1. As a kid I never really knew I was poor, the flat I lived in with my mum was barely big enough for the 2 of us.
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For many years we didn’t even have a tv, which is quite a strange notion in this day and age considering most people carry a screen in their pockets!
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2. One thing that even poor people could do though was read, I got into reading very early... it was a way for me to tap into my imagination and escape the confines of that tiny flat. One minute i would be battling evil space aliens and saving planet earth, in a super hero...
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3. ...comic book, the next thing i was hanging out with this girl named Matilda who could tidy her room by waving her arms around...she was cool, I could relate to her too, as she was misunderstood and would get bullied which happened to me a lot.

4. Through reading came understanding, realising there was more to the world than this tiny flat and that just because you don’t have a lot of money, it doesn’t have to limit your experiences.
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I guess that was my first encounter with the power of story telling, and not just...

5. ...the stories we read but also the stories we tell ourselves.
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Imagine If I’d never started reading as a child, growing up in a town with very little opportunity and people telling me I couldn’t make it off the estate let alone go onto do everything I’ve done, I would...

6. ...have been telling myself those stories too, that it’s impossible to change my circumstances and better myself.
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I would have been limiting myself from the start.

7. I hope that young people watching my shows feel like they are getting to live vicariously through my story and hopefully it inspires them to go out there and unleash their own.

8. “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss