I used to pretend to read letters.

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I didn't want people to know that I couldn't read. I was embarrassed. Not being able to read makes you vulnerable, in prison and on the outside. People call you stupid and thick so you don't let on that you can't read.

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It was a Mentor Co-ordinator that started me on the Shannon Trust. He did an assessment and he gave me positive feedback, he didn't make me feel stupid and he let me go at my own speed. No pressure.

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You do need to make time for it, it won't happen by itself. You have to be determined to make progress.

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I wanted to learn and my Mentor gave me as much time as I wanted, and I felt pleased with the feeling of progression. I started passing, getting certificates, then my family started to notice. When I spoke to them on the phone they said I was pronouncing my words more clearly, I would read chapters from books to them. I wrote to my Mum and she didn't recognise my writing, she asked me what I'd been doing.

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Shannon Trust don't judge you. They don't make you feel bad. And now I'm doing English and Maths in Education and I'm confident that I'm going to smash it. Being with Shannon Trust has changed my life one hundred per cent for the better and I didn't do it for anyone else, I did it for me. I go to the library every week now, I can use books to help me with my work on the gardens, I can speak publicly with confidence and I've been invited to speak at the Shannon Trust 25th Anniversary which I am happy to do. I wouldn't have done that before now.