Get on Track Case Study - Earl King-Brown

Before Earl started the 'Get On Track' course with the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust, he was convicted of burglary and served his sentence in a young offenders centre. He had been involved in gang culture and, up until recently, had been put on home arrest.

The future therefore didn't appear to look very bright for Earl, but he came to the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust as the final straw to turn his life around. Of all the students that joined the course, Earl had one of the greatest amount of odds stacked against him but he successfully managed to transition to becoming one of the programme's star pupils.

The world-class athlete mentors saw a tremendous positive change in Earl's confidence and attitude, where he went from being on the peripheries of the group, to being one of the leaders. In a gardening project at the St Giles Trust, designed to introduce them to the value of volunteering, Earl made the very bold decision to stop interacting with some of the students who weren't fully participating in the programme and chose to give 100 percent effort in all the tasks given to him. As a result, Earl earned a huge amount of respect from his mentors and team members and always wore a smile in everything that he did.

He even surprised himself by winning the Dragons Den-style challenge at the Morgan Hunt offices. He presented to a board of the recruitment firm's Directors on why they should offer him a job. He presented so well, he made them laugh!

He said: "If it wasn't for this project, I'd be on the streets getting involved in trouble. I'm really trying to change my behaviours and attitude. The mentors on this course have given me the confidence and belief that I can change and find work in the future. I hope to go back to college and find work experience, so that one day I can have a job in I.T.

"Get on Track has given me something positive to do, a chance to meet some amazing people and an opportunity to try new things."

Earl has now successfully managed to start an I.T course at a sixth form college, where he hopes to obtain a degree in the subject at university.