Big Dave CIC

Mission statement:

“We believe that all children & young people should grow up without being bullied. We combat bullying with proven strategies that can be adopted straight away with presentations tailored to specific needs.”

Describe the aims & activities of your organisation

Dave Gauder is a World Renowned Strongman, motivational speaker, anti bullying activist & an Ambassador for Standing up for Birmingham (#SU4BRUM). Dave has multiple listings in the Guinness Book of records & has presented his anti bullying presentation to over a million people.

Big Dave CIC is a relaunch of the Dave's vision with a structure to support his work in the current economic climate. Previously funding for the project was directed from local authorities & police who sadly have lost resources & sections of staff that dealt with Dave via community safety partnerships. Accordingly we are pursuing all avenues of funding to continue the project & part of the strategy is to capitalize on publicity in the hope of gaining support from some commercial sponsors.

This project is a government award winning scheme aimed at bullying & anti-social behaviour. It can be adapted  to any age group but is mainly aimed at year 6 & year 7. All of the presentations are directly relevant to many of the elements of the syllabus for PSHE delivery in the school curriculum, including Key stages 3, 4 & 5.

The project also deals with the subjects of street robbery and personal safety which is covered in the Town Action Plan under Community Safety. Individual organisations often ask Dave to emphasis a particular problem they are facing & each presentation is tailored for the receiving audience.

This won a prestigious Oyster Award from the Home Secretary.

At the invitation of schools, police, local authorities, institutions or groups, Dave makes a visit with a physical demonstration of strength - usually pulling a large vehicle such as a bus or fire engine. Sometimes the organisation prefers to fit in more dialogue. Having gained the attention & respect of his audience, he then makes a heartfelt presentation: he was bullied as a child, forced to lie & steal & his school work & quality of life deteriorated. Dave shares strategies of how to deal with bullying, steers youngsters toward making positive choices & contributions. Guidance for the staff & school on promoting a culture of anti bullying is also given.

Inspiring those who feel they are under stress is also a main motivating factor. Dave is perhaps the best example that great things can be achieve from humble beginnings.