PETE'S STORY
"My name is Pete. At this time (April 2002) I am 38 and
have been in prison for 5 years, give or take a couple of months.
I became aware of the Criminon Programme in 1998 and have been
doing the courses on offer ever since.
I am in prison for some horrendously violent offences. In fact
violence and aggression were my mainstays in life as I saw things
then. I hid my anxieties, fears, hopes and misgivings behind violence,
as others use drugs, alcohol and other crimes to hide.
I attended prison courses and whilst I gleaned some benefit from
them, it was not until I started the Criminon courses that I was
able to see past the shell I had surrounded myself with. Each
page I turned of THE WAY TO HAPPINESS
® booklet taught me something new
or brought back to me what my parents had taught me as a young
boy.
I grew personally with each step I sent in to my tutor Frank,
to whom I owe so very much for all his selfless help and encouragement
over the years.
I came to do the Personal Integrity Course,
and this had a profound effect on me.
For many years I had been raging to myself over a slight by one
of my older brothers. This led to my not contacting him for some
15 years or more. As I got deeper into the Personal Integrity
Course I realised that I was actually holding on to it. The day
I decided to let go of the slight, I knew I was now able to contact
my brother.
I have to thank my tutors for this, because it was with their
guidance and support that I was able to grow as a person. Thanks
to the Criminon Programme I feel I am now a lot more responsible
and fully capable of facing up to my problems, real or imagined,
and coping with them in a rational and mature way, ensuring that
I cause no distress to anyone in doing so.
I fully intend to donate as much time as I can to the Criminon
organisation upon my release, and do so even now, by promoting
it within the prison service as much as I can.
I am now able to lead a fulfilling and non offending lifestyle
upon release, mainly due to the Criminon Programme and its teachings
and know that I no longer need to hurt anyone in my dealings with
people and life in general.
I would recommend Criminon courses to anyone who wishes to better
themselves and to those who knock it I would say " try it
matey, you'll be surprised." It has been of great value and
help to me and will continue so.
To all the Criminon charity volunteers worldwide and my own tutors
and contacts in particular, thank you, you have been a godsend
to me on my road to rehabilitation and in learning skills needed
to live a useful and moral life."
PA
HMP Leyhill
