My Name is Sarah, I am a volunteer with Prison Fellowship Scotland and live in Dundee.

I grew up in Aberdeen and was the oldest of 4 children and always felt like the “black sheep” of the family. As a little girl, I really loved school and loved learning, I suppose I was a bit of a “geek”! I didn’t have a lot of confidence though and was very shy and nervous which led to me being bullied a lot both in school and at home. I also struggled to make friends. My Dad worked as a long-distance lorry driver and was away from home a lot, so I think this made life a lot harder for my mum and we never had a lot of money so things were always very stressful at home.

After leaving school I met my boyfriend who was very abusive. Having been bullied all my life I think I was conditioned to accept this. This person put me under pressure to do something that I knew was wrong, but I did it anyway. As a consequence I was sentenced to 5 years in prison at age 29 - having never been in trouble before, this was a huge shock to me.

I was very lost when I first went to prison. My shyness made me very vulnerable and I was afraid I would be bullied again so I reached out to the Prison Chaplain, Colin, who really encouraged me and prayed for me. I felt like I could trust him and saw a peace in him that he said came from his Christian faith. Colin asked me if I would like to start meeting with a Christian volunteer named Jean. I'm so thankful I met Jean, she wrote to me and came to visit me many times during my prison sentence, Jean helped me to understand God, Jesus, the Bible and introduced me to praying which I thought was amazing! I committed my life to Jesus in prison, asking him to help me change my ways and live a better life. I was baptised inside prison in 2010, I may have been locked up in prison, but I felt free for the first time in my life!

Becoming a Christian changed me for the better and the prison authorities felt I was ready for open prison. I had started a creative writing class and the tutor encouraged me to enter the “Koestler competition”, I never thought much of it but decided to participate. I went on to win the competition 2 years in a row!  As part of my day release programme I attended the exhibition in Edinburgh and when I walked in and saw people reading my poem it was a wonderful feeling. I felt very proud. 

I was released from prison in February 2011 and within 2 weeks I had a job and was also blessed with an amazing flat of my own just around the corner from the Church I chose to attend and still attend to this day!

Here I am, 8 years later, still going strong, volunteering with Prison Fellowship Scotland and helping out at the weekly drop in cafe at my Church where I get to serve, chat with and help people with addictions and mental health issues. I find it very rewarding as I know the importance of simply having someone to talk to who won’t judge but rather will support and encourage you. God has been so faithful and has kept me and blessed me. I have great friends in the Church who encourage me, and I encourage them, its like one big happy family!

I hope my story gives someone, somewhere, hope that change is possible, regardless of how hopeless things may seem.