I was born in North Wales, went to school in Chester and have lived in rainy Manchester since 1999. Along the way I have also spent 18 months living in France – working first behind a bar in a ski resort, and later teaching English to sixth-formers in Lyon.

I have worked as chief reporter at the Evening Leader , in North Wales; investigations reporter at the North West Enquirer and reporter at the Manchester Evening News . As a freelancer I have worked shifts, regularly help to edit The Big Issue in the North and supply ideas and features to a diverse range of publications.

To date, my work has included hard-hitting interviews with survivors of rape and child abuse, destitute asylum seekers, prisoners, sex workers and the victims and perpetrators of domestic violence. In 2008, I was short-listed for the ‘best feature story/writing for social impact' category in the International Street Paper Awards, for an investigation into rough sleeper counts.

I have built up strong links with communities and campaigners in a number of fields across the north of England. I have also used the freedom that comes with freelancing by visiting a number of countries independently or with NGOs to write about human rights issues – most recently spending a month in Israel and Palestine to research stories on politics, society and culture.

It's not all doom and gloom though. An experienced music and lifestyle journalist, I have visited far-flung destinations including Malaysia and Malawi for travel assignments and have braved acupuncture, hypnotherapy, self-defence classes and other challenges for first-person newspaper and magazine features. I am a keen amateur photographer with some basic training – City and Guilds levels one and two. I am increasingly providing images for publication and carrying out small documentary photography projects on subjects I care about.