'Band of Brothers' helps Bristol's traumatised young men

Jordan Hardy said without the charity he would have ended up dead, in prison or on the streets

A young man says his life has been saved thanks to a charity that has helped him deal with his troubled past.

Pairing young men with older male mentors, A Band of Brothers (ABOB) works with those who are at risk or who have been involved in the criminal justice system.

Jordan Hardy, 24, from Weston-super-Mare, reached out to the charity after dabbling in crime.

He said: "They've shown me the right way to live."

Mr Hardy, who used to compete in judo competitions, said he ended up "getting mixed up in criminal activity" after experiencing emotional and physical bullying at school.

Participants on the scheme take part in weekly group meetings and a 12 week mentorship programme

He said: "I was doing silly things, getting a criminal record, getting arrested multiple times."

"I regret it. I regret it everyday," he added.

He said without help from ABOB he reckons he would "either be dead, in prison or on the streets".

"No-one makes a judgement on whatever you've done in the past. As soon as you walk through those doors it's all forgotten," he said.

The scheme by charity ABOB, which runs programmes in places such as Crawley, Oxford and Manchester, starts off with a "Quest for community - rites of passage weekend", a weekend away where participants and mentors on the scheme take part in activities like outdoor pursuits.

Dave Bevan, who runs the scheme in Bristol, said they want to help "traumatised young men"

The participants are then buddied up with an older male mentor for 12 weeks where they can discuss and ask for advice on anything that is troubling them.

They also take part in weekly group meetings to work with issues such as anger and conflict.

Dave Bevan, who organises the scheme in Bristol, said: "I used to use a shorthand of young offenders, I now just say traumatised young men.

"The correlation is one to one - these are without fail young men who once you actually give them a space to tell their story, your heart will break open."

Alex-Rider Evans said the scheme had made it easier to talk about his problems

Alex-Rider Evans, who struggled with addiction and grew up moving in and out of 11 foster homes, said when he first joined the scheme he was a bit "sceptical of speaking to an older bloke".

He said: "As I went on I found it more and more easier to speak to men. I can talk about my problems with them. They're really understanding."

He said some of the mentors had themselves been through a similar journey to him.

"It's quite nice that they can relate to it," he added.

Mark Penfold, who is a mentor on the scheme, said he wanted to make a change in the young men's lives

"What we're trying to do is to support young men who want to make a change in their lives," said Mark Penfold, who mentors young men on the programme.

"They're kind of ready to say 'Look I've had enough of this, this is not what I want anymore', and that could be related to drugs, might be criminal activity, could be being part of a gang, all sorts of different things."

"The underlying thing of course, is typically a chaotic childhood," he added.