Peter Mendham
January 19, 2022Posted by:
From decorated footballer player to prison inmate, Peter talks to us about his lived experience within prison and how his experience changed him as a man.
Peter spent two and a half years in prison and a further 8 months in a hostel under supervision once he left prison. He speaks to our Head of Digital Learning & Strategy for Wayout TV - Jezz Wright about what that experience taught him, and what advice he would give to prisoners going through a similar experience.
Throughout the interview, Peter repeats the importance of prison education during his time inside. Going from a well paid and comfortable career in football to life as a citizen was a huge adjustment for him, and Peter speaks here about how he felt unprepared for the transition; and lacked a lot of the necessary skills to secure sustainable employment.
There are a variety of factors that led to Peter's incarceration covered in this interview, and many of the issues discussed are common-place for a large percentage of the prison population. In his honest and raw account of prison life, his accountability, and the actions he took after his experience.
Education in Prison
Peter emphasises the importance of prison education on his journey to learn more about himself and human behaviour in general. While at HMP Highpoint, Peter completed several courses including a Diploma in Psychology, another in Counselling, a Family Man course which covers how to be a better father/partner/husband, and a series of health and fitness courses such as spinning instruction, circuit training, and personal fitness instruction.
These courses Peter says, helped him to acquire the skills necessary to secure work and change his path once leaving prison.
At PeoplePlus, we are the largest independent provider of prison education in the UK, currently working in 22 prisons, we deliver more than 600 accredited courses to thousands of prisoners.
That’s more than two million hours of face-to-face learning each year.
Our courses equip men, women, and young people who are in prison with the skills, training, education, and qualifications they need to start a-fresh, make better decisions, and reduce re-offending once they leave.
Watch Peter's interview:
This interview was recorded as part of a series by Wayout TV to inspire prisoners with different voices on their prison experience. The rest of the series will be posted throughout the week 17th - 21st January. Wayout TV provides education, information, opportunity, and innovation to inmates in over 60 prisons, find out more about the work they're doing to change the outcome for 100s of offenders here.
January 19, 2022Posted by:
