• 20, 000th Award

By Kieron, serving prisoner.

My name is Kieron; I’m 31 years old and I am currently serving a 3 year prison sentence, at Her Majesty’s Prison Wandsworth, in London. I am also studying for a Diploma in Drug, Solvent and Alcohol Abuse Counselling, which has been funded by The Prisoners Education Trust. I recently discovered that I’m the 20,000th prisoner to receive a grant from them to study for my diploma.

As the title of the course I’m studying suggests, it is solely aimed at helping people with substance misuse issues to come to terms with their addiction and aim for a life free from drug use. I’ve selected this course as I have been a drug addict for 15 years and have recently come to the realisation that I’m worth more; I want to stop my own use of illicit drugs and try to help others to do the same.

I’d been involved in drugs since I was 13, but was introduced to crack cocaine and heroin at the age of 16. Addiction, for me, happened almost instantly. The feelings of belonging to a certain group of people appealed to me and it felt wrong and exciting. What I wasn’t prepared for was the physical withdrawals that accompany the regular use of heroin. The pain and uncomfortable feelings are widely known, but a person can’t truly empathise with a sufferer of withdrawal symptoms until they have experienced them for themselves. I feared withdrawing, to such an extent, that I would commit crimes daily, in order to buy enough drugs to keep the experience at bay for as long as possible.

By the time I was 17, I was a fully fledged addict with £100 per day habit. As a consequence of the amount of crime I was committing, I soon found myself in trouble with law and was sent to a young offenders institution.

The cycle of drug addiction and prison has unfortunately continued to plague me right through my adult life.

Until now, I have had real problems with quitting drug use once and for all. I have had many times where I’ve been drug free. I’ve held down several jobs, but have never been able to maintain this long-term.

Prison started out as a place that I loathed. I used to spend each waking hour wishing that could turn back the clocks and be at home. Over the years, I have spent a lot of time away. With all of the vacant time on my hand I decided to use the time to better my life and the lives of my daughters. I started attending education classes during my last sentence. I soon uncovered a zest for learning and my thirst for knowledge grew and grew.

I started sitting examinations and found that what I was learning was staying locked in my mind. I have passed every exam that I’ve sat so far. I now have qualifications in adult literacy and adult numeracy, levels 1 to 3. The certificates that I have acquired are nationally recognised by Oxford, Cambridge and R.S.A. examinations.

I was little concerned that I had reached the end of the line, as far as gaining qualifications in prison goes, as I’d sat and passed every exam that prison education offers.

A few months ago, at Wandsworth libray, I heard that the The Prisoner Education Trust offers grants to prisoners who are educated to level 2 and above in adult literacy and numeracy. I did some investigating and discovered that I fitted the eligibility criteria model, and I applied for a grant to study my course.

I was granted the cost to complete my course and the fees were settled last month, when I received my first lesson pack.

I am now happily working towards my diploma in Drug, Solvent and Alcohol Abuse Counselling from my prison cell. I work on the hotplate on my wing, serving food during the day and I study during the hours that I’m locked up.

I am not due for release until next summer, but I’m not too down about being prison as I know that this will be my last time away. By next summer I will have my diploma and I will also have been clean from drugs for 18 months. I have real direction now. Goals and real aspirations are things that were missing form life. Now that I have them, I’m sure that I’ll succeed with my future career.