'I always wanted to be a criminal'

Trueman, 35, spent much of his youth stuck in a cycle of crime

“I always wanted to be a criminal - that was the only path I ever noticed that I thought was fun,” said Trueman.

The 35-year-old ended up on the wrong path and has spent years in and out of prison. Much of his childhood was surrounded by alcoholism, fighting and crime - a cycle he soon found himself stuck in.

“You don’t really notice any other path apart from the one you’re thrown onto," said Trueman, from Easton in Bristol, who was first sent to a young offender institution at the age of 17.

He has now turned his life around. He has credited the change on a support worker who "who never gave up on him".

As a teenager, he began shoplifting and stealing from other teens.

He was kicked out of mainstream schooling at the age of 12 and was then sent to a boarding school in Chippenham, Wiltshire, where the pattern of low-level crime continued and led to another expulsion.

During his time at the Chippenham school, he met a Connections Support charity worker called Nicky. Her role was to encourage students to make "positive future career decisions".

Despite leaving her job, Nicky continued to visit him while he was in a young offender institution and “never gave up” on him.

'Everyone gave up'

“She had no ties to any company - she just did it herself,” he said.

“I can’t even say what was different about her. In my life, everyone just gave up.

“She never acknowledged the good and bad in what I was.

"She just acknowledged me as a person."

Trueman was last imprisoned for four years for robbery. He was released in 2016.

By that time, he had become a father.

"I missed two years of her [his daughter's] life. I knew I had to change," he said.

In 2019, Nicky introduced him to Key4Life - a crime prevention charity that works to rehabilitate young offenders.

Key4Life was formed by Eva Hamilton MBE in response to the 2011 riots. The riots started in London and spread to towns and cities across the UK after Mark Duggan was shot dead by police in Tottenham.

The charity's seven-step model is based on Ms Hamilton's 37 years' experience of rehabilitating marginalised sectors of society.

The Ministry of Justice Data Lab recognised it as "one of the most effective models for creating change in this area".

Participants are offered programmes designed to build resilience and improve behaviour, through a blend of music, football and equine therapy.

It also offers courses, including a mentorship training scheme that Trueman joined.

Trueman has been involved with Key4Life since 2019

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article you can find sources of help from BBC Action Line.

At first, Trueman said he "didn't believe" he could transform his life. But once he started seeing his peers on the course turning their lives around, his mindset changed.

“All the people I’ve been to prison with are all changing and finally getting jobs and their lives are getting better," he said.

"When I saw that, I wanted that same opportunity, so I put everything I had into it to change."

'Help people succeed'

Earlier this year, Trueman received a call offering him a part-time role as a mentor at the charity.

He now speaks to people who are at risk of imprisonment, and helps young offenders "do small things" to keep them on the right path.

This includes helping them to apply for a driving licence, signing them up at job centres, and completing admin tasks.

Since beginning the role, Trueman's life has "changed dramatically", he said.

"Before, I would always think if this fails then I’ll go back - whereas this time, it’s not like that," he added.

"I can see that the path I’m on now is better than any path I’ve ever been on so I don’t want to let go of it.

Charity founder Eva Hamilton said: “For Trueman, and so many of the young men who go through our programme, it’s amazing to see what can happen when they start taking responsibility for their past and unlock their pain.

"Doors will open and many exciting opportunities become available that would have seemed impossible before they took that first step to make a change.

"And giving back to other young men as a Key Mentor with Key4Life offers a tremendous opportunity for growth, while giving back to others.”

"I want to help people as much as I can until they succeed," Trueman said.

"In five years, life can change for the greatest.

“I feel like I should’ve gone down this path a lot sooner than I did, but obviously we can’t dwell on the past. We can only think of the future."