The light of redemption
by Jerome Sewell
Greetings. For those who do not know me I am Jerome Sewell, and I am a former service user at the Royal Bethlem hospital based in South London.
For what I have received in life I give glory to God who has called me to the sacred task of symbolising the truth of those of us with mental health conditions and demonstrate our potential in life, even if in my own time on earth it has only been for the impermanent moments of my discharge from hospital. I now write being in the job position of a Managing director of a company based in South London, this is my journey and echos that stood in my way.
“This is the case for many ex-offenders: they are told they can’t make it. Actually, the institutions constantly reinforce the perspective that they will never make it, but at the end of the day they can make it if they have aspirations and they have good people that are there to help them…This is about what our potential is and no one can tell us how we should be living….Do you understand? We are successful people and we are ex-offenders, that is the simple truth. The reason why we can be like this and many other ex-offenders who make their way in the world can be like this is because we believe in ourselves….It’s a very strong topic, because many of us were told we couldn’t have what we have now but we could have it…my directors, they believe in me and we believe in our young people”. (Jerome Sewell, How to prosper as a minority online workshop, October 2020)
On the 14th of October 2019 I was officially discharged from hospital unconditionally from Section 37 of the Mental Health Act. Upon my release I immediately went into voluntary employment as a bid writer (someone who writes funding applications) for a company that provides charitable services, helping young ex-offenders with mentoring and providing workshops to deter youth in our communities from gang crime and serious youth violence. At the same time as this, I was discharged into a supported accommodation in the London borough of Croydon.
In January 2020, after 3 months of voluntary bid writing I was hired as the London Business Development Lead for the company, allocated new responsibilities within the organisation and put on a paid contract. The beginning of 2020 was a whirlwind: I was writing multiple funding applications, developed an income generation plan forecasting the company’s business strategy over the next 3 years, a partnership plan for those who we were collaborating with on initiatives and an application library. At the same time, I was also attending major safeguarding and university conferences with hundreds of people, funding events, masterclasses to sharpen my skills and naturally team meetings. Among Zen Buddhist’s, there is a term referred to as ‘Makujiki Kozen’ described as moving relentlessly forward toward one’s goal whilst neither looking sideways or backwards, a term that describes my journey.
Among Zen Buddhist’s, there is a term referred to as ‘Makujiki Kozen’ described as moving relentlessly forward toward one’s goal whilst neither looking sideways or backwards, a term that describes my journey.
During my tenure as London Business Development Lead I secured 5 partnerships with organisations; ranging from media academy’s run by award winning Film Directors to charities with close to million pound incomes, I developed my own educational course and led as the Project Coordinator for 4 different projects that I won funding for, secured almost £20,000 of funding and launched an online guest speaker series with myself leading as the presenter of a range of online interviews with interviewees that ranged from former Olympic sports champions to community leaders and charity representatives. The funding I generated assisted campaigns that have funded workshops touching thousands of minds, provided employment, education, vocational opportunities, life guidance and inspiration to dozens of youths, led to the creation of musical albums and provided Taekwondo and Meditation to those with terminally ill family members.
Back in 2018, At the notorious ‘ward round’ meeting (which is a multi-disciplinary service users are required to attend whilst in hospital) when I was under section I sat down at the oval desk in front of my responsible clinician who was wearing a suit whilst doctors, psychologists and social workers were sat around me. I described the plans I was working on when in the community before I was sent to prison to them:
“I was establishing a business incubator program for university students to set up their own businesses; I had the backing of a charity in London and a few universities were interested”.
As I sat there demonstrating the plain truth that my life was headed in a certain direction before incarceration, all the doctor in front of me were sure I was another dreamer and a fool who wished to be something more than what they thought I would be: a benefit claiming, psychotic offender (and a black one at that I should note). ‘Jerome claimed that he was setting up an incubator program despite having no background in business…there was a feeling that his ideas where somewhat grandiose’ the clinician wrote regarding our conversation. I returned to that topic with them after I read this statement and told the doctor that from the age of 15 I had a mentor who was teaching me business for about a year. I sat there on the ward, asking myself “Who is more qualified to say whether I could run this project; a leading business charity in London, or a forensic doctor?” . My point was that other people believed in me and my idea becoming a reality but, more importantly in this context, believed in my capability. I wrote in a magazine once that this place (the hospital) crushes people’s dreams and steps on their aspirations.
I sat there on the ward, asking myself in my head “who is more qualified to say whether I could run this project; a leading business charity in London or a forensic doctor?”
In the month of April 2020, I received a call from one of the Managing Directors of my company informing me that it had been decided that I would be promoted to the position of Managing Director in charge of business development in London and monitoring. This was then followed by the decision being unanimously agreed by the board of Directors. I had emerged out of the fire of the COVID19 crisis as a Director upon whose shoulder rested a tremendous amount of responsibility to help the community.
In my capacity as a Managing Director, by December 2020 I established a production team for a feature film, built 2 consortiums, submitted 25 funding applications thereby securing over £48,000 of funding and by the end of the year I was attending risk review meetings with a local council representing my company, attending meetings with police detectives and was even featured on the BBC London News. Towards the end of this year, in line with my company’s social enterprise initiative we launched a separate company in the transportation sector with an innovative idea. I was put at the heart of this initiative and my contribution was establishing a partnership with a parliamentary council that then led to us securing an agreement for a contract in April 2021 with an international, million dollar company operating in dozens of cities around the world during their launch of a city-wide venture with Transport For London. I also designed a research project which involved creating partnerships with three universities.
‘Mr Sewell claimed he wished to start up a research project and claimed he would be a director running the project, the idea was grandiose’ the medical team claimed years ago about me in 2018 when I was in hospital; exclaiming that I was essentially delusional for believing I would run a research project. Years later, as the Head of Operations for a transportation company working directly with a sub-contractor, I now sat there as the originator and coordinator of a research project in collaboration with the research departments of the University of Dundee and Leicester which was set to launch across London in May 2021 in partnership with the parliamentary advisory of transport safety.
The past is not the present and can therefore never measure a moment of change; such a time warp traps souls in a hell dimension where the afflictions and darkness of their life is the prediction of their future. When all one can see is death their premonitions will be death, but I believe in life and I chose life; rising with the living God. In order to keep my rehabilitation on track I was required to dig deep into my very essence and remove the ghosts of uncertainty that clouded my past and present. I was required to hold on to my true self; have faith in that and plan my future in that faith to break through to the possibilities of my future. I chose to strive on the basis of hope, I follow the light inside of me and choose my future on that basis, not the darkness the system chooses to dwell on. The sun rules my time not the moon.
Jerome Sewell is an Executive Film Producer, Project Manager, Bid Writer and Managing Director of two companies, one which assists young people from gang hit communities called Unique Talent CIC where he heads their media and film department and sustainable transport department and a second company named Therapeutic Productions which provides mental health services through the creative arts.
