Tell us a little bit about your background and how your business came about

I was born and bred in the North East and love the area. When I was 16, on the day I collected my O-level results, my family threw me out for being gay. The following three years were spent sleeping rough in London and the South East until I met two women at Greenham Common, who offered me a place to stay. They changed my life. I got a part-time job, and my new friends put me through college, where I trained as a social worker.

After 21 years in social work, I decided to pursue my passion for photography. I spent two years in New York before setting up an art photography company based between Berlin and the UK. After eight years, I planned to move to New Zealand with my wife. We wanted to live a life of self-sufficiency and art. Sadly, eight weeks before our scheduled departure, my wife was killed in an accident. Only a few weeks later, my home was burgled, and I was attacked.

I struggled severely, and I was diagnosed with several mental health issues, including severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I knew I needed purpose and structure to lift myself up again, so I added some life to the plans my wife and I had drawn up for the shop we’d dreamed of.

I taught myself to felt and rented a studio. It all feels like a lifetime ago, but it was only six years ago next February. I moved into my current shop three years ago. I lost my speech earlier this year as a result of the PTSD, and I now communicate through speech apps on my phone and tablet.

As a teacher of crafting, how do you overcome the challenge of having no speech?

Very carefully. It’s a process I’m still working on. The first part of the challenge was to find the right communication aid that would speak for me. It wasn’t an easy task as most speech aids are made for people who also have cognitive impairment and/or fine motor issues. I have neither, I just can’t use my own voice.

I began by using a tablet with some text to speech software, but I soon developed RSI as a result of using it. The next step was better software and a Bluetooth keyboard. I pre-write all of my workshops and save them into my tablet. It now takes me four times longer to prepare a workshop than it used to. I need both my tablet to run the workshop plus another device to communicate and answer questions. I’ve always run small workshops for five people, but I’ve had to reduce that further as a result of losing my speech.

I don’t think many people realise how tiring it is, communicating as I do. When we speak, we almost do so subconsciously – you don’t have to think of every word before you say it, which is what I need to do before I type my responses.

I love teaching, and I don’t want to give it up, but I will be taking a break during December and January to review the process and see how to improve it.

Do you have any tips for people who want to embrace their own creativity to aid their wellbeing?

Creativity covers a vast spectrum of activities from gardening and cooking to drawing, journaling, flower arranging and embroidery. It doesn’t matter which creative form you choose, only that you enjoy it.

Try not to care about the end product, learn to embrace the process. Give your inner child time to play – they will reward you with joy and dissolve your daily stresses.

What’s your favourite thing to do in the North East?

So many of my favourite pastimes aren’t options for me anymore; socialising in restaurants is exhausting, gigs and concerts are too loud and are beyond me. I can get to the cinema if I’m careful about my choice of film as noise levels and the dark are both barriers for me.

My coffee shop of choice is Mr Woods on the Broadway in Tynemouth – the staff are friendly and welcoming, and the coffee is fantastic – it’s one of my vices.

Other than that, I love to fly kites and drive sports cars. My perfect day out is a drive to Holy Island in Northumberland, roof down, a few hours of catching the wind and absorbing the beautiful landscape.