6 minute read
In Ordinary Everyday Life, Suddenly Something Magical Can Happen and an Adventure Begins
My reason for doing what I do is to support others and raise awareness and support the vulnerable. It’s not so much about me, it’s by sharing my story publicly - I want to help others.
From March 1996 till December 2018 I worked in front line heath and social care. One of the jobs, I was made redundant from in December 2010 and the other I was dismissed under the Capability Policy in December 2018. This lead me to take my previous employer (a large charity) to a Tribunal and won the case.
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What became apparent was just how toxic a workplace can be allowed to get and what was clearly the harm caused by workplace bullying and how both prevalent it was and also how little people were then talking about it.
I was diagnosed with autism in January 2018 and what also became apparent was how poor some workplaces are at understanding autism despite having all these policies and procedures.
It was clear that many employees who had suffered bullying and lost their jobs but were not in a position to take their cases to a tribunal.
I wanted to also join the community of others who were also dedicated to this and since that period more and more people are talking about workplace cultures and bullying.
The Tribunal case was fairly high profile and was covered in the media and this also made it very difficult for me to work in the care sector again. Not because of me but care organisations were naturally worried about unwanted media attention and publicity. So I used that to set up the non for profit and then had unexpected success with my writing.
I also share with people that I suffered bullying and abuse at school and did finally report this and received some compensation, nearly 30 years later. It is important to share the fact that whether school or workplace or anywhere bullying has devastating consequences and ultimately costs lives.
Safeguarding is an obligation on everyone. It was also evident through publicity that certain large charities governed themselves very badly and the business partner model was a failing. Think the reports governance, CEO salaries, high profile cases. I questioned whether such “charities” can even call themselves “non for profit”.
At the same time in 2019, I became a registered full time carer for both my Parents and I was literally staggered by how much we as a community and society rely on the unpaid carers, they are paid the least, less than £70 per week, but they come from all ages and backgrounds and without them the health and social care system would have collapsed in the last year.
I wanted to campaign and raise awareness for support and increased support for unpaid carers too.
During lockdown, what has also become apparent is how much the voluntary sector and unpaid do with little or no resources and provide front line life saving outreach services.
All my stories include common themes running through them including anti bullying, mental health and tolerance and kindness to both people and animals. All my stories for younger readers are animal stories, I always enjoyed talking animal stories and created imaginary worlds and now I realise that my autism is a big factor in that, which is positive.
My stories include often many vivid memories of childhood, such as my Grandmas house, with its old iron fireplace, where such as the tin bath went. Sadly, she passed away in 1979. These feature in “Tales of Lanehouse” which is in part set in the village of Trawden in Lancashire. I remember also visiting various great aunts and uncles every Saturday morning for many years and doing things like helping out feeding the chickens down at the pen and playing in the fields. My father told me a lot about village life and I wish to include this as a sort of memory and tribute and thank you to my Parents.
It was also a clear motive to promote the beauty and history of Lancashire and that’s one of the reason real places are used.
With the other stories, I have always created clear worlds and imaginary characters whilst growing up, so I wanted to also use this within my writing.
The “Secret Wild Wolves of Britain” , is one such project. Set against the country coming out of the pandemic and a different take on some of the issues such as rewilding, understanding and tolerance and also sharing information on wildlife and countryside organisations.
There is also deliberate characterisations such as a central character who is autistic and one who has experienced mental health and overcome workplace bullying.
“Nothing of Interest” and “The Mystery of Melsham Wood” are mysteries and with that twist of the unexpected, which I have always clearly created in my imagination.
The book “The Night of The Sleepoons” I purposely set against the memories of family holiday cottages and exploring and finding new adventures. One of the themes is to look back at good memories to get strength to move forward.
That’s why I set the book against an adult revisiting the memories of a childhood adventures way back in the summer of 1978.
One future project under review is a similar take of fantasy and mystery that is called “The Return of The Children of The Night” featuring garden gnomes that came to life at night and used to help the central character out as a child and then years later as an adult, these old stone gnomes who have sat for years at the bottom of the garden hidden away for years, come to life again to help the storyteller as an adult.
With my writing, I wish to write books that are suitable for all ranges of audiences, so I leave out graphic violence or such images, and tell tales of mystery and in some cases fantasy that can be read by both children, younger people and adults.
Dave Gregson’s children’s, dectective and sci-fi books are all available to purchase from Amazon. co.uk, Waterstones, WH Smith, Goodreads and Barnes and Noble.
T dave gregson401 L dave-gregson-16a624156 D www.davegregson.co.uk
