Gosport, Stubbington, Lee-on-the-Solent & Hill Head
Graham was awarded a “Member of Honour” by the Romanian Former Political Prisoners
Association in
recognition of his courageous human rights activities inside Romania
on behalf of prisoners of conscience before the fall of the Iron Curtain
A Summary of Graham’s Background
Over the past 20 years I have effectively worked at three levels, at the grass roots level where I have striven to improve the conditions for deprived & marginalised groups within society; in education & training where I have been involved in setting up & delivering university law & social justice courses to empower others to make a difference in their own community, and at the national policy level where I have helped develop national policies in Romania & other eastern European post-communist countries.
Graham’s Background in more detail
In the late 1970s I studied at Spurgeon’s Theological College and led a Baptist church in King's Cross where I witnessed first-hand the problems associated with deprivation in inner-London. For the next 5 years I led a church in Saltash and was co-leader of a large church in Plymouth. While living in Devon, I was deeply touched when I heard about the plight of prisoners of conscience in Romania. Consequently, I got involved with a charity supporting Romanian Christians. I later established the Romanian Missionary Society, one of whose aims was to support/train young leaders. During my Romanian trips I visited prisoners of conscience & those under house arrest. In the dying days of Ceausescu’s dictatorship I was banned for life from entering communist Romania due to my "subversive" activities.
As a result of these experiences, I became passionately interested in criminal & social justice issues and the plight of prisoners and victims. Accordingly, I joined Devon probation service and was soon awarded a scholarship to study for a "Social Work & Criminal Justice" degree at Exeter University. The fall of communism in Romania in 1989 allowed me to resume my pioneering initiatives in that country. In 1991 I set up "Europe 2 Europe", a Hampshire-based charity with a linked sister charity in Romania that initially worked with severely physically disabled children. Having completed my degree, I went on to study for a Masters degree in "Advanced Probation Studies & Social Care". My research involved practical assignments, two of which he carried out in Romania. The first helped set up social work training courses serving children & adults with disabilities, while the second helped start up a juvenile justice/probation service for the newly emerging democratic Romanian state. I received my doctorate from Bucharest University.
I worked for a while as Director of Probation Studies & Social Care at Exeter University. I have continued my charity work with "Europe 2 Europe"; set up social work courses and also lectured at Bucharest and Arad universities; I completed strategic government reports on juvenile justice issues for a number of former Communist states. Arising from these activities, I developed an interest in solving root causes in drug addiction; I have also been actively involved in setting up the national Anti-Drugs Agency in Romania.
"It’s easy to be cynical about politics these days, but my experience is that if you have strong values, determination & visionary ideas you can make a huge difference to the lives of individuals
& their communities"
