The University of Wolverhampton saved my life. I realise that’s a good headline, but it’s not just mere hyperbole, in a very real sense it did. I grew up in the Black Country in the sixties in a one parent family. We lived in very overcrowded conditions in a council house with a large extended family. In retrospect it was hard and school offered nothing except the dim prospect of working in a foundry. It took me a while to realise I could be more, do more, and that opportunities were available to me. At 21, I became a mature student on the DipHE course before transferring to the third year of a Humanities degree. It changed everything, I developed real confidence, it gave me possibilities and options, it gave me the opportunity to grow and allowed me to become more than I ever thought possible. It put me on the path to a successful career in commercial broadcasting and the BBC as a journalist, presenter and manager. I will always be thankful to Geoff Hurd, the course leader, who allowed a Black Country lad who maybe showed some potential to realise his dreams. The start of my second year was tough, there were issues at home, but I remember Geoff talking to me in the library and giving me the support and confidence, I needed to get me through. It was also at the University where I got the first inkling that it was OK to be gay, something that for a closeted lad from a council estate was a huge revelation and something for which I will be eternally grateful. I made lifelong friends, and I cherish the relationships that developed from that time I remember being at a film night in the old C block. It was ‘Educating Rita’, starring Julie Walters, the story of a working-class hairdresser who yearns to escape to something more profound. I was drawn by the parallels of the narrative and my own life. Like Rita, I got to experience something that was far beyond what had been expected and demanded of me.

Without my experiences at the University my career would not have happened. I was in retrospect fairly intelligent but terribly unfocused in making moves forward. I was constantly being told to get a job, any job and to make some money. My life would be very different and I would have found it difficult to move beyond the challenges that life had presented me. I gained the confidence to make a success of what can be a very cut-throat industry. On the course, I learned how to think, how to be a better writer and through that become a better person. I learned about critical thinking and not merely to accept things because of the way that those things had always been done. I was exposed to many different people and nationalities, many different arguments, and many ways of understanding. For a journalist and broadcaster these things are crucial. I’ve always said that my role is to amplify the voices of those misunderstood, unheard, abused or marginalised. I got that from my life experiences and also from what I learned at the University. It was more than just the course, it was the conversations in the student union and with friends, the realisation that the world could be a better place and that we could make it happen. When I became a manager, I took that all on board. I looked to give opportunities to those without formal training and qualifications and give them the ability to realise their dreams.

I’m currently a freelance broadcaster, so I have little responsibly beyond turning up and speaking, hopefully in an engaging manager. I left full-time employment at the BBC in 2021 after almost 30 years on staff with the corporation. In that time, I read, the news, presented daily radio programmes, reported for national, regional and local radio, reported for television and managed programming and news teams. In my last couple of years before going freelance I ran the BBC district office for Lancaster and Morecambe Bay. This involved being the primary BBC person in the area, and as local journalism is cut back across the UK, one of the few journalists in the locality. I was often heard on services such as BBC Radio 2, BBC Five Live and BBC Local Radio. Immediately before that I presented a daily syndicated radio show on a number of BBC radio services in the north of England, which gained the highest audience of the day. I also have extensive experience as a presenter and journalist in commercial radio at stations such as GWR, Chiltern Radio and LBC. I was News Editor at Rock FM / Red Rose Radio, one of the biggest commercial stations in the UK and managed radio stations in Wales and Yorkshire. I now have more time to devote to charity work and other interests, I’m a trustee of a number of national and regional organisations and can continue giving back to society which has given so much to me.

It’s hard to pick just one highlight. For example, I’ve interviewed all UK Prime Ministers from Tony Blair to Theresa May, some of them spoke more sense than others, but interviews with other people often had a much bigger resonance with me and the audience. If I had to choose just three highlights it would be: 1: Launching and managing Radio Maldwyn in Mid-Wales and Shropshire. This was the first commercial radio station in the area and we were able to build a true community through our people, our programming and our local outreach. The station was gifted with astonishingly high audience figures. 2: I spent four years as News Editor at Red Rose Radio / Rock FM in Lancashire. This was one of the biggest commercial stations in the UK and I was able to deliver a service that truly reflected the area and developed many local people (many with no radio experience) into a position where they could go on to become national names in TV and radio. 3: I presented a daily show for more than a decade on BBC Radio Manchester and BBC Radio Lancashire. This gave me a personal connection with the people of the north west and I was constantly amazed by the reaction, support and love from the listeners. I feel we were able to do a great deal of good in the community and prove that radio can be so much more than just pop and prattle.

I would say go for it, not only if you take the conventional route and have A levels, but also if you are a mature student who may have been denied educational opportunities and want to make a real difference in your life. The university gave me pretty much everything that I have. I came from a Black Country council estate and got all the support I needed to move to the next stage. You may think that you lack the skills to study, or don’t have the right educational achievements but what you do have is astonishing life experience. You’ve done so many amazing things just dealing with life and this is just one more challenge. I did it and have no doubt that so can you.