About Me
I was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, growing up and going to school there. After my marriage in 1974, the family (wife Cynthia and daughters Gillian and Pamela) moved around the UK, going from Bradford to Carlisle, Knowle (Solihull), Bristol and London. I retired from full-time work in 2009 and moved with my wife to Conwy, North Wales where we celebrated their Golden Wedding in 2024.
My career has been in the Health and Social Care sector, with various management roles in the public and private sectors, culminating in the last job full-time role before retirement as Chief Operating Officer with Leonard Cheshire Disability. Post retirement I have undertaken a range of interim management and consultancy roles, working with Hospitals, Care Homes and, particularly, Home Care providers.
Over the years, I have been an enthusiastic sailor and had my own cruising boat spending many weeks and months sailing around the UK, with the West coast of Scotland a particular favourite. Cynthia and I spent a year living on board our boat, cruising the South coast of England, the Channel Islands and France / Belgium / Holland once our daughters had flown the nest. In more recent years golf has taken over from sailing as my preferred leisure activity and I am now Chairman of the Seniors section of his local Golf Club.
This reads like a very traditional life story – but it’s not the whole picture. Growing up in Yorkshire, I was an ordinary kid in a middle-class family, full of hopes and dreams but, like many, subject to the pull of life’s twists and turns. Despite a good education, there were a number of early warnings of trouble ahead and things took a major turn for the worse when I was just 17. A series of wrong choices led me off track, resulting in time spent in a detention centre and, later, prison. For anyone, these experiences would leave a lasting impact—and they did for me, too. But this was not where my story ended.
I found a way to take back control, making deliberate steps to rebuild my life, career, and character. After years of struggle, I ultimately reached a place of stability and success. I had help along the way from others including, particularly, my wife but am proud to now be able to look back on the successes rather than the failures.
So the road of my life has not always been smooth; there were so many twists, and turns, but I’ve got some valuable insights. With MAD or BAD, I hope to make a positive change in our society and in the lives of people who are suffering. The pivotal moments I shared can help you too, as my analysis is both honest and encouraging.
Not sure the following para (which is in the original About the Author draft) is relevant here – it’s really about the book and is already covered adequately in that section?
Colin Young captures an inspiring tale throughout the book that starts with a blank slate and moves forward in the right direction. In MAD or BAD, he takes people into the highs and lows of his own life so that he can help others to steer their lives and succeed in whatever they want to do.
