Founders Dwayne and Melanie Jack established RoadLight with a heartfelt mission to support vulnerable families and young people from the demographic of where they are from. Both founders experienced challenging upbringings marked by deprivation, domestic violence, abuse, and neglect. These early hardships exposed them to crime and addiction, leading to cycles of self-sabotage fuelled by unaddressed childhood trauma.
Their personal histories shaped their paths profoundly. Dwayne endured grooming and exploitation, surviving numerous life-threatening incidents as a teenager, including being shot and stabbed. Melanie, too, faced grooming and exploitation at gunpoint in her teens while living in semi-independent supported housing. Drawn together by shared traumas, Dwayne and Melanie navigated a turbulent relationship until Dwayne experienced a profound spiritual awakening during a prison sentence. This revelation inspired him to serve and uplift individuals from similarly painful backgrounds. He put his vision into writing, and today, that vision has come to life
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Released from prison in 2014, Dwayne began his mission with Mel by his side, marrying her in the same week of his release and launching RoadLight to empower lives toward positive change. They immediately returned to their roots, working in children’s homes and supporting local authorities, vulnerable families, and young people. Their outreach included delivering workshops in secure training centres and commissioned by Ministry of Justice to support young offenders at Feltham Young Offenders Institution. Together, they built a dedicated team and established an accredited education centre and curriculum through the Open College Network (OCN).
After years of witnessing young people repeatedly cycle through the criminal justice system, they realized the importance of prevention over intervention. This shift led them to create a Community Interest Company focused on prevention. Through impactful workshops, school assemblies, and collaborations with colleges, they support local authorities, social services, youth offending services, and exploitation prevention hubs. RoadLight strives to reduce the risks of young people entering local authority care or being placed on Deprivation of Liberty orders (DOLS).
Through their intervention work, Dwayne and Melanie witnessed poor conditions in residential homes, where inexperienced agency staff often lacked the skills, empathy, and motivation needed for effective youth development. Determined to provide high-quality care, they established Enlightery (www.Enlightery.co.uk), a specialized home providing 24/7 therapeutic care and support to help children and young people thrive.
Today, RoadLight is supported by a growing team of Mastermind Mentors, Course Facilitators, and Trainers who share lived experiences that resonate with the complex, challenging, and hard-to-reach young individuals they serve across the UK.
