'Sometimes all you need is someone to believe in you'

Danny said: "I'm just hoping Key4Life will put me down a path"

Former prisoners are being given "a second chance" thanks to an employment scheme.

Key4Life was set up in Bristol to help ex-offenders get back into the world of work and has since supported more than 1,000 men across the country.

The charity works with people while they are still in prison and once they have been released.

Danny, 26, came out in November and said: "I want to change it for my kids, just give my kids a chance in life and make my family proud of me."

Robert hopes to go into construction and said: "Brick-laying is my dream goal"

The charity's CEO and founder, Eva Hamilton MBE, said getting into work "is absolutely key."

"If these young men leave prison and they don't have legal money coming their way or they don't have a positive purpose in their life, they will go back very quickly to their old ways."

Danny first went to prison when he was 16 and was mostly recently jailed for drugs offences.

He said without the help of a Key4Life mentor, his life was likely to continue that way.

"There ain't no rehabilitation in the prison. When you leave you're left with £76 discharge grant and a bus ticket to go home."

A HM Prison and Probation Service spokesperson said: “Prison and probation staff work closely to prepare prisoners for release.

"This includes creating detailed pre-release plans to address resettlement needs such as accommodation, employment and finance.

“All prison leavers will meet with their probation officer within the first 24 hours of release, receive travel expenses, and eligible prisoners can receive further support of a one-time payment to meet their immediate needs.”

Danny hopes to own his own Irish food van in the future

"I definitely feel a lot more positive now I have a lot more support in my corner," said Danny.

"They [Key4Life] make you feel like you're somebody."

At a recent event in Bristol, ex-offenders were invited to be interviewed by potential employers who then gave feedback.

"It's really important for our business to get involved with Key4Life to give these boys an opportunity to get into business," said Zoe Joyner from Avonmouth-based catering equipment company Nisbets.

"Everybody deserves a second chance," she added.

"Meeting Eva in prison that day, I just really didn't know what it would all become," said Liam Meredith

Ms Hamilton explained the reoffending rate for men who come out of a short-term sentence in the UK is about 64% percent, but for those who came through Key4Life in 2023, it was just 7%.

"I think it's amazing," said Robert, 21, who lives in Bristol, but is originally from Slovakia.

He recently served time for robbery.

"That's not a good lifestyle," he said.

"I'm not going to do the same mistakes. I have five sisters, I don't want my sisters always seeing their older brother in prison," added Robert.

He is also a boxer and said he was focusing on that and "keeping myself healthy".

"I think it's amazing," he said of the Key4Life mentors who have "changed their lives" and are helping people like him.

"Everybody deserves a second chance," said Zoe Joyner, community and engagement partner at Nisbets

Liam Meredith was offered a full time job with Yeo Valley after coming to one of the Key4Life employment sessions.

He now has his own burger and ice cream van and works as a mentor for the charity.

"It was almost as if I was always going to go to prison, with my grandfather going to prison, my mum going prison."

"But I'm here years later, clean, focused, paying it forward and positive and I love my life, man," said Mr Meredith.

He added: "Sometimes all you need is someone to believe in you again and a lot of the lads they ain't had that in such a long time."