About me
I was born on Tuesday 20th November 1984 at Wrexham Maelor Hospital. At the age of four in April 1989, I was diagnosed with autism. “Go home and watch Rain Man,” the specialist told my mother. “In all probability your son will be institutionalised.”
Determined to prove the specialist wrong, my late, beloved mother Hazel Davies, who sadly passed away suddenly on 18th December 2020 due to Covid and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease aged 77 in a hospital bed on her own away from the family she lived for, set out to give her son the best life possible.
Raised in a single parent household and encountering bureaucracy, bullying along with a lack of understanding from many we came across, I emerged to secure my dream job as a Broadcast Statistician at Manchester United Television.
Whilst at Manchester United Television, I gave speeches on a voluntary basis about my formative years living with my autism. This led to me winning a Welsh National Young Volunteer Award in June 2008. Due to this, I was invited to Buckingham Palace on Tuesday July 22nd 2009 where I met the current King Charles III, the late Queen Elizabeth II and the current Queen Camilla.
After leaving MUTV after eleven and a half years in April 2014, I secured a book deal with Bennion Kearny Publishing to write my autistic memoir entitled “I’ve Got a Stat for You-My Life with Autism”. This was following an interview on my life with Broadcasting giant, John Humphrys, on BBC Radio Four’s flagship Today Programme on Easter Saturday 2015.
During the promotion of the book, I was invited to The Houses of Parliament on Halloween 2016 where I met around 23 MP’s raising autism acceptance. Five of them actually bought a copy of “I’ve Got a Stat…”
After publication, “I’ve Got a Stat…” received glowing testimonials from a wide range of well known personalities including
- Acclaimed Comedian, writer and Broadcaster Stewart Lee
- Comedian, writer and Broadcaster Robin Ince
- Broadcaster Dan Walker
- Sky Sports’ Hayley McQueen
- Multi Award Winning Broadcaster, Writer and former England Cricket Captain Michael Atherton OBE
- Sky Sports Broadcaster and former British & Irish Lion, Will Greenwood MBE
Over the years, in addition to BBC Radio Four Today, I have also received media coverage from
- The 2023 Wisden Cricketer’s Almanack
- BBC Radio Five Live
- BBC Sport
- BBC Wales Today
- The Cricketer Magazine Online
- BBC World Service Sportshour
- ITV Wales News
- BBC Radio Wales
- ITV Wales Online
- Men’s Fitness Magazine
- Wales Online
- The Daily Express Online
- Academic/Educational Establishments from Infant School to Masters level
- Hospitals
- Various departments of the local council including local councillors
- Fellow third sector organisations
- Medical Students
- Conferences
- Local Groups
- Sporting Establishments
I am now the author of three published books with “A Vision of Exercise” the latest to be published in April 2018 again on Bennion Kearny Publishing. The foreword of which was written by multiple Ashes and World Cup winning England and Wales wicket-keeper batter Sarah Taylor.
I also volunteered my time in various capacities with several organisations between 2014 and the COVID Pandemic in 2020 such as Brymbo Heritage Trust, Flintshire Countryside Service, Wrexham County Borough Museum and Your Space.
Since Tuesday 8th June 2021, I have been employed in a paid role by Your Space.
As part of this my Fundraiser role, along with my sister and full-time carer Melanie Beckley, we walked Pan North Wales between 15th-17th August 2022 for a distance of around 71 miles. This was in memory of our mother Hazel Davies to enable there to be a permanent memorial to her in the form of an Autism Sensory Garden at Your Space’s base in Llay, Wrexham. We raised just over £6,000 to see this project come to fruition. You can see more about this at the following page Pan North Wales Walk, 15th-17th August 2022
In the part of my work brief as Autism Champion at Your Space, I undertake audience specific presentations to a variety of organisations for a very small donation to the charity that covers my time, including, but not limited to, the following
However, I am free to talk to any workplace, club or organisation in Your Space’s catchment area of North Wales and North Shropshire. Go to Contact Me for more details.
