DORSET ISLAND DISCS
Interview by Andy Palmer
“I grew up in poverty and was bullied at school” Nocturin ‘Noc’ Lacey-Clarke, 35, is a Conservative councillor in Blandford. He is not your average tory councillor. He is different. And he is making a difference in the town. Raised by a highly creative single mum (now a lead maths advisor for primary schools, but who as a young punk in London used to help Boy George and Adam Ant with their make-up), Noc says his upbringing was loving, but there was poverty. ‘People used to donate second hand clothes and toys to us,’ he says. Raised in Tolpuddle, he was bullied at school. ‘I didn’t fit in,’ he “I was told that if I explains, ‘I had Asperger’s Syndrome didn’t like certain and was OCD. I could decisions I should read, but writing was stand for election. a challenge. It still is. And I didn’t like sport. I did. I won by My real friends were three votes. At the my mum’s university last election I won friends, not people my by around 750” own age’. Skilled at sciences he studied maths and psychology at Bournemouth & Poole College. From drifter to politics After college, Noc admits he became a drifter with no fixed ambition until, living in Blandford, he became disenchanted with certain decisions taken by some local councillors. ‘They said that if I thought I could do better, why don’t I stand for election. So I did in 2018. I won by three votes.’ Noc stood again at the last election, winning around 1,500 votes. His nearest competitor received around 750. Keenly interested in helping people struggling with mental issues, Noc’s charity ‘New Opportunities for Community Support (NOCS)’ was made official three years ago, and today around 100 people of all ages receive help weekly from his premises in Blandford Forum. ‘We help people through the medium of gaming. We listen to their stories.’ NOCS is part funded by the shop, as well as The National Lottery and Children in Need. Noc lives in Blandford with his wife, Charlotte. My eight music choices: ordered chronologically 14
Nocturin Lacey-Clarke chooses the eight pieces of music he could not live without.
according to when and how they affected my life: Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime My mother introduced me at an early age to this US indie band and I fell in love with the absurdity of the lyrics, the artwork on the records and the amazing use of language. I’ve always enjoyed the idiosyncrasies of the English language. Crash Test Dummies - God Shuffled his Feet A whole album of what appears at first glance to be insightful quotes and parables but in reality led me to question a lot of ideas I had always taken for granted. How does a duck know which direction south is? And was that a parable or a very subtle joke I heard at church? Korn - Follow The Leader For a young teenager that was struggling with being bullied, not fitting in, and the general angst of being a teenager, this album put into words what I was feeling and gave me an outlet that was exciting and physical. Joy Division - Unknown Pleasure This is for those times in all our lives when we struggle with mental health - something that has played a huge part in my life. When the world seems broken and you just want to swim in oblivion for a while or curl up in a foetal ball in the
