This Is My Story

My name is Lucas. I am 21 years old and live on an estate in Brighton.

Two years ago I had just left prison, having served 9 months. My Connexions worker put me forward for the Quest programme with A Band of Brothers and I got involved with them in July 2009.

Part of the programme involves having a mentor. My mentor was a guy called Robin who’s a Carpenter in Brighton. Robin met up with me every week and seemed really interested in what I wanted to do with my life and helped me to get clearer on what that was. Around the same time, one of the other mentors called Andrew also gave me some work experience as a Gardner.

I loved my experience of being mentored by these guys and feeling part of something positive and meaningful.

I realised that I’m most happy when I’m helping other people, making a stand for global equality and helping the world to evolve. Last summer A Band of Brothers hooked me up with Raleigh International and I spent three months in India working on community projects out there.

Since then I have worked for Sussex Central YMCA and the Big Lottery fund. I have also staffed four weekend trainings with A Band of Brothers and it’s been really satisfying putting older men through their paces so that they can become great mentors for more young men like me. In December of this year I am flying out to Ghana in West Africa where I will be spending 6 months working on both community and environmental initiatives.

I’m hopeful that my experiences will inspire other young men to follow their hearts and go for what they want. I’m really grateful to my mentor Robin and everyone at A Band of Brothers for giving me the confidence to do the amazing things I’m now doing with my life!