Darren Curtis
Darren, 25, from Plymouth, was on a self
destructive path of drugs and crime before he came to The Prince’s
Trust for help. With his new-found confidence and
motivation, Darren is now enrolled on a training course
and is keen to develop his skills further.
Darren found school difficult and his frustration
with learning led to behavioural problems that frequently got him
into trouble. He started mixing with a bad crowd who encouraged
drug taking, heavy drinking and crime to fund their habits.
Although Darren was aware of the danger he was getting into, his
increasing dependence on drugs made it difficult for him to break
out of his criminal behaviour.
Darren eventually received a wakeup call when he was given a
12-month prison sentence – the longest amount of time he had
received for a burglary to feed his drug habit. Being apart from
his daughter gave him the motivation to sort out his life. While in
prison, Darren came off drugs and studied to obtain OCR Level 2
Literacy and Numeracy.
Upon release, he enrolled in The Prince’s Trust Team programme,
a 12-week personal development course which gives unemployed young
people the skills and confidence to find work.
Darren was wary about taking part in the course at first, as he
felt he would face similar issues that he had at school. However,
within the encouraging environment of the programme, his confidence
improved and he became enthusiastic about learning new skills and
working with others.
On finishing the programme, Darren found the motivation to
continue his training and enrolled in a bricklaying and plastering
course and was given the opportunity to develop his work skills
further with K & B Gilbert Ltd Construction Company.
Darren said:
When I first started the Team programme, I told
the group that I didn’t think I would last till the end. Now that I
have, I’ve surprised myself and proven that I can make a success of
my life. I could only have realised this with the support of The
Prince’s Trust.
Champions
We would like to acknowledge the individuals or organisations
who have played a key role in helping this young person achieve
success through their Prince’s Trust programme.
- Gemma Lake, City College
Plymouth
- Vicky Brooks, Support Worker, Harbour
Drug and Alcohol Services