wouldn’t have been in those rooms and met who I met or seen what I had to see to stay on the straight and narrow. I have to shout out my Mentor Abbie. She’s had my back from the start and she’s always been there for me. It’s even small things like when I was trying to get my driver’s license back and flopped my test and she was there to keep me calm. She was like, “Don’t worry, we’ll go again.” She wants me to do better for myself. Even when I first came out, I was a little bit shaky but she pushed me in the right direction to continue.
“My goal is to get my music heard everywhere so people can hear my pain and hear my story so it can motivate people. I want to effect positivity when people listen to my music. I’m in the process of changing what I speak about and speaking about more positive things so I want to continue on that journey.
“If I reach one person and they change their life, that’s one more person who took the right route. This is not me saying that I’m the top role model, because I still make mistakes myself – everyone does, but I want to use my voice to create positive change.”
Please click this link to support more young men, like Lenox, to live life differently and thrive today.
