Bermuda Gold Exchange owner James Gilbert has joined a campaign raise money for the Island’s youth, citing his own troubled past as the inspiration to help others.Throughout this month, the business is encouraging customers to donate part of their proceeds to the New Beginnings $1 Million Campaign — aimed at raising money for the Mirrors programme’s residential for 19- to 24-year-old men, as well as to help graduates of personal development programmes pursue their higher education.“I had a hard upbringing,” Mr Gilbert told The Royal Gazette, saying he spent three years on the streets and struggled with school.“It took certain people in the community to have faith in me to become the person I am today,” he said. “Because of that, I’d like to return the favour, to help young people reach their potential.”He credits close friend André Smith with getting him off the streets “until I could get on my own two feet”.Familiar with the Mirrors programme from church and through friends, Mr Gilbert said: “I’ve met a lot of young people that have been a part of it and told me stories of things improving in their lives.”He added: “The time I spent on the streets, I saw the pestilence that being in that environment can bring out in people, until they’re walking like zombies, on drugs or depressed and unable to cope.”As for the power of education, Mr Gilbert said: “I’ve never been to college, but if I can help someone else get a higher education, then they are better off and society’s better off.”For the month of May, he said, the company will ask customers who return to collect the full value of their items to donate part of the proceeds to the New Beginnings $1 Million Campaign — a year-long drive launched by The Royal Gazette last week, in collaboration with Kerry Judd of the New Beginnings Education Trust.Those who wish can get their names on the company’s Facebook page. The company itself will contribute a percentage of its earnings, and give updates each week online on how much as been raised.Bermuda Gold Exchange is not “cash for gold”, he added.“We do buy gold for cash, but we prefer to exchange it for physical gold to keep the gold in Bermuda,” Mr Gilbert explained.