Anyway got the time? Yes, me ...

Volunteering is a way of doing good for others and making you feel good knowing that you are doing good, and at the same time doing good for your own personal CV.

It seems a positive way to pass the time for me. I am inside for murder, which I know I didn't do, and others know I didn't do.

But in the Criminal Justice System - envy of the world, they used to say - they like to keep their intrays manageable. Better to know secretly that the wrong man is in prison than it is to tell your political masters that you can't pin a crime on the killer himself.

(The irony is that I am pretty sure I know who killed my wife and I am ninety-point-nine sure that the CJS knows, too. However, for reasons that might well be clear to you on my website, the State can't get him.)

So I am always on the lookout for places where I can help in a positive way. After all, I am a motor mechanic, I used to drive taxis, I am pretty quick when it comes to crossword puzzles, and I feel I could teach people who can't to read.

About six weeks ago, I saw an opportunity that looked just made for your scribe. NACRO works in the residence here and was looking for a fellow to clean and tidy-up. As I say, I could be teaching real skills, but NACRO wasn't advertising that sort of work.

Never mind, I thought, I'll be an orderly, as they call a general dogsbody.

I thought that when they look at my details, they'll see I have plenty to offer. I was summoned for an interview.

It was a surprise when I didn't get a reply straight away. (Straight away in this hidden part of the world is about a fortnight.)

Then three weeks came, four weeks. I was really surprised, and naturally not a little disappointed. Five weeks passed, then six. And at last came a reply with praise for the way I conducted myself in the interview.

I was calm and confident, they said. But, 'No, not successful.'

That was a disappointment. Like the injustice of serving a life sentence, there is no real appeal. So there I was for a day or two feeling very dejected and wondering. Gerrymandering? I thought. Ageism? There's no doubt that prison is making an old man of me.

And then the mood passed. Thanks to the CJS and our politicians, I've certainly got the time to wait for another opening in NACRO when I can volunteer again. Dear God, if there's one thing I do have, it's time.

- Roger Gordon