About Me

My Story

I grew up as the child of a pastor in Leigh on Sea in Essex. I am the eldest of three and the son of Peter and Olga Robinson. We were and remain so to this day, a close family where each of us would consider each other friends.

At school, academics were not my area of interest. My passions were having a laugh, messing about (which no doubt made me a pain to my teachers), and various sports, such as rugby and swimming. Over time, I became captain of both of those teams.

Leadership was, right from the start, what I was destined for. At 19, I took what was initially a “year out” but became two to volunteer for a youth organisation working in some of the poorest parts of the UK. I was based in Birkenhead, Liverpool, where I was asked to lead the team after a month or so.

After that, by the grace of God, I made it into a computer programming graduate program despite not having a degree or even attending university. I did, however, pass the entrance exam 3 times with 100% before someone took a chance on me.

In 1991, at the age of 24, I married Hazel and moved to Brighton, UK. There, we enjoyed our married life together, had lots of fun, made some great friends, and attended what was then called the Church of Christ the King (CCK), now called Emmanuel Church.

After a few years, we moved to Horsham, UK, where we started a family. We have two sons, Tom, who is now 30 and married, and Eddie, who is 28, married and has two children I adore! Both Tom and Eddie work for a YouTube company called Theorist. Tom hosts Game Theory, a channel with almost 20 million followers, and Eddie is a scriptwriter. Both boys and their wives are active members of their respective churches. I am immensely proud of both of them!

At this point, my career exploded. I moved from Junior Programmer to Technical Support Team Leader. After many promotions, I eventually became the Sales and marketing director of this international software company. I managed sales teams and spoke at conferences in Las Vegas, San Francisco, and London.

I then took a massive risk and left that very secure and lucrative job to pursue my dream of running my own company, using a software project I had developed in my “spare” time. In partnership with a family friend, we successfully ran this company for several years before my former employer enticed me back to be their international sales and marketing director.

Although I was now working 1 week every month in America and the remainder in the UK, travelling a lot, and had a very demanding and high-pressure job, I always prioritised my volunteering as a youth leader in our local church, now called Lifespring, with Hazel.

Again, after several years, Hazel and I decided to retake a massive risk by me leaving my job again, taking a 72% pay cut and taking up paid employment at Lifespring (The called Kings Church Horsham). This involved Hazel going back to work full-time and me taking a much more active role in the home than I had been used to.

Soon, after being employed as the Youth Pastor, I became an Elder in the church and was, after two years, asked to lead the senior leadership team. During this period I was also invited to be part of a regional team with the broader organisation our church was part of - NewFrontiers.

After 12 years of leading the senior leadership team, Covid hit. In the first year, together with the team, we adapted well, but as we went into the second year of lockdown, I hit a wall! I am an introverted introvert who loves being with people, but not always. I get “peopled out” and need to recharge and have my own space. To my surprise, after a year of lockdown isolation, I became whatever the opposite of “peopled out” is and was hit by a terrible bout of depression. I found myself sitting at my desk in tears, and I didn’t know why, but I knew I needed help. I temporarily laid down all leadership responsibilities, and after 6 months of anti-depression medication, weekly counselling with a therapist, and a great deal of prayer, I was free!

During this time of depression, the church's leadership was handed over to a young man I had hired some six years earlier. Together, we planned for him to take over the team's leadership at some point. In fact, we had a five-year plan, and while I was out of commission, he demonstrated that he was more than capable.

However, upon returning to work, I realised it would not be fair to reclaim the team leadership position and that the right thing to do was accelerate our plans, so I stepped down from that role. I remained, and continue to remain, an elder of the church and part of the senior leadership team, but I no longer have primary responsibility.

Over this same period, I also set up WAYMAKER INTERNATIONAL. This charity raises funds to equip overseas churches and Christian organisations to bring the Kingdom of God by serving the poor, predominantly in Africa. We have built several schools, funded over 50 orphans each year, supported two orphanages, and changed rural African communities by drilling boreholes, providing fresh water, and teaching them better farming techniques that ensure, after year, secure ongoing food security. (You can find out more about WayMaker's work on our website, www.waymaker.org.uk and www.waymaker.africa)

Then, in January 2023, I was diagnosed with terminal stage-4 bowel cancer and given an average life expectancy of 2-3 years. I continue to fight both the diagnosis and prognosis by crying out to God with many others for the miracle of healing. That said, my faith in Him and His goodness remains unwavering, and from the first day of diagnosis, I have known his supernatural peach that passes understanding. (You can learn more about this part of my journey through my website and video posts at The Big C in Me.).

With all that going on, it was time for Hazel and I to take another risk of faith. For 18 months, Lifespring, my employer, had kept me on full pay while I was off sick, which is incredible, amazing, and so generous). However, I did not feel that, in the church's best interest, this could continue indefinitely, so in June 2024, I came off the pay role while remaining an Elder and senior leadership team member. We then looked to God to provide for us through WayMaker, which he did and continues to do.

My income now comes from part-time remuneration from WayMaker and from, I hope, coaching and public speaking, which is what this website is all about. If you would like to help, consider any of the following.