I grew up in a busy home, where I saw violence and its effects from a young age. Violence between my parents meant the police visited so often it sometimes felt like they lived with us.

I ended up living with my mum and sister. My ambition was to join the Army, but when my mum died a couple of years ago, I dropped out of the application process. I helped look after my niece and nephew and my grandmother, which was a lot of responsibility and meant I didn’t have much social life.

I heard about the Spear Programme at my local job centre. When I first went along, I thought I already knew how to get a job. I thought all I needed was the right opportunity and enough time to apply. But my Spear coaches helped me realise I had so much more to learn, and encouraged me to get as much out of Spear as possible. I ended up making great friendships, and being offered a job at Kidzania after attending Spear’s Hire Me event.

I’m grateful to Spear for helping me shift my mindset. My goal is to be a police officer one day; even though my experience of them was in a negative time, I’ve come to realise they were there to protect and help me. I want to be able to help others too.