When I was about 14 years of age, I lived on what was considered a rough housing estate in London. I belonged to a gang, frequently getting into trouble with the local police and would now be described as an obnoxious tearaway.

One evening, two gentlemen appeared at our front door whom we presumed were plain-clothes police. However, they were from a local youth club, inviting me to attend whenever I felt like it, which, in due time, I did. It was these two men, I am sure, who kept me from a life of crime.

One thing that always bothered me, however, was what exactly in life these two chaps obtained through giving up much of their spare time in order to look after objectionable youths like me. In the fullness of time I discovered that both of them were Freemasons; neither looking for any rewards, but attempting to make the world a better place for us all.

Over the years, I became an unpaid youth worker and then a Scout leader, all the time trying to instill in others what had been instilled in me. I even became a Freemason, trying, as my two friends had done before me, to make this world a better place for all.

-Freddy Pankhurst, Heath Hill Avenue, Brighton