Keith

'Pecan is number one in my life', says Keith, 'after God.'

‘My life before was shady. But Pecan believed in me, I believed in them and God worked it from there.’

‘I work for Lambeth Black Forum which I started just a couple of weeks ago.  I’m a mentor to young gangs with the Metropolitan Police Service and I’m working for the council and for the church.’

We’ve not yet sat down and Keith is already reeling off the exciting projects he’s involved with. His enthusiasm is infectious.

Keith came to us in 2005 after finishing a prison sentence. ‘It’s difficult to get a job once you’ve been inside,’ he explains. ‘I was offered a job as a hotel manager, but after doing background checks the offer was withdrawn. I felt I was wasting my time. I wasn’t thinking of going back to crime but it was off-putting being turned down.’

Keith believes it was the intensity of our help which rewrote his future. ‘Pecan brought companies in to meet me, and when you have a one-to-one with a Managing Director, you can see they really want to give you a chance.’

When Keith managed to secure a job with Mercedes Benz in Surrey, Zach, a Pecan staff member, travelled down with him to meet the staff at Mercedes.

‘It was so nice of him,’ says Keith. ‘He booked my travel card and introduced me to the managers. The love that they showed me was more like a family thing. That’s what really made the difference. I felt wanted, I felt loved.’

‘My life before was shady. But Pecan believed in me, I believed in them and God worked it from there. Pecan is number one in my life,’ he says, ‘after God.’