I was born on the 2^nd of September 1993 at Colchester hospital, to my mother named Louise, my Father is unknown.

I was known to social services at the age of 3 months, due to neglect. At the age of 6 I was the main carer for my younger brother and sister, as we were left at home alone until the pub shut, which is when they would come home and be beat me. It got to a point where I would be woken in the morning with a smack.

Around the age of eight I decided I’d had enough of being locked up in my room for hours on end and the constant beating’s were getting too much for me to cope with, so on a cold winter’s morning I simply jumped out of my bedroom window and ran to my Nan’s house, where I thought I would be safe.

Once my mum found out where I was, my Nan was receiving phone calls nonstop, until social services was made aware and I got picked up by a woman called Gloria, a social worker who told me that I was about to be placed in foster care. At the time this didn’t make much sense to me, but I went along with it. It wasn’t until I was placed in Chelmsford with a woman called Eleanor that I realised life wasn’t going to be normal for a long time. For the first few years I began to find my feet, and was pleased to have some normality in my life.

Unfortunately, when I reached the age of 12, I started to feel an uncontrollable anger. I didn’t fully understand it at the time, but certain things made me flare up. I started getting aggressive towards everyone around me, even if they just spoke to me. As a result of this, I have had a total of forty-six placements. I had lost any stability that I had gained, and found it very hard to trust people. My aggression progressed to a stage where I would rip clothes of myself and hit anyone. To me, this was my only way of dealing with things. Moving on to secondary school at the age of thirteen, I began harassing people and causing then physical harm, by head butting them, threatening them with scissors and anything to make them bleed and feel pain. Even teachers were not safe; I remember an incident where I threatened to cut off a teacher’s ear.

Eventually I was expelled from school and moved out of Colchester to new carers, at a place called Chadwell St Mary, where I was placed with Lucy and Steve.

I was in a strange area and was unsure of my new carers, but one thing I recognised was that I had been given a fresh start, although at the time I didn’t realise this. I was far from normal, full of anger and had a very short attention span.

I was obviously disturbed in many ways, but Lucy and Steve seemed to be unfazed by my behaviour, which unsettled me a little, as I thought I was the worst kid in care, clearly not! I began to realise what would happen if I carried on the way I was going, and was scared what would happen to me if I did.

I needed to calm down and start respecting boundaries which at first I struggled with, but gradually I became a more respectable and friendly person. I even began to smile, and gain a sense of humour.

I was put into an education placement called ‘Jack Lobley’ in Tilbury, it was a place people went before being integrated into a proper functional school. To be honest it was terrible, there was a women in particular that really was the definition of disgusting, but the place gave me the kick up the a*** I needed.

So with my desire to get away from ‘Jack Lobley’ I started to accept the fact I was either going to be an uneducated lowlife or a moderately intelligent normal-ish teenager. I chose the second option. I started school, cracked on and became quite popular among my peers. I did well and I left school contented with ten GCSE’s. I had my up’s and down’s in school, but on the whole it was ok.

Life became more complicated when I reached seventeen, as some of my original feelings returned. With support from Lucy and Steve, I could deal with this on a day to day basis. With Lucy’s help in particular, I have gained many independent skills. I can cook, iron, clean (eating stew is my main hobby during winter months) and gradually I’m becoming a reasonable young man who has a few problems but nothing major.

I arrived at Lucy and Steve’s a bit of a mess; I weighed six stone, was five feet 4 and had more spots then Mr. Blobby. To combat this I started boxing, reaching AIBA national level. I fought once at Southend and won by stoppage, first round. I also started weightlifting, something I’m still doing today.

Here are a few courses I have undertaken:

• Motorbike course (gained credits for further education)
• Trade school electrics (level one C&G electrical installation certificate gained)
• Firebreak fireman’s course (ASDAN cope level one certificate gained)
• Also I have been to Scotland for five days with ‘Connection’s’
• I worked for a Christian community centre for two years (voluntary work unpaid)
• Two weeks work experience with BT Openreach
• Helped and assisted two foster care funday’s constructing fences etc.

I am now at college taking the ‘City and Guild’s Level Two Electrical Installation Course’

I currently weigh twelve stone, I’m six feet one and I’m a fit normal (well almost) teenager who has had a few problems but considering the s*** I went through I haven’t turned out too bad to be fair.

I would like to dedicate this life story to Lucy and Steve, for having the patience and skills to save my life. They are the greatest people that I have had the pleasure to know.

*Names have been changed