Moving from the army to Ingeus may not sound like the most natural career step, but for Glenn Pratt, the change made perfect sense.
When a health scare brought his army life to an abrupt end, he decided he wanted to follow a path of helping others, drawing on skills gained in the forces. Shortly into his role as a Dependency and Recovery Guide with Ingeus’s Commissioned Rehabilitative Services (CRS), and the former military training instructor is positive he’s made the right decision.
Glenn, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, explains, “I had an operation in 2018 to remove a tumour from my spinal cord and, after a series of radiotherapy, I was medically discharged from the army last year. Leaving forced me to reassess what I was going to do.”
Initially starting a job as a transport planner for another company, when his partner went back to work after her maternity leave, they were able to afford for him to do something he enjoyed more – something where he felt he could make a difference.
Commissioned by the Ministry of Justice, Ingeus’s CRS delivers the Dependency and Recovery services in North and West Yorkshire, Northumbria, Cleveland and Durham. In his role as a guide, Glenn will be working with former male offenders currently on probation. He’ll be supporting a range of men aged 18+ to turn their lives around following dependency on drugs and alcohol.
“The army had a shouting culture when I first joined aged 17,” says Glenn, now 34, and from Middlesbrough. “But latterly it became much more focussed on coaching and mentoring. When I was an instructor, I was helping to build people’s confidence – I’m good at it and I’ll be transferring my skills to this role.
“I want to be able to help push people to use mental resilience to get through tough situations and to challenge their lives. I’ll even be helping them with things like trips to the supermarket – everyday tasks that other people don’t think twice about doing.”
Ingeus is a signatory on the Armed Forces Covenant, supporting veterans into work.
Glenn is only too aware of the challenges people can face in turning their lives around. He has come across fellow veterans who haven’t found the transition to life outside of the forces easy. He’s grateful to Ingeus for the opportunities it offers to those leaving the military.
He says “I’ve met a few veterans here already, and they’re very positive about their jobs. When you’ve been moving around so much, it’s good to have the stability that Ingeus offers.
“Ingeus has been outstanding for me so far. The team has been so welcoming and helpful, it’s already given me that sense of belonging that I had in the army.”
