Born in 1960 and brought up and educated in the Waterloo/Crosby and Thornton regions of Merseyside. I joined the Merchant Navy straight from school in 1977 and spent nearly five years going away to sea, leaving in 1981. After a brief spell unemployed I became an Assistant Cook within the Social Services Department of Liverpool City Council. I worked for them for 13 years attaining the position of Head Cook for for the last four. In 1989 I met the woman I knew was going to be my wife and we were married in 1991 and now have four children. In 1997 I left catering behind and became a courier for a mail order company. I loved this job but getting mugged two weeks before the Christmas of 1999 made me re-think things and I gave it up after my daughter was born in 2000. In 2002 I had kidney failure that nearly took my life, I've recovered now and have just started a new chapter in my life by becoming a Support Worker for adults with learning difficulties.