I am a man with a learning disability. Primary school was a struggle. I then went to Special Needs Schools, which was better, but I never really achieved any GCSEs. I enjoyed my time at Derwen College in Shropshire. I stayed on to work in their catering department.

At the age of 35, I decided to leave Derwen. I now live in my own flat in a big city, London, getting my support from an organisation called L’Arche. It was a big and scary move, to leave the safety of the college after being there for 17 years. Managing to be more independent is my proudest achievement. Since then I’ve discovered I enjoy speaking up and I’m quite good at it. I’ve become an advocate for people with learning disabilities. My support worker took me to a People First meeting. Things took off from there.

I’ve been co-chair of the Lambeth Assembly for People with Learning Disabilities for 10 years now. I was the Founder Chair of the National Speaking Group for L’Arche. Things got really quite busy. I did a research course at Kingston & St George’s University, and this year I got a Research Assistant job there. I never thought I’d be getting a paid job with a pension! During COVID I decided to put messages on Facebook to reassure people that we’re all in this together. I’ve also campaigned for people with learning disabilities to get the vaccine, and was interviewed twice about it on the BBC1 news.