Employment, education and personal details
Employment
February 2005 to present:
- Freelance writer with credits including The Guardian, The Sun Online, Manchester Evening News and Pensions World plus web content and ghostwriting work
- Weekly columnist for The Fight Network and Live Audio Wrestling
- Daily writer for technology site Infopackets.com
- Writer and self-publisher of two books on professional wrestling: Slamthology and Turning The Tables: The Story of Extreme Championship Wrestling
September 1998 to February 2005: Press Officer, Plain English Campaign, New Mills, Derbyshire:
- Media relations (press releases; dealing with enquiries; giving more than 500 radio and television interviews; achieving coverage in every national newspaper for annual awards ceremony)
- Communications (writing and designing the Campaign's quarterly magazine 'Plain English'; producing a weekly electronic newsletter for 5,000 readers in 80 countries; producing advertising material and negotiating space and rates; writing articles for magazines as diverse as Pensions World, Magistrate, The Legal Executive and Ink Pellet)
- Campaigning (lobbying; taking up issues raised by campaign supporters)
- On-line work (creating and maintaining the Campaign website with a particular emphasis on improving usability; developing guidelines for clear web design ; transferring existing training course content to an on-line format and developing on-line payment facility)
January 1998: Four week work placement (self-arranged) at The Mirror, London
September 1996 to May 1998: Chief Reporter, Pluto, University of Central Lancashire student newspaper (unpaid but average 30 hours per week). Writer of the front page leads on the three issues which won the Guardian/NUS Best Newspaper award in 1998.
May 1996 to August 1998: Staff writer, PowerSlam magazine (stocked nationally by newsagents)
Education
September 1995 to June 1998: University of Central Lancashire, Preston
- BA (Hons) 2:1 in Journalism (including NCTJ modules in law and public administration)
- 80wpm Teeline shorthand
September 1988 to June 1995: The Thomas Alleyne School, Stevenage, Hertfordshire
- GCE 'A' Levels in English Language & Literature (A), History (A), Economics (B) and General Studies (A).
- 10 GSCEs (nine at grades A-C)
Personal
Date of birth: 29 September 1976Referee:
Ms Chrissie Maher OBE, Plain English Campaign, 20 Union Road, New Mills, High Peak, SK22 3ES.
01663 744409
info@plainenglish.co.uk