Aside from my work life I have also been involved in a number of other activities which I feel have been of benefit to me as an individual and helped develop skills that are useful in the work place.

Overseas work
I have been lucky enough to spend 4 years working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This has given me the experience of working in a different culture to that of my native UK and thus having to be sensitive to the differences between the 2 cultures. This is particularly important at certain times of year such as the holy month of Ramadan. It has also given me experience of the added difficulties of not only assisting users who are not confident with IT but also whose native language is not English. This has helped me learn to tailor my method of providing support to ensure different types of user can understand and benefit from my assistance.

City Councillor
In 2003 I was elected to serve on Durham City Council. As part of my time on the Council I served on a number of varied committees including Development Control and the Appeals Panel (of which I was Chair for 2 years); both of which involved having to listen carefully to arguments from opposing parties and making a lawful, unbiased and just decision. During my last 2 years I was the Chair of my political group within the Council. This position involved working with the Leader of the Council in running the regular meetings of our political group where we would discuss upcoming Council business. I also worked closely with a number of people and organisations in my local area, some of which I am still involved with to this day as an active member, committee member, and/or webmaster.

CAMRA Branch Chair and Beer Festival Director
I was the Chair of my local Branch of CAMRA for 2 years; a role which included managing 2 Durham Beer Festivals. This was a role that included chairing monthly Branch meetings, liaising with other Branches within the Region and supporting Branch activities. Managing the Beer Festival involved working with other Branch members, suppliers and other volunteers over a number of months in the build-up to the festival and then taking overall responsibility during the actual Festival.

University Students' Union Steering Committee
In my last year at University I was elected to the Steering Committee of the Students' Union.This role involved working as part of a team who were responsible for running meetings and elections with the SU and ensuring that the Standing Orders of the SU were kept to during Union meetings and elections, or providing interpretations and advice on the Standing Orders for Union members. We were also responsible for hearing appeals lodged by SU members against officers of the Union. Therefore it was important to work as part of a team to ensure a unified front in meetings; but also be able to listen to the opinion of others and form and express my own thoughts when discussing matters in private; especially when considering appeals by members of the Union.

Cricket Scorer
This role involved taking a course before taking an with the Association of Cricket Umpires and Scorers, on which I scored 100%. The cricket scoring has helped me further develop concentration skills, given a match may last up to 6 hours. It also involves team working when you have a 2nd scorer from the opposition team; but also working alone as not all teams can provide a scorer. Scoring also requires good organisation skills to ensure the score-book is updated correctly, as well as ensuring you are correctly equipped and ready at the ground in good time.

Football Referee
After taking a short course and passing a written and verbal exam I became a qualified football referee. During my time as a referee I was active in one my local youth leagues and later with University matches during my first 2 years. The football refereeing demanded a high level of situational awareness and the ability to make quick decisions whilst keeping to the Laws of the game. Communication was an important skill, partly to easily convey a decision but also to be able to quickly resolve a situation that may have escalated to a major incident. Good organisation was also required to ensure arriving at a ground at a suitable time in advance of the start of a match, submitting required paperwork at the end of matches, and ensuring all required equipment was taken to matches. Due to the level of match I was refereeing it was important that I could work alone as I did not have qualified assistants to help me.