Redeeming Ricky

Seriously...

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary

4.1 • 885 Ratings

🗓️ 3 November 2023

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ex-offender Ricky Gleeson has set up HoodEx, a new sustainable clothing charity in South Shields, Tyne and Wear. Ricky has a remarkable back story – a deeply troubled, chequered past. His mother was in her teens when she had him, a single parent who struggled to cope with life. She became addicted to drugs and alcohol and had a series of difficult relationships.

As a child, Ricky was moved from domestic abuse shelters to foster homes and eventually to children’s homes and hostels. He ended up homeless, at times living rough and turning to petty crime. Somehow, he managed to turn his life around. He joined the Royal Navy, took up boxing, became a husband and father and found his way to a new life. And now in his 40s, he wants to help others who are in the same place as he was in. As he struggles to find suitable premises for his charity venture, he revisits some of the keys places in his past life.

Producer: Mohini Patel

Transcript

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0:00.0	This was an impregnable fortress. The only way you get out was in a wooden box.
0:05.0	The controversial maximum security prison impossible to escape from.
0:09.0	And one of the duties of a political prisoner is the escape.
0:12.0	The IRA inmates who found a way. of a political prisoner is the escape.
0:12.5	The IRA inmates who found a way.
0:14.5	I'm Carlo Gableer and I'll be navigating a path
0:19.5	through the disturbing inside story of the biggest jailbreak in British and Irish history.
0:25.0	The narrative that they want is that this is a big achievement by them.
0:28.5	Escape from the maze, listen first on BBC Sounds.
0:35.0	BBC Sounds.
0:36.0	BBC Sounds, Music Radio Podcasts.
0:39.0	Welcome to Seriously from BBC Radio 4. I'm Vanessa Kasule.
0:44.7	Each week this podcast brings you two of the best documentaries the audio world has to offer.
0:50.3	Here's the most interesting thing you're here all week.
0:55.0	Ricky Gleason is an ex-offender with a shocking backstory.
1:00.0	Most of his childhood was defined by neglect, abuse and violence.
1:05.0	Now in his 40s and having turned his life around, he's putting all his energies into helping others in the same situation he was in. My name is Mohini
1:16.1	Patel and this is Ricky's story.
1:21.0	Ricky's on a mission to set up a new vintage and sustainable clothing charity near his home in South Shields, Tyne and Weir.
1:28.0	It's called Hoodex. The idea behind it is to give young homeless ex-offenders a place to work and learn new skills
1:36.1	in order to break the cycle of behaviors as Ricky himself did.
1:40.4	And it was only by joining the Royal Navy, giving up drugs and alcohol and becoming a husband and father that he was able to change his life for the better.
	...

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