I’m supposed to be blogging to tell you that I’ve just been to Liverpool to train some counsellors and nurses, but having seen a little more of Liverpool I have to exclaim about the city and the people!

I saw so many grand stone buildings, and so many new buildings being built – the streets are paved with diamonds and there’s just so much to see, well, the streets are very wide and the stonework is superb. Annoying as it may be to say, but no wonder Liverpudlians are so proud of their City of Culture.

I’ve only been to Liverpool a couple of times, this time to deliver training for the LifeSIGNS Vol Org, while last time I was working in some of the less well-off areas of Liverpool, where investment and regeneration hadn’t touched. I know all cities have problems, so I’m not glossing over the social difficulties, but I have to say I was bowled over by the scale of the city.

More than the city itself, people were nice to me. If you know me at all, you’ll know I don’t play well with strangers – I’m fearful and wary of people in the street (yes, I’ve been mugged before, and suffered bullying and abuse) but people in Liverpool are not shy and have treated me warmly, and I’ve only been here for a few minutes!

The taxi driver asked what I was doing here; I’m always careful how I talk about Self-Injury Awareness Training, I don’t have the energy for any kind of debate or debacle after I’ve spent hours talking to professionals, so I said “I was training the counsellors in how to approach young people in distress” – not an entirely evasive answer, just a careful one. He was very impressed and told me about the voluntary football club he runs. He takes his team to Norway each year, which is often the only opportunity for travel they’ll get, as parts of the community are not so well-off. Rob, as he became known to me, is a paragon of positivity, and proudly told me of his own children’s ambitions (dentist and sports photographer!) and of his own world travels, as he and his wife have lived in Hong Kong, Monaco and Australia. Basically, Rob has made his own luck in life, while some of his other school friends have languished, staying in the same pubs and spending their money down the betting shop. Rob doesn’t believe in waiting for others to provide you with opportunities, he believes in seeking them out yourself. Of course he’s returned to Liverpool after some years away to have his family, and his wife runs her own business and Rob loves driving his spacious cab and working with children and young people in his spare time.

I told him he needs to get Channel 4 involved as he’s got quite a story to tell, but he shrugged and said:

“Aye, but it’s like I tell my footie kids, as long as you’re enjoying what you’re doing, nothing else matters.”

It must be working, because Rob’s family are doing well and working on all their ambitions, while his football team of 12 year olds have just won the league!

Rob, you should be a life coach as well as a football coach, the world needs more positive, active people like you.

Don’t forget that the LifeSIGNS Voluntary Organisation turns six years old in May – please join our ‘birthday event’ on Facebook :)