Portfolio
Persuasion and pot luck
When the London team went into the Olympic bid pitch, seven years before London 2012 began, they weren’t expecting to win the Olympics. According to the press, Paris were clear leaders while London was trailing. Moscow, New York and Madrid were somewhere in the... read more »
Mountain madness
Mad – that’s the typical adjective most people choose when I tell them about my new expedition. They will listen for a while but are primarily eager to get in a second-hand anecdote of a climber who died or a story they heard of... read more »
Being ‘kidnapped’ in Egypt
“What’s happening?” Steve whispered to me. “They’re deciding whether or not to let us go.” “Do you think they will?” “No,” I said, and when I saw Steve’s shoulders slump and his face darken, I wished I had lied. Even if I had, it would not have mattered.... read more »
The Rock and a hard place
It takes a certain level of faith to get through the pain of seeing your sporting dreams slip from your grasp, only to reinvent yourself as one of the greatest professional wrestlers in history. To then leave the ring and conquer Hollywood – well,... read more »
Boost your brain health
Memory blips are natural as we get older, but keeping your mind active and challenged will help to keep your brain younger than your years. Ensure you’re firing on all cylinders with my top tips for looking after your brain health. 1 Lights out Night owls... read more »
Healing minds to Minister
David Hall was once a chronic, paranoid schizophrenic. He was admitted to a psychiatric hospital on many occasions. Then one day in church he was prayed for and a miracle happened. David is now nearly 60 years old. He grew up in and has spent... read more »
Top man caves
The guys at WhatShed know how in this crazy world of ours, a guy having his own little space is something that most men really want. A man cave. It is something that all men aspire to have and some... read more »
Miscarriage and men
I arrived at the BBC studios in Essex early one Sunday morning ready to do 14 regional interviews that would be broadcast across the UK. I was as prepared as I could be, presuming the questions would be around my upcoming When Faith Gets... read more »
The Message Trust
Andy Hawthorne was faced with a major challenge in the mid-1980s, when many of the ex-offenders he was employing were vandalising and stealing from his fashion accessory warehouse in Longsight in Manchester. However, what happened next helped to birth a major global youth movement... read more »
Neeson breaks the silence
Liam Neeson isn’t a man for bull. He always calls it like it is. Like when actors who work with Martin Scorsese suddenly call him “Marty”. The 64-year-old legend has no time for that. “I just think it’s wrong,” he says, his arms folded... read more »