Guy and Steve are the walk leaders for Stratford.

Bio for Guy. The first 18 years of my life was spent in India where I was born, raised, and educated.  My parents sent me alone to England aged 18 and I spent the next 14 years in London doing a variety of jobs including factory work, retail, running nightclubs and DJ-ing.

I then married and moved to Stratford upon Avon and had two boys.  Over the next 20 years I worked in the tourist hospitality sector with my own restaurant, a Tea Garden and also a Bed & Breakfast business.  Unfortunately at the end of this period, my marriage broke down and we separated.

After being alone for three years, I met my present wife Jacki and we have been happily married now for 21 years but would most probably have split up long ago if I had not done a course which raised my mental awareness and taught me about the Civil War in my head and how to control it.

Life has been very good to me and I would now like to put something back.  I am 82 years old very fit and healthy for my age.  I still play golf and tennis.  Jacki and I are interested in mental well-being and have been informally helping friends family and acquaintances wherever possible and when asked.

I believe MWAT’s straightforward approach to a very genuine need in society at the moment is extremely refreshing.  I feel I could bring something to it with a lifetime coping with my own personal challenges, evolving a successful business, and my interest in helping others cope with life’s struggles.

I look forward to bringing MWAT to Stratford upon Avon.

Bio for Steve. I work full time in adult social care and part-time for a few hours a week in the evenings and weekends doing support work.

I’ve experienced my own mental health challenges and low points in my life particularly when going through difficult times including divorce, breakdown of relationships, losing my job, being unemployed, losing both my parents and a cancer diagnosis and treatment. I’ve also experienced the challenges poor mental health brings in both a close family and professional capacity, so I think it’s fair to say I’ve a good and varied understanding of it’s devastating and debilitating effects.

Whenever I did hit a low mood, people close to me, especially partners, would often ask me “has something happened?” and “what exactly is getting you down?” to which the answer often was “no, nothing specific” and “I’ve absolutely no idea”!

From nowhere the dark clouds and low mood would descend and I’d find myself in a dark place where every issue/problem in my life would overwhelm me.

It took a while to find what works for me to combat the demons, but I’m now a big believer in self-help strategies and getting yourself out there, sharing your story and experiences with good people who are prepared to listen, learning from others and making positive changes in your life, however small and insignificant they might seem at the time.

My philosophy is one day at a time and one brick at a time!

Like others, having seen the growth in popularity of the Men Walking And Talking movement on Facebook, I reached out to Mark, one of the walk leaders and directors of MWAT, to ask if we could look into starting a group in Stratford-upon-Avon, the idea being to share this opportunity to other local men that perhaps have either not seen or been able to attend the other local groups for whatever the reason.

A few months later after meeting Mark and Guy at the Warwick group, here we are, ready and raring to go!

Please come and join us if you can; let’s walk, talk and support each other as well as ourselves!