Many years ago I managed to get involved in fund raising for charity. Back then I raised funds for the British Kidney Patients Association. Why the BKPA?. In those days I was suffering complete kidney failure. I suppose my fundraising

was in gratitude for the help given to me by the BKPA while I was receiving dialysis, three times a week for over five years.

Shortly after having a successful kidney transplant in 1988 I met up with the then fieldworker for the Bromley & District Association for Spina Bifida And Hydrocephalus who suggested that I may be interested in attending one of their committee meeting. Not only did I attend it I was also elected onto it. Within three months I was Association Secretary/Administrator, during this time we changed the name to South Thames Association for Spina Bifida And Hydrocephalus. I later became Association Chairman until I moved to Kent.

I got married in Kent and then moved shortly after to Devon. Where I now live.

After about six months when my family and I had finished moving into our new home and we had finally managed to unpack I decided to go and look for the local ASBAH Association in Devon. To my amazement Devon never had a local ASBAH Association.

In August 2000 I conceived the idea of forming a local Devon Association. After a lot of phone calls and letter writing by December I was ready to call an Inaugural meeting for the 20th January 2001 in Paignton. On that day the Devon Association for Spina Bifida And Hydrocephalus (DASBAH) was formed and I became it’s first ever Hon. Chairman (I still hold that position today). By July 2001 we had formally registered as a charity with the Charities Commission. We still operate today regardless of a lack of support from the Devon business community.

(q) Why did I get involved with this Association?.
(a) Because I was born with Spina Bifida, my Hydrocephalus arrested at a young age.