Voices Unlocked Ep. 26 | I Kept My Mum's Prison Sentence Secret for 40 Years

Kerry was 11 when her mum went to prison in the 1980s. There was no support and nobody to talk to, so she kept it to herself for most of her life. Two years ago she read a news article about children of prisoners, found Time Matters and kept emailing Lorna until she got a reply. Today she's one of their mentor volunteers. In this episode of Voices Unlocked, Kerry talks about the police raid on her house the morning after Pancake Tuesday, and about realising during her volunteer training that she'd lived through nine of the ten ACEs. She has come to understand the trauma behind her own mum's drinking, and describes the afternoon at Junkyard Golf when a weight she didn't know she was carrying finally lifted. She also tells the story of being arrested twice in one night as a teenager, and the solicitors' firm that stood by her. It's an honest conversation about finding support later in life, and why Kerry now calls herself the oldest kid at Time Matters. ⚠️ Disclaimer: We are not therapists or counsellors. These are personal lived experiences shared for connection and awareness. Timestamps: 0:00 - A quick disclaimer before we dive in 0:34 - Meet Kerry, straight off the plane 2:25 - Why Kerry kept emailing Lorna 4:35 - Growing up with a mum in prison in the '80s 7:28 - The comments in the school corridor 9:08 - The police raid the morning after Pancake Tuesday 11:29 - Scoring nine out of ten ACEs 12:57 - Understanding her mum's own childhood trauma 14:48 - Meeting Liv at the pottery session 18:32 - The weight that lifted after Junkyard Golf 19:45 - Never going for promotion 23:50 - Keeping it secret for decades 26:36 - Seeing herself in the film That Girl 32:07 - Why resilience can feel heavy 33:09 - Volunteering with Nacoa 37:07 - Losing her mum and what she'd say to her now 41:06 - Telling her story to criminology students 42:25 - Arrested twice in one night 45:20 - The solicitors who stood by her 48:42 - Round of gratitude #VoicesUnlocked #ParentalImprisonment #ChildrenOfPrisoners #TimeMatters #Volunteering #Mentoring #ACEs #ChildhoodTrauma #ChildrenOfAlcoholics #HealingJourney #BreakingTheCycle #PrisonFamilies