Welcome to the Lion’s Den began as a vision to blend my love for the great outdoors with my dedication to supporting mental health and personal development. With over 20 years of experience working closely with children facing challenges such as learning difficulties, Autism, ADHD, and youth offending, Hospital forensic Mental Health and community Mental Health. I realised that nature and building skills provides a powerful backdrop for healing and growth while Martial Arts Builds safety and confidence.

I also learned through my travels to Japan about the importance of thoughts and emotions in Buddhism.  THE BUDDHA SAY'S The way to overcome negative thoughts and destructive emotions is to develop opposing, positive emotions that are stronger and more powerful. 

I have studied Human growth and development in social work which educated you around the biological social and cognitive developments of a child.

I trained as a joiner which helped me have independence, confidence and the ability to risk assess and problem solve. it also helps you to reflect and think for yourself why being present. Philosopher Socrates once said, "To find yourself, think for yourself."

I climbed Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and mount Fuji in Japan where I learned how to survive at high altitude. This taught me about respecting nature and how to use team work to achieve goals. I also learned to monitor my body and be self-aware. Charles Darwin once said "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change."

I worked in the NHS and Local authority which was dominated by women. Here i learned that the male role model was all but missing. Most the interactions were based on feminine approaches. At the lion’s Den we love the women and the work they do but we recognise the importance of having a strong male role model in a safe non-judgmental environment. At the Lion’s Den we have a masculine nurturing approach. I have noticed that it is an area that needs support. At the lion’s Den we understand that you’re a lad lad or a proper little madam sometimes. Here we recognise that sometimes a head nod is enough to respond if we ask if you are ok.

Here I also learned that policies dictate the approaches towards a child and family. Policies have forgot what it’s like for a lad to be a lad or a girl girl who is just doing their best in life. DR Lori Desautels once said  'Children who develop inside environments with never ending fear are not able to regulate their nervous system and we punish that fear because we only look at behaviours, schools and professionals can be the safe places where we model the natural exercises for regulation. 

I also have a Daughter called Georgia who has a diagnosis of Autism and has a speech delay. Along the journey with our daughter I have experienced 95% poor professionals who were observed to be winging it and 5% that were absolutely fantastic. From this experience I was inspired to create an approach that could not just help my daughter but help other children to. I had now observed both positive and negatives while being a professional and a dad. I decided to put all my knowledge into a system along with my daughter’s voice. I wanted to know what Georgia thought was best for her, what she felt helped her, how does she experience the world, what makes her feel like she is doing well. I wanted to empower my daughter while letting her know that your mother and Father stands with you.

I also had a negative experience where I would often get ignored by professionals who come to assess my daughter’s Autistic needs. I was an educated man with a lot of skills but because I was a man it was seen as I did not know anything. I was ignored about 98% of the time. I could go a full meeting with not one professional even acknowledging me being there. From this experience I decided that Dads need a voice. The role of a dad is important, and the role of a male must not be ignored or looked down on. I now had lived experience of the bios opinion of men in society. This was not something I learned on my social work Degree. I would also like to add, when I worked as a social worker. I did meet a lot of good professionals. So, I know there are a lot of good staff out there too. it is important to remember that to so we do not paint everyone with the same brush.

Each session at the Lion’s Den is infused with my passion and understanding of the unique challenges from skills that I have learned over the years. Such as being a social worker where you are a professional or being on a building site teaching ADHD teen how to build.

 I believe that everyone, regardless of their background, can benefit from learning how to connect with nature and develop survival skills. I have lived experience with my family and my daughter’s. I aim to empower children, just like my daughter Georgia whose voice helped to create the Lions Den which took me 20 years of studying and research. Plus 5 years of my daughters lived experience and input to develop it.

This is the lion Den, my daughter is Georgia, and this is 'Georgia approach'