'I committed assault - kindness saved me'

Darren - not his real name - was supported by Plan B after his assault conviction

Sitting in the police station on the day of his 34th birthday was a "massive wake-up call" for Darren.

Held on suspicion of assault he recalls being overcome by a "wave of emotions" as he attempted to piece together what had led him to this moment.

"I remember thinking 'how has it go to this point?'.

"I got really panicky and upset but I also felt this is something I need to address immediately, I was at a dead end."

Set against a backdrop of family deaths and a recent cancer diagnosis he says his offence was borne out of "frustration".

But he also knew that was no excuse for what happened and that he would have to live with the consequences of his actions "for the rest of my life".

Fortunately for Darren - not his real name - he didn't have to face that journey alone.

Darren said his time in the police custody suite was a "massive wake-up call"

While sitting alone in the police station he was approached by a custody navigator from Plan B, one of the crime reduction services run by Sheffield-based charity Causeway.

Plan B works to help people engage with support and address issues that led to their offending, such as substance misuse, unemployment, family breakdown or childhood trauma.

Causeway CEO Helen Ball said the charity had helped more than 100 offenders in the past year.

She said: "Causeway is about supporting people who for various reasons find themselves on the wrong pathway.

"That might be because they've been a victim of crime or it might be that they've been a perpetrator of crime, it could be a number of other reasons, but our role is to meet that person where there at and to walk alongside them until the find the right path to move forward on to."

But she says it's not just down to the charity, the hard work is done by the individual.

"Yes, we've supported Darren, but so much of it is about them as an individual and how they chose to engage with us.

"Throughout the process he's continued with his focus and, despite set backs or circumstances that have delayed him getting where he wants to be, he's not lost that determination.

"Yes, with our help he's got somewhere, but he's done that himself, we've just been alongside him."

Now 38, Darren said Causeway had supported him through the criminal justice system - he was later fined for his offence - and helped him find housing, work and a creative outlet.

"They really helped me get back on my feet when I was at zero," he said.

"I don't really know what would have happened [without their intervention], but if I had carried on the way that I did then [I would] probably either not be here or somewhere worse."

He said the support of Plan B and Causeway had also helped him find something else was of much greater significance.

"I have access to my daughter again now," he said.

"So, I'm building that relationship back up, which has really been the driving force, because when I was diagnosed with cancer the hardest thing wasn't the treatment it was not seeing my daughter.

"Every day is a new day and you have to work forwards rather than backwards, or you'll stay in the past."

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