Mark’s Prince’s Trust Award
July 24th, 2008 by Website admin
Watch the television coverage of Mark receiving his Prince’s Trust Award at the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards.
Carol Vorderman hosts the show, while the award is presented to Mark by Victoria Beckham. There is also a tribute to Mark’s achievements by the Prince of Wales.
September 24th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
I am really impressed with your book, Any plans to publish further books in the future? I am an addict myself, mainly Heroin and Crack and I know only too well the distruction it causes and what a waste of life it is to be addicted to such a powerful substance as Heroin, or any opiate really. The withdrawel is horrendous and it is this that stops me from getting fully clean. Im currently only half way there, Im on a Methadone programme but that can be even harder to get off than the Heroin. I just wish I had read your book before I got into drugs because it would have put me straight off it and I would never have gone there and it would have saved my family a whole heap of trouble but I hope that the moral of your story can reach those kids out their that are not using drugs or crime as a life style but are at risk because then then they may be put off and choose a different path in life. They should put copies of your book in every school library in the country, as I believe it has a message to bring and a lesson to be learned. It could be used as a warning to kids of what can happen to you if you take drugs or join gangs and commit crime. If it saves one kid from the shit and misery that drugs can bring to their lives then you have achieved a miracle in literary form. So many lives are lost and wasted to drugs, it is a social disease that society does not want to cure. Why does the government not listen to our kids? They are, after all our future, and what will that future be like if all our kids have grown up into criminals with drug problems and prison records. The statistics seem to get worse every year, imagine what the world will be like in another 20 years unless we act now. Education is the key and we need to educate them young. My kids are only 3, 6 and 9 but they know all about the implications of drug abuse and crime because I have taught them well but people tell me they are too young to understand. I think not. They are at the perfect age to learn about the dangers of drugs and gangs etc they soak up information and it stays with them all their lives so maybe this is where the schools can step in, because too much blame is laid at the parents door, society as a whole needs to take responsibility not just one group of people, its a joint effort nowadays and im glad that people like you Mark are out there to raise awareness and educate and advise those who have the power to put plans into action so that this country can be a better and safer place for a children. As a parent I am terrified of the thought of my son feeling that he cannot seek solice in his family and then goes out to seek refuge in a gang, even though I know I do my best to support, understand and care for my kids. I had a good up bringing with two parents who gave me a loving and stable home and I knew I could turn to them when needed but I still ended up a Heroin addict with 3 children by the age of 22. I want better for my kids. I will make sure my son reads your book because kids can take inspiration and motivation from it to want to have better for themselves in the future. It can act as a deterrant away from a life of drugs and crime. I truly believe that book of yours changed a lot of my views and ignorant perceptions of life and I thankyou for writing it because the minute I finished it I rang my local Drug & Alcohol service and got into therapy and on a Methadone programme to stablize my life in order to get away from drugs and crime for good. Thankyou for switching that light on in my head, I now know how to be a good mum again and have the skills to teach my kids that there are oppurtunities in life that do not involve drugs, crime and violent gangs. Congratulations for such a brilliant book and thanks for sharing what would have been a painful and emotional journey with all your readers whos lives, no doubt you have touched, if not changed for the better. Keep up the good work, keep the pressure on those who have the power, authority and financial backing ie;(the government) so that positive changes can be made in schools, Health services, Prison rehabs, probation and social services to lead to reform in how these matters are dealth with. Prison is not always the answer for a drug addict but it is probably cheaper than educating him and sending him to rehab to get better and motivated enough to get back to society and live a good, clean and producted life and it is this lack of funding which de-moralises these people, no wonder they turn to gangs and drugs. I hope your book and your experiences can be used to chande opinions and life styles as it did mine. Thanks for being the voice for those who cannot be heard, our children, young offenders and rehabillitated drug addicts.