'I was on crack at 14 and feral like a street dog - I should be dead'

Violent teenage drug-taker Aaron was on a path of self-destruction heading towards prison or death until he received a shock to his system. Police were locking him up virtually every week and his loving parents, Danny and Elaine, had almost given up on the lost soul.

But then he started going to fighter and community activist Steven France’s Made 4 The Cage gym inSunderland. Aaron is just one of many forgotten lads from a city ravaged by cuts and austerity whose lives have been turned around at the mixed martial arts gym. Aaron and Steven’s stories of growth, discovery and redemption – along with those of Sam, Faiz and Lennon – feature in Poised, a powerful documentary being tipped for Oscarsuccess.

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Aaron said: “I was a bit feral. Honestly, I was like a street dog. If you got too close to us, said the wrong thing, straight away I was going at you.” He said the gym is “the best therapy I’ve ever been to in my life”.

Steven, 46, is battling the poverty and hopelessness, helping the next generation avoid the same traps that almost consumed him. He reached a junction in his own life 20 years ago when his father killed himself. He said: “I had to say to myself, the writing’s on the wall. The odds are not good. There’s people around you who are going to prison for a long time. The way they were already coming to a dead end in their life at such a young age. We’re thrown on the scrapheap. Your options are very slim, work at Nissan or a call centre. I’m grateful for those places but if you do have ambition it’s hard.”

Steven found solace in MMA and went on to become a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and an England coach in the sport. He said: “It transformed my life and it’s doing the same with these young lads. It’s about me trying to get people from troubled, difficult backgrounds. Getting these kids, with some complex issues, to stick to what is the hardest sport. The main thing about MMA is discipline. You forget about everything because you haven’t got time to think about anything else. It’s that intense.” He added that the sport humbles people and is a powerful tool in the fight against violence.

Aaron, 20, said: “In 2020, I was at rock bottom. Drugs, fighting, getting locked up. I was taking MDMA [ecstasy]. At 14, I did crack cocaine. I lost loads of weight. It got to the point where my hair was falling out, I was that stressed. I was scratching at my face all the time. I thought I either make a change now or I’m going to live like this until I die. I thought the only way I’ll get out of this is if I rob a bank and get millions and move abroad. Or just kill myself. I was either gonna end up in prison or dead.”

When he was linked up with Steven through Sunderland’s Positive Steps programme in April 2022, Aaron was told to be at the gym each morning at 5am. It was the shock to the system he needed. “Every day I used to wake up and think, what on earth have I got myself into? I’m going there to get picked up, to get slammed back on the floor, to get picked back up, to get slammed back on the floor. It wasn’t even physically draining, it was mentally draining. But over time you build a strong wall.

“It takes all your pain and all your past trauma away because all you’re thinking about is fighting. Once you’re at rock bottom there’s only one way to go and that’s up and this kind of sport will help you get there. Those who’ve got inner anger and just need a release, this is the best thing I’ve ever done that’s helped me.”

Aaron now works at events space The Point in Sunderland and wants to become cabin crew for Emirates. He is one of many lads who have been helped by Steven’s programme.

Sam, 25, spiralled into nefarious activities after losing his mum to kidney failure... until he found salvation in mixed martial arts. Steven said he was banished from Newcastle by his family and moved to Sunderland where his dad lived. “Sam spent three months in his bedroom. His mental health was not good. And then he came across me and the rest is history,” Steven added. Sam and his brother now own a demolition firm which works across the country.

Faiz, 20, left Iraq because of death threats and persecution. He walked from Minsk in Belarus to Calais and has had no contact with his family since. Steven said: “Faiz talks about how hard it is to get to Britain as an asylum seeker. He was 14 and licking leaves to get water. Now he’s got a full-time job, drives a BMW, got his own house. He doesn’t do any martial arts now but it’s fantastic he’s part of society. He’s a taxpayer.” Lennon was just 14 when he joined the gym to escape the streets.

The film also highlights a 78% cut to the area’s youth services in recent years, leaving people like Steven to plug the gaps. His project itself was nearly scrapped when funding was not available. He said: “The money I get literally just keeps the project running. I feel like the North – and especially the North East – gets left behind. We’re left up here to defend ourselves. We are the forgotten part of the world.” Steven hopes Poised will show the need for better investment in youth services. He said: “Prevention’s got to be better than cure.”

Poised was celebrated at last month’s Raindance Festival, where it was nominated for Best Documentary Feature and Best Cinematography. That means it now qualifies for British Independent Film Awards selection, which could take it all the way to the Oscars.

“I’m really trying to help other young people," said Steven. "There’ll be other Stevens, other Sams, other Aarons. There’ll be hundreds, if not thousands, of them across the country. Through me doing this film, we can try to make a difference.”

He has certainly made a difference to Aaron’s life. He said: “I was watching the ­documentary and I seen my younger self and I just thought he didn’t deserve it. I just wanted to give him a big hug through the screen. When I look back, I really did not think I was gonna make it past 16. I thought I’d have been dead or in prison. I think I would have if it wasn’t for Steven. He showed me what I can do with my life.”

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