I'm a husband, father, brother, friend and fully fledged member of the human race. All those things have given me experiences in life. Good times, bad times. Happy times, sad times along with challenges and obstacles that are part of "life". I have a background in counselling, bereavement counselling, hypnotherapy, mentoring, working with and training volunteers, management, broadcasting, and even spent time as a chef for good measure. In essence I am what people like to define as a people person. I get a real buzz being around people and listening to people. I have worked off and on within the voluntary sector for over twenty years and have been in the most fortunate position of supporting people that have made changes in their lives. Changes that have made a difference and made their lives happier and much better. This in turn has enriched my life too by having inspirational experiences from counselling sessions, mentoring sessions, volunteer work and by listening and speaking to people. By working with people it has helped my confidence and self belief to a point that I am certainly a different person to what I was twenty or so years ago. Life is, as they say, a journey. We take different roads, find obstacles and challenges in our way but we keep going , striving to make our lives better. I feel all the experiences and challenges that I have experienced have led me to who I am now with the enriched life I have now that gives me meaning , purpose and fulfilment. Experience Counselled within the NHS Occupational Health Mentored volunteers within local media and community projects Trained people of all ages and diverse backgrounds in communication skills within the media and community projects Researched, prepared and delivered lectures