Paul Sanderson

Paul David Sanderson MBE (born 8 June 1968) is the Chaplain at The Littlehampton Academy in West Sussex. He has been Chaplain since 2009. He stood as an independent candidate for the Bognor Regis & Littlehampton constituency in the June 2017 general election polling 2,088 votes (4.1%) finishing fourth ahead of both UKIP and the Green Party.

He is a former trustee for The Body Shop Foundation and current Chair of Trustees for CRED Foundation. On behalf of the national charity Spurgeons Child Care, Sanderson founded The WIRE project in 1996. Ten years later, he was awarded an MBE for his services to Young People in West Sussex in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.^[1] He recently ran for parliament in the 2017 General Election. Sanderson stood in the seat of Bognor Regis and Littlehampton but was overwelmingly defeated by over 28,000 votes by the Conservative candidate and schools Minister Nick Gibb.

Background

Sanderson was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, but he grew up in Surbiton, Surrey. He was educated at the Hollyfield School in Surbiton. He is the son of Pauline Bexon, who was co-founder of 'Moves Fitness' and Peter Sanderson, a former Pastor at Surbiton Community Church.

Sanderson famously made it to the sport back page headlines as the have-a-go hero^[2] who helped rescue a local woman and child^[3] during the scenes of chaos outside the Boleyn Ground in the build-up to the West Ham United vs Manchester United match in May 2016.

Career

Early roles while at school included being a cleaner at Kingston upon Thames hospital and "Gopher" to Kingston Basketball Club. On leaving school he spent a year as an apprentice asphalt flat roofer, and afterwards he worked in a small local printing shop, Beech Grove Press.

Aged 21, Sanderson was employed as a full-time Youth and Community worker at a local church. His role included setting up counselling services for young people in schools, and overseeing a joint partnership venture for youth advice and support in Kingston town centre called 'the Magic Roundabout.' He chaired the management committee for six years, bringing together the health, social and youth services to meet the needs of local young people. Sanderson was an avid escapologist and used his straight jacket escape as a form of communication in his community work. Despite his dyslexia, Sanderson is continually inspired to discover highly creative ways to impart positive messages to his audience.

Throughout his early career, Sanderson was a part-time DJ. Going by the name 'DJ Swift', he performed at venues up and down the country. He retired from this in 2004, not before playing at the original Wembley Stadium.

In 1996, Sanderson moved with his family to Littlehampton to set up the community support programme called The WIRE (Wick, Information, Recreation, Education) Project. This project started in a portakabin located in the car park of the then Wickbourne Chapel. Sanderson spent three months listening to the community and their needs. He responded to these needs running activities for children, young people and families – he quickly built a large team of staff and volunteers. The WIRE Project was honoured with a top Queen's award for its excellent community volunteer work.^[4] Notable supporters of the WIRE project include the late Anita Roddick, (founder of The Body Shop),^[5] and the High Sheriff of West Sussex.

Sanderson instigated the summer holiday play-scheme 'The Festival of Wick',^[6] which ran for one week in August from 1998 to 2004 with over one hundred volunteers supporting the event. The Festival witnessed a daily influx of approximately seven hundred children, young people and families from Littlehampton to enjoy a fun-packed programme for all ages.^[7] The legacy lives on through the annual summer event 'Wick Week'.

Prior to his MBE, Sanderson gathered together local churches and West Sussex County Council to the table to instigate a partnership that led to the creation of the 'Sure Start Wickbourne Centre', opening in 2005.^[8] Significantly, the Wickbourne Centre was built on the site of the Wickbourne Chapel.

Sanderson acted as a governor for a number of years at the White Meadows Primary School and The Littlehampton Community School (since changed to The Littlehampton Academy).

Sanderson performed consultancy work as a keynote speaker, team leader and trainer for several years. He worked on a variety of subjects for different organisations including; Durham County Council, Salvation Army, Spring Harvest and a Danish Pentecostal Bible College.

In his role as Chaplain at the Woodard run Littlehampton Academy (TLA), he has provided holistic support for the 1500 students and over 200 staff at the school. He co-ordinates assembles, faith-based events, oversees charitable activities and has taught Religious Studies and Citizenship to students.

Overseas work

Since 1996, Sanderson has run an extensive number of overseas trips, taking groups of young people from the UK into vulnerable communities in developing countries. He has led trips to Mexico, Romania, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, India and Thailand.^[9][10][11]

Personal life

Sanderson and his wife Heather married in 1989. They live in Wick, Littlehampton and they have four children. Sanderson is a practising Christian. He and his family were part of Bognor Revelation Church from 1996 to 2006. Since then, they have been part of Arun Community Church who meet at The Littlehampton Academy.

He is a West Ham United fan and season ticket holder along with his eldest son.

References