Blog
I was born in the Bridgwater area. School was difficult for me as i found the education system hard to fit into. This was later explained but my diagnoses of dyslexia in 1991. I joined the Royal Navy in 1986, despite my success in basic training; I soon found the day to day living restrictive and so I left in 1988. I spent the next two years setting up my own business before selling up and travelling around Australia. On returning I started work with Clancy, where I was working when I had my RTA in 1991, which resulted in a spinal injury and I became a wheelchair user. On leaving hospital I spent the next three years getting used to my new way of life. Upon rejoining the workforce in 1995, I worked as a Disability Advocate for WHERE, Leaving in May 2000 to finally achieve a life time ambition of travelling around the world. That year was a life changing and exceptional experience. Returning in 2001, I rejoined WHERE as the Project Manager for the Disability Information and Advocacy Service and then later became involved in the conception of the Somerset Access and Inclusion Network (to become Compass Disability Services), initially as a trustee, then as a part time development worker and now as Chief Executive Officer aiming to ensure that Compass Disability Services is recognised as the key disability organisation in the area. In 2005 I married my wife Martine and we have subsequently had twins to add to our family which includes my stepson and the dog Bertie. I have been committed to the rights of disabled people since I started my work as an advocat and have continued to push for Somerset to have a voluntary sector organisation that was user led and controlled ever since. Over the years my interest has grown to include the whole voluntary sector and its development, where organisations can deliver a professional not for profit service to the people of Somerset.
The aim of my blog is to share my thoughts and opinions on the voluntary and community sector in Somerset and what's happening in the world of disability.
I hope you find this a useful and thought provoking site.