Danny

I was eight when my dad left, and it had a big effect on me.

I took my anger out on my family and everyone else around me.

I ended up roaming the streets, with my mum searching for me. She’s always been there for me.

My dad was military policeman, and I was very anti-authority. I got into joyriding. It was a way to gain attention, but as a child I didn’t understand that.

At fifteen, I was moved away from home.

I started using heroin as a way to blank things out. I was running about committing crimes, stealing cars, being an idiot, not caring for anyone.

A few years later, I had a son. It should have been a wake-up call, but I was still a young boy in my head.

So, my mum stepped in and was a support for him – and for me.

I ended up disappearing into a world of crime for nearly 30 years.

I was in prison when I heard that my mum had been in a coma.

She told me about it later, saying, ‘I saw my mum and dad, in a house, with a big light. They told me to come and join them.’ My mum’s not religious, so for her to talk like this was her saying what had happened.

It gave me a new interest in the afterlife and spiritual things.

I’d heard about ACT, so I put my life on paper – six pages of A4 of everything that had happened to me – and asked them for help.

Then, the day before release, I received a letter saying I’d been accepted for ACT housing.

When I got there I found out the other person in the house was a friend I’d grown up with. It seemed a random thing, but I now know I was blessed.

For the first couple of years, I would go to cooking sessions on a Tuesday, to ACT Family on a Thursday, sometimes we’d do some gardening.

That was good for me – getting me out, getting used to being free.

I listened to everything I was told, soaked things up, and tried to be a good person.

But then a relationship went wrong, and I was recalled to prison for 28 days.

My son, who was only 21, had been arrested about the same time.

I was in prison, and my son was in prison. It was a terrible moment.

Then one evening, I felt a strong sense that God was with me. I felt him saying things were going to be all right – for me and for my son.

The officers the next day were not saying that. They told me I’d be in for another year, and that my son was looking at a ten-year sentence.

But a day later they came to tell me I was being released.

My son went in front of a judge, who said, ‘I’m going to give you a massive chance today.’ They only gave him a small sentence so he could start again.

So, I found myself out and back in an ACT house.

I started working. [ACT’s former Director] Dave got me an interview for a job fitting log-burners, which I got. It was good up until the pandemic when the business closed and I developed long COVID.

One night I had a strong urge to pray, and I knew God had come to me. I’ve learned that if I pray things will happen.

I’m now volunteering on a farm a few days a week. I find it really beneficial – it’s good to see new life and help someone else. The family who run the farm really help me.

I have four grandchildren who I see, and I’m close with my family. I’m in a really good place and looking forward to the future.