My name is Bilal Boulaich. I am 18 years old and have spent most of my life living with my mum in my Estate in East Brighton. I started getting into trouble with the Police when I was 13 years old. For the next three years I was in trouble for fighting, drinking alcohol, causing criminal damage, arson, and joy riding stolen cars. I rarely went to bed before 3am or got up the next day before 1pm.

In 2009, my youth worker recommended me for the Quest programme with A Band of Brothers. I did the initial weekend training with them and got a mentor called Pete who’s a painter and decorator that lives in the same neighbourhood as me. I met with Pete every week and he helped me to believe that I could achieve my dream of becoming a mechanic one day (even though all the local colleges had turned me down). Pete also supported me to go to the weekly groups with A Band of Brothers where I learnt better ways of dealing with conflict and expressing my emotions.

In 2010, I staffed my first weekend with A Band of Brothers, supporting and mentoring other young men who had got into similar trouble as me. Later that year, I got an interview with a local garage for an apprenticeship as a mechanic. I practiced being at the interview with some of the men from A Band of Brothers and felt a lot calmer and more confident when the day came. It’s no surprise I was totally made up when I got to tell everyone that I had been offered the job.

I am now nine months into my three year apprenticeship and on track to becoming a fully fledged technician. I start work at 8.30am and finish at 5.30pm. It’s my dream job and I feel so lucky to be doing something that I’m genuinely passionate about. I’ve also passed my driving test recently and feel really proud to be driving my own car. I also feel really grateful to A Band of Brothers and, in particular, my mentor Pete. I can safely say that their support has made all the difference to my life. I hope I can make the same kind of difference to other young men in the future!  

My name is Lucas Pyke. I am 21 years old and live on an estate in Brighton. Two years ago I had just left prison, having served 9 months. My Connexions worker put me forward for the Quest programme with A Band of Brothers and I got involved with them in July 2009.

Part of the programme involves having a mentor. My mentor was a guy called Robin who’s a Carpenter in Brighton. Robin met up with me every week and seemed really interested in what I wanted to do with my life and helped me to get clearer on what that was. Around the same time, one of the other mentors called Andrew also gave me some work experience as a Gardner. I loved my experience of being mentored by these guys and feeling part of something positive and meaningful.

I realised that I’m most happy when I’m helping other people, making a stand for global equality and helping the world to evolve. Last summer A Band of Brothers hooked me up with Raleigh International and I spent three months in India working on community projects out there. Since then I have worked for Sussex Central YMCA and the Big Lottery fund.

I have also staffed four weekend trainings with A Band of Brothers and it’s been really satisfying putting older men through their paces so that they can become great mentors for more young men like me.

In December of this year I am flying out to Ghana in West Africa where I will be spending 6 months working on both community and environmental initiatives. I’m hopeful that my experiences will inspire other young men to follow their hearts and go for what they want. I’m really grateful to my mentor Robin and everyone at A Band of Brothers for giving me the confidence to do the amazing things I’m now doing with my life!    

My name is Tony Frape. I’m now 20 years old and live on an estate in East Brighton. I left school with no qualifications and found it really hard to find any work. By the time I got involved with A Band of Brothers I’d become really angry and frustrated with life. I’d got in bits of trouble with the Police and things were generally heading in the wrong direction.

When I did the first training weekend I’d no idea what I’d let myself in for. I wasn’t sure about any of the blokes that were there and my mentor Rob was definitely on another page! At some point on the weekend I realised that the men from A Band of Brothers were just there to support me in finding things to do in life that meant something and that made me and my family happier.

I found it hard going to the weekly groups that came after but really appreciated my mentor Rob calling me up and meeting up with me. The best thing that Rob showed me was that you don’t have to do well at school to end up doing well in life. Rob’s got his own business teaching people survival skills in nature. I spent a whole weekend with him in the summer with some of the other guys and none of us wanted to come home by the end of it!

The guys from A Band of Brothers helped me to be more confident about working life and getting a job. About 7 months ago I got a job as a trainee Scaffolder and have worked full-time for the company ever since. I haven’t got in any more trouble and it feels great to be grafting and earning proper money.

I also recommended A Band of Brothers to my younger brother and, 2 years on, he’s just completed his training with them as well. It’s great to know there’s a project out there for men of all different ages and that me and my brother can stay involved for as long as we want.