No Hotel, No Plan, Just a Tenner

I left HMP Manchester in 2025 after doing two years. Trust me, lads, it was f*****g hard. No doubt about it.

People see TikTok and think prison is all banter, gym sessions and people acting hard for views. That is a persona. It is power, likes and trying to look like you are not bothered.

Prison is no Butlins.

You might find a few lads in there who help get you through it. People you can talk to. People who understand because they are stuck in the same place. But when it goes quiet at night, all you think about is release.

You build it up in your head. You think, “The Government will sort something. Maybe a hotel. Maybe somewhere temporary. At least a plan.”

Nah. Not on your life.

There are Through the Gate schemes, and I am not saying nobody tries to help. But when it came to finding me somewhere to live, there was nothing. I walked out homeless. No keys. No room. No proper plan. Just out.

I remember walking past a building site and seeing some adverts. I went in and told the man straight: “I’ve just left prison and I’m homeless.”

He shook my hand. Then he reached into his pocket and gave me a tenner.

That was it.

A tenner. And to be honest, in that moment it felt like more help than the whole system had managed.

Then it is street life, probation and constantly looking over your shoulder. Everyone has heard about probation and recall. One missed appointment, one misunderstanding, one wrong move — and you feel like you are always hanging on by a thread.

That is the bit people do not see.

They see the prison sentence. They see the release date. They think that is the end of the story.

It is not.

Walking out of prison is one thing. Having somewhere safe to go, a job, support, a chance to breathe and not feel like you are one mistake away from being dragged back in — that is something else entirely.

Am I back on my feet? Not by a long shot.

I have managed to get a room in a house with multiple occupants, but some days it feels like prison all over again: drugs, stupidity, poverty and everyone just trying to get through.

And before anyone says it, I know. No excuses. I did the crime and I have to own it. I have to man up and get on with it.

But if I could say one thing to lads watching prison videos and thinking it all looks like a laugh: do not do the crime in the first place. Because the sentence does not end when you leave its only just begins but in the community.