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Meet Russell, the heart behind our project and community. He’s been confronting the hurdles young individuals face when they can't fit into the standardised school systems that were not built for them - the trauma, burnout, isolation, and everything in between.
Russell's son, who's autistic, experienced these challenges during his EBSA, and couldn’t engage with conventional home-learning. Russell decided to introduce him to game design and development.
Seeing his son's increased engagement, with the realisation that EBSA is a common struggle for thousands of young autistic minds, Russell was inspired to make a broader impact. He personally funded and founded Game Changers to help neurodiverse kids that can't do school the way it is set-up today.
Russell is no stranger to the disengagement that today's kids feel. He struggled too and earned F's across his GCSEs. However alongside his work in MIG welding and construction, back at home, taught himself design and coding. Aged 21, without GCSEs, he founded a tech company, to pioneer his theoretical system, the first of its kind, to safeguard banking system customer accounts from large-scale fraud attacks. 20 years later, it is still used today by many of the main U.K. retail banks. After selling this business, comprising of 70 engineers, Russell then led a prominent AI company, with 3,000 staff, aiding governments and banks in fighting organised crime in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Following two decades of work in this area, Russell counseled the UK Government leadership on digital strategy.
Yet, alongside Russell's professional attainment, his personal life told a different tale as his son grappled with EBSA and mental health. In 2022, Russell took the decision to leave full-time work and provide the day to day support his son needed.
Russell had knowledge of mental health issues and trauma. As a child and through to the age of 17 he had 7 ACEs. As an adult he experienced a major traffic accident in 2018, leading to a six-month journey of respiratory and mental health rehabilitation but with PTSD that affects him to this day.
These experiences alongside training in suicide prevention from the Royal College of Nursing, and his ongoing work with young people and their families only continues to fortify Russell's commitment to young people's mental health advocacy.
He has identified a need to assist young people facing battles, including disengagement from standardised school systems not designed for them (or the age we live in), school based trauma, loss of friendships, damaged self-esteem, depression or negative perception of an autistic diagnosis. Some of the kids we work with are also supported by CAMHS crisis teams.
Our mission is clear: to make young people happier, confident, and to prepare them for a future where technology and hyper-focus might be their greatest ally.
