Prison was a good thing for me
Chris Chamberlain
I grew up in Fareham, a town outside of
My turning point would have come from helping out at summer camps as a young person and then as an assistant tent leader and then as a tent leader. I saw the older youth workers and the way they were with the young people. They had respect from the kids not through the same way as a teacher or parent but through actually listening to the young people and then thinking about what was said and putting it into action. It was then that I knew what I to do. I wanted to be one of those youth workers.
The work I do now is mainly through visiting schools youth groups and presenting workshops, these take many forms from Trade Rules, graffiti art and music. I do a workshop/discussion session called "choices" in which I talk about my life and some of the experiences I have been through. I do this with one clear aim. Not to preach but to advocate.
Also a large portion of my work is with the lads from
Polmont YOI in which we go through both Chaplaincy work and then taking them
through the Duke of Edinburgh Award. This also involved weeks at Camas - the
Iona Community outdoor centre on
One thing that will always stick in my head and that was when volunteering I was working part-time in security at a bar. A group of young people walked past and one of the girls recognised me and quoted back to me the talk I had given some 8 months previously - this is why I do what I do. She remembered me and quoted back to me the talk I had given some eight months previously – this is why I do what I do. She remembered and acted on what she had heard.
