Meet Pep the Poet who retired from teaching and is now 'scattering sunshine one poem at a time'

Since he was young David had been inspired by his favourite storytellers including singers Paul McCartney and Dolly Parton and poet Pam Ayres.

“Poetry has been in my family for generations. My great-great-grandfather was a poet and I have one of his poetry books from 1867,” he explains.

However, David, who lives in Rugeley, says he never had the confidence to share his writing because he believed it wasn’t good enough.

“I suffered massively from impostor syndrome.

“Some of the poems I perform now, I’ve had for 30 years but I never thought they were good enough.

“My life changed when I realised that fear tells lies.

“Fear gets inside our heads and stops us from doing the things we love,” says the 60-year-old.

Four years ago, David retired after spending 35 years working in education, including 25 years as a teacher and deputy headteacher.

Although he always enjoyed teaching, he says a long time of not looking after his mental health ended in a nervous breakdown.

“I was off work for three months with anxiety and depression.

“Thankfully, I had a good team around me and got the support I needed.

“I now practise mindfulness, meditation and gratitude lists and I got better at protecting my mental health.”

The father of two, who was supported through his recovery by his wife Paula, now uses his experiences of self-centred fear and anxiety to help both children and adults as a performance poet and wellbeing champion.

So far, he has visited around 200 primary and secondary schools across the Midlands to run poetry performance and writing workshops.

He has also published five poetry collections for children, including his debut, Peter Pants and His Collection of Silly Poems, and his latest book, The Dept of Laughs and Giggles.

“When I was at school, poetry wasn’t the most inspiring thing, it was quite dull. I show children that poetry can be fun.

“I can literally write a poem about anything. I ask for topics and I write poems about them.

“I’ve been given the topic of dust and I’ve even been able to make dust interesting,” says David, who was previously a deputy headteacher at St Christopher’s Primary School in Codsall.

Everyday life provides plenty of inspiration for new verses and he keeps a notepad by his bed to write down ideas as they come to him.

“I can get inspired by lots of things and by funny things people say. I will wake up at 3am and scribble in my pad.

“Paul McCartney said the tune of Yesterday came to him in a dream – so I’m in good company,” he says.

During his performances, he aims to demystify many of the myths around poetry and show that it can be entertaining as well as a tool for expressing thoughts and emotions.

His wide repertoire of poems includes silly and humorous verses and as well as many addressing more serious topics.

To engage further with his audience, David will also recite his poems in many different UK accents and dialects, a skill that stems from his childhood.

“I was born in Scotland and my family moved to Rugeley in 1964.

“My father was a coal miner and I was brought up on a council estate.

“When we played in the street, the mums and dads would call their kids in for tea and there was a cacophony of accents, Welsh, Irish, Geordie, Brummie etc.

“I would do impressions of people’s mums and dads. My poems now feature characters like a Scottish worm, a Liverpudlian ant, a Brummie bee and a Geordie spider,” he explains.

David, who is a key notes speaker, also runs workshops for secondary schools and universities focussed on positive mental health and wellbeing as well as anti-bullying and alcohol abuse.

“I talk about the importance of looking after our mental health and encourage children to identify and talk about their anxieties and how they can overcome them,” he says.

The most rewarding aspect of his work is seeing the joy on the faces of children as he is reciting his poetry.

“It sounds really corny but the thing I love the most is the smiles,” says David.

“I love seeing a room of 200 children doubled over with laughter because of a poem I have written.

“What I also love is when young people say ‘when I’m older, I want to be a poet’.”

For more information about David’s poetry and wellbeing workshops and his children’s poetry collections, see www.pepthepoet.co.uk or www.facebook.com/pepthepoet