Initially, Peter wasn’t sure if he’d be eligible to join our workshop in HMP Wealstun. As an IPP* offender, he didn’t have a release date to work towards, making joining some support programmes in prison trickier.

But with support from his Key Worker, Rick, he signed up to our programme and has been thriving ever since.

“When I heard about Recycling Lives Charity; how they could help you on release, getting accommodation and work, obviously I asked if I could work with them,” Peter says.

“I met Rick and I liked the way he was speaking, he seemed genuine, and it turned out that he was.

“Recycling Lives then put £10 a week in savings for me and Rick would come on the wings to see me.

“I did a traffic management course in prison, which gave me a basic ticket to be a trainee with a company. That’s the job I’m in now.

“Rick said the support doesn’t end with the job, though. He said, if you ever need help, just ask.

“I was in a bail hostel at first. When I’d got the job, because I’d set up my child maintenance, to then get a flat at £600-700 a month, it would’ve really squeezed me. But I found this en-suite room with bills included, like an apartment, and Lizzie helped me to get me the deposit for that. That really helped me out.

“I’d saved about £700 up from that £10 a week which I’d used to get my car back on the road to travel to work – otherwise I didn’t have nowt.

“I appreciate all the help that I got from Rick and Lizzie.

“Now I’ve got money, I’ve got my own place, a new girlfriend, my kids are in my life. Everything’s perfect. I’ll never forget that when I really needed it, you guys helped me.”

* What is IPP? The indeterminate sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) was introduced in 2005. It was intended to manage “people considered ‘dangerous’ but whose offence did not merit a life sentence”. It was later abolished in 2012. However, while this prevented new IPP sentences from being handed down, the abolishment was not retrospective – those it had been imposed upon continued to be subject to its conditions. Further reforms were made in late 2024. Where previously, IPP offenders weren’t eligible for automatic licence termination for 10 years – remaining subject to ongoing licence requirements irrespective of their initial sentence length – this has been lowered to two or three years.

Pictured above is Rick, now part of our Employment team and formerly a Key Worker