As I’ve grown older, my frontline engagement in the spheres of childcare and education has diminished and I have come to dedicate more time to research and consultancy. This has increased the range and intensity of my engagement with social services and academia throughout Europe.
Throughout my adult life I have been bookish and something of a lifelong learner and child development and the impact of trauma and deprivation have been prominent among the range of topics I explore as is the vital importance of Play. Social inclusion figures highly within my range of focus and defines my main role within Equilibrium.
I frequently find myself being addressed as Grandad David (Dyado David or Di-Di in Bulgaria) and this doesn’t necessarily come from my grandchildren. Many have decided that the moniker suits me and I like it. It captures something important about me – I love the company of children. I always try to catch the eye of little ones that I pass in the street or encounter in the supermarket. I love it when they look back at me when passing. We send little messages to one another with our eyes.
My many years of work with Equilibrium have brought me into contact with children and young people in all sorts of predicaments but I have never lost my optimism. I don’t work with broken children. The circumstances they live in are broken. They can be fixed.