Yasir
Unlocked assessor and ex-prisoner
Compassion goes a long way when you’re desperate and dependent. I always found that the best prison officers were the ones that led with their humanity. Their impact lives on.
When I was handed a prison sentence by the judge, I made a promise to myself. I had two years to serve, and I vowed not to waste my time. I was determined that on walking out of those ever-imposing gates, I would be able to look back and say I had used my time to better myself. Despite the chaos and despite the odds.
I enrolled at the Open University and started a degree in Philosophy and Psychology. In the beginning, this seemed like an impossibility. The resources that are officially available to prisoners depends entirely on the availability of willing prison officers to provide access to them. I tried for weeks to enrol before the university’s deadline, and only managed to do so when a prison officer took it upon himself to help me. He literally opened the doors for me to work on my future, and forever I will be in debt to him. He will never know it.
I was moved around the prison estate and came across the same hurdles. And the same saviours. Because that is what these prison officers were to me in helping me better myself. They made time and they made calls, and in so doing they made a possibility come to life for me. They gave me more than an opportunity to succeed, they gave me hope. I had to walk through the door, but they had to find a way to open it for me.