Dave Letele

Community leader and former boxer Dave Letele tells Guyon his thoughts on the new Government's crackdown on gangs, whether bootcamps really work, and if he'll ever get into the political ring himself.

Content warning: Contains strong language and references to self-harm and alcohol.

Watch the video version of the episode here

Dave Letele's life has been defined by transformation. From a complicated upbringing to a successful boxing career to tipping the scales at more than 200 kg, he's been through countless challenges.

Now he spends his days using what he's learned to help others in need, through his Butterbean Motivation programme.

He tells Guyon what he thinks of the new Government's crackdown on gangs, whether boot camps really work, and if he'll ever get into the political ring himself.

Maunga climbing

"I started my journey getting off the bed and going for a walk at One Tree Hill, massively overweight and extremely depressed, wanting to end my life. But while I was walking these maunga, I wasn't thinking about life. I was just thinking about getting up the hill and how hard it was."

" we were up at Mount Eden, and we had people there from all walks of life. People from LinkedIn, chairmen, CEOs. And then, you had people overcoming addictions. You had former and current gang members. The sun was shining, and it was just a special moment."

"My memory of Mount Eden, as a kid, was playing in the playground there, before or after prison visits. I spoke to some of the people there and a lot of their memories are of looking out of the frosted glass from Mount Eden Prison. And then to be there, free and doing something special, it's just showing them that it's possible and that we're all destined for something better.

Yeah, it was a special moment."

Memories of visiting family in prison

"There were many times when there was my father, or uncles, or family friends that we'd visit in Mount Eden prison. I remember visiting my uncle Bonzo there. And, you know, it was a big thing. We'd get packs of fruit from the dairy, and we'd take them up to the prison. You could take food in, back in those days. And we'd look forward to him bringing out the chocolate.

But the memory - the good part of the visits - was not necessarily going and visiting, because you get treated like a dog even when you're visiting prison. It was playing on that playground. That awesome flying fox there. Anyone that's visited Mount Eden Prison as a kid, you'd remember that playground because we all went there." …

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details