From dropout to the O2 – how Devonte rebuilt his life

‘My story shows that however bad your past, with the right help, you can turn your life around,’ says 19-year-old

- DAVID COHEN

Few people gave Devonte a chance of making a success of his life. By the time the tearaway sat his GCSE exams at Catford Library, he had been permanently excluded three times and had achieved the dubious distinction of being kicked out of a pupil referral unit – a unit that actually specialises in re-socialising kicked-out children.

Even for them, Devonte was too disruptive to handle. “My story shows that however bad your past, with the right help, you can turn your life around,” he said, referring to the training course he completed with Springboard, the charity that upskilled him and found him a job – and the first partner announced as part of our Skill Up Step Up campaign.

Today, the grin on the 19-year-old’s face was infectious as he proudly showed us around his new workplace – the O2 Arena in Greenwich – where he is employed by the hospitality company Compass.

The south Londoner looked poised beyond his years, but truth is, few teenagers have had to fight as hard as Devonte. Brought up by a single mother, Devonte was just six when one of his older brothers was stabbed and killed at a party over a mobile phone. “We were very close,” he said. “My brother would pick me up from school and we would often bake apple crumble together. He was 15 when he died and after that, I didn’t know how to deal with my sadness. I wasn’t aware that I was angry, but I would easily lose my temper and I started getting into fights at school.”