A REFORMED career criminal, who once faced life in prison, is helping youngsters steer away from the same mistakes he made.
As he sat in a prison cell in 2001, facing a life behind bars for armed robbery, Graham Godden decided to turn his life around.
Having been in and out of trouble since he was young – including two other stints in prison – the man Crimewatch once branded the "M25 bandit" decided to clean up his act. He gained an Open University degree in criminology and became involved with a scheme helping divert young people from crime.
"When I was given my life sentence it was the first time I thought 'what am I doing here and why?'" Mr Godden, 48, said.
"I hated the noise and smell of prison. But most of all I hated that everyone who had told me that I would end up in prison turned out to be right."
When he was released in 2009 on parole, Mr Godden decided to develop the scheme and now runs 380 sessions a year around the South East, supporting 3,500 youngsters, under the name Youth Empowerment Services+.
With plans to open a new scheme in Reigate next year, the group has benefited from a £120,000 grant from the National Lottery which, over the next two years, will allow them to further develop their work.
Mr Godden and his five colleagues spend much of their time visiting schools – such as Reigate Valley College in Ironsbottom Lane, Sidlow – speaking to at-risk youngsters and giving them advice on how to avoid falling into a life of crime.
"If you want kids to learn about history, you get someone who understands history," he told the Mirror.
"So if you want them to learn about turning their lives around, you get someone who has done it.
"Some of the younger kids we see are often beginning to show up as at risk of exclusion from school, but the older ones have often been excluded and they might be known by the police."
Having had drug rehabilitation, counselling and education in jail, Mr Godden says he understands what needs to be done to help these youngsters.
"It is about educating these young people," he said.
"It is about promoting change and giving them a positive attitude to change."
For more information visit www.yesplus.org.uk
