I grew up in a block of flats on a council estate in Almondbury, Huddersfield. In my teens I got involved in crime and drugs as they were rife. I was allowed to roam without parental supervision, which exposed me to those elements.
Me and my younger sister were raised by our mother who was a single parent. Neither mine or my sister dad’s stuck around. I was always a nervous, quiet kid from a young age and got bullied throughout my entire time at school. Even though I was a very bright kid, during year 9 I started skiving and went to school occasionally, forfeiting my education. I got into drinking and smoking from around 12-13, cannabis at 14 and recreational drugs like ecstasy and cocaine at 16. Growing up the only family I knew were my mum and sister and this led me to feel very isolated with bad and anti-social behaviour becoming my outlet for how I was feeling.
During this time my mum and sister disappeared and nobody knew where they had gone. 3 years had passed and my mum was found in Leeds. I went back to live with her and my sister. Up until around 2009 I spent much of my time in and out of employment I would spend weekends getting wasted and generally not really having any solid goal in life. All I knew is that I loved music, writing producing and performing it.
In 2009 my daughter was born and I began to realise that I needed to fix up. It wasn’t easy as my daughter’s mum and I were not getting along and I ended up breaking up with her when she was just 1. I got my own place and kept up daily contact however due to many unfortunate circumstances her mother decided to disappear one night. I had to fight a lengthy court battle to regain to contact of them.
During this time, I decided to go to college and study music technology. I had been into it for quite some time by then and we had gained a significant local reputation through the music I produced and the events I was hosting locally. Working 4 separate jobs alongside college was tough but I made it through to pass my course and gain a Level 3 extended diploma.
Around the time I started college I met up with bunch of creative people in Huddersfield and began the journey by getting involved participating in building the GDPA/ Unit7 creative hub. This also helped me boost my confident which lead me to start running my own events again. I was performing at gigs locally, building my experience and keeping track record up. I began outreaching with Dominic Mills in the Huddersfield community speaking to young people leading to crime and drugs. I was able to connect and show people that there is always hope if we are positive.
Global Diversity is a great community organisation, which has helped me a lot. I believe in myself more and I feel that I can inspire people that are in a similar position to me. I feel that this organisation does not judge anyone and this is important.
