Ex-prisoner who turned his life around to open gym in Hove

Jason Frost, who lives in Brighton, completed his fitness qualifications while serving three years at Norwich Prison for grievous bodily harm.

After leaving prison at the age of 21, Jason said he found it difficult to find stable employment and, at his lowest point, was forced to sleep in his car.

Jason said that he struggled to get a job after leaving prison.

He said: “When I came out of prison it was very hard to get a job having a criminal record, so it was a very, very difficult journey to try and make anything of my life.

“People just frown upon anyone having a criminal record and people just straight away think of the worst crimes and assume you are a murderer.

“I would have a job for about three or four months and then they would get wind of me having a criminal record and I would be sacked.

Fit Box is set to open in Church Road, Hove

“But in those three months I’d got myself a flat or a car and then all of a sudden you go into work to be told you’ve been sacked.”

Jason, who was born in Newmarket, Cambridgeshire, left his hometown to start a new life in Dubai.

After struggling to get himself on his feet, he was headhunted for a job in Sussex, but Jason said he was “let go” after his employer found out about his criminal past.

Jason said that he wants to help people other people in Sussex in the same position as him.

He said: “The mental health aspect as well was hard. It was just a rollercoaster ride.

“Every day I went into work I was thinking that one day I was going to get called into the office and asked about my past which would result in them letting me go.”

After moving to Brighton, Jason, 32, set up Brighton Bodycoach, a personal training business, and the business has since gone from strength to strength despite the coronavirus pandemic.

Jason said he had more than 100 clients sign up to his coaching sessions in the first six months and he is now looking forward to the grand opening of his new gym, Fit Box, in Church Road, Hove.

He said: “I was always open and honest to me clients. For me, the best thing to do in these circumstances is to speak about it with people or to write stories on my Facebook page.

“That way no one can assume anymore because the facts are out there in writing that I have come out and changed my life and now I help other people out there to get themselves on a better path.”