Daniel joined the St John’s team 2018 with responsibility for the management and further development of courses and other community interactions of St John’s charity The Bridge at Waterloo (TBAW) here.
Since then, he has used his knowledge of the local youth situation and his connections and insights into the workings of local authorities, service providers and schools, to refocus the courses, building on feedback from participants and carving out a distinctive role for TBAW in a very complex ‘landscape’.
Daniel (whose grandfather arrived on The Windrush) says his journey to the position he has today starts with being blessed with parents who gave him, he says, “unlimited encouragement”. By contrast, in his day at Archbishop Tennison’s School, the teachers seemed to him to be downtrodden, without ambition for themselves or their students. There were only three black teachers of which just one was present all the time. Even so, looking back he feels there was more encouragement then than there is today when kids’ aspirations get shot down all too often as unattainable, not realistic. If a young person expresses a desire to be a footballer the predictable response is well-rehearsed, discouraging rhetoric “only one in a million makes it”.
He believes so much comes down to representation. “If you see someone who resembles you reaching a pinnacle or certain feat, you know it can be done. You have to instil belief.” Then, black role models were only emerging “you just didn’t see black lawyers, doctors, barristers”. Stereotyping remains a live issue as it puts a ceiling on aspiration. He comments that you still seldom see black or ethnic main characters in positions of power. Too often they are judges on a TV panel show centered around sport or entertainment. There are higher aspirations for black kids other than a sports personality or entertainer. MPs and the Cabinet do not fully represent their constituents – lots of words but not action, although recently Vauxhall MP Florence Eshalomi invited Daniel onto a panel to explore what a Labour government should do to inspire black kids into taking up more positions which he felt was a step in the right direction.
Yes, the door may have opened to young black people, but the hurdles have shifted. It is, Daniel says, more difficult now than it has ever been, for instance, to get a school to bring in a role model to talk at assembly where perceptions could begin to break down. School structures have not adapted. “If only schools would make use of organisations like TBAW, Hive and Seek (on-line portal connecting small businesses), Bay Tree Centre here. They have people who have real life, boots-on-the-ground experience and wisdom to pass on.”
After secondary school, Daniel opted for 6th form college to study music technology and business. At the end of his first year, he got a holiday job with NHS Professionals, working in St Mary’s Hospital Paddington as a temp. With a good job and earning money, he didn’t see the point of going back to college. It was the start of an eight-year career in the NHS. From working in the medical library and on reception, Daniel moved on to manage reception at the Western Eye Hospital in Marylebone and from there to management of the Drug Team at Blackfriars. He left the NHS to work in the private sector for an ENT specialist in Harley Street, finally managing a team of physios for Crystal Palace Physio Group in the occupational health department with clients including the army, the police and many companies, providing workplace assessments for occupational health needs.
During this time, Daniel was volunteering with Young Lambeth Cooperative, staging events, working on the ground with young people exploring what they wanted from the community, helping them to work around red tape, enabling them to get their voices heard.
When a full-time position came up he didn’t get it, but within a week he was called back. Unlike Daniel, the original appointee lacked any real experience. Recently he was proud to hear a girl who has a place at Oxford, alumnus of City of London Academy where his daughter Jayda will be going, crediting him and the work of Young Lambeth for the encouragement and confidence it gave her. After four years with Young Lambeth, Daniel had become disillusioned with the box-ticking to meet government quotas rather than focussing on the efficacy of programmes for individual young people and getting them on the road.
At this point Daniel saw the advertisement for programme manager at TBAW and the rest is history. He believes TBAW is evolving in the right direction with plans to provide a ‘wrap-around’ range of mental therapies through TBAW’s putative initiative ‘Waterloo Well’ as well as work-ready skills. By partnering local hostels and organisations which share TBAW’s goal of improving an individual’s quality of life, TBAW can play a vital role, plugging a gap in today’s council services.
Aside from his youth work, Daniel has a dynamic alternative life, founded on a talent he discovered he had for entertaining large, diverse crowds. For 17 years he has been a DJ, building his reputation first at house parties, then taking over a community radio show in Tottenham playing 90s Hip Hop and RnB, touring the UK with R&B band Damage and performing across the world including Ibizia, Marrakesh and Pezenas. Now he has his own company S.O. Wedding Entertainment. It looks as though Jayda has inherited the genes as she already DJs too.
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