I joined a band of brothers in March 2014 as a mentor in Eastbourne. In July 2019 I joined the Hub Team working on the Systems and Operations of a band of brothers nationally. I remain an active volunteer member within the Eastbourne group.

I see real examples of the work we do making a difference to young men’s lives and of those people around them. While growing up in Essex I was lucky to have a few positive male role models, as well as some that were not such a good influence! It was a fine line for me between which path to choose.

I’m married and we have a teenage son. I have come to realise it’s not my job to tell him how to live his life. It is my job to be a role model, and it is the collective responsibility of the community to be open to his potential and for him to make his choices of how he shows up in the world, as it is for all of us.

A band of brothers does this for young men who perhaps didn’t have those role models or communities around them when they needed them the most, so here we are, not to judge or teach, but to hold space, to model what it is to be a man, and to allow them to make their own choices; ones that might ‘re-story’ their lives.