I didn't grow up in the hardest circumstances in the world, but it was rough enough for me to develop an awareness of how class, geography, education, and other factors affect whether someone succeeds or slips through the net in life.

I've made a decent go of it and now I'm doing pretty well. This is in stark contrast to a time in my teens where I genuinely didn't know whether I had a future, and questioned whether I was going to continue living.

I've been thinking a lot lately about the moments that actually helped me through it, the rare bits of advice that actually made a difference, people who gave me a little light to follow. I don't want to be someone that just has their success and pulls the ladder up behind them.

I'm thinking especially about young lads who are relatively bright but grow up in deprived areas, who have the odds stacked against them materially or culturally, and receive little to no support where you'd expect it at home and in education.

Is there anything I can realistically do to help out those who are in a similar position to the one I was in?