Some words of thanks.

"I would like to take the opportunity to thank Harborne Parish Lands, Harborne Parish Charity, Zurich Community Trust Local Programme & Bernard Higgins Trust for supporting our award winning Anti Bullying Campaign which is again underway in schools around the Birmingham & Midland area. We look forward to working in many schools in the near future with many appointments made & some negotiation of dates ongoing to fit around existing school programmes. As ever, we are keen to work with any charity, funding provider & school/youth organisation/official body to further the campaign & prevent lives being ruined by bullying. Stay strong, talk, talk, talk."

Big Dave.

Anti Bullying Campaign update April 29th 2016

We've been quiet for the last few months, but that doesn't mean nothing is going on. Dave has been delivering a series of Anti Bullying presentations to the pupils of Newtown Primary School in Sandwell whilst also engaged in building the structure of the Big Dave Community Interest Company. 

Funding is the most difficult obstacle to delivery - whilst there is demand & interest from schools to tackle the things that Dave can help with, the budgets have been cut & as mentioned previously many of the partnerships that existed between schools & police where the campaign was organised have simply disappeared.

217 grant funding bodies have been investigated since November 2015. Of those 217, we appeared to fit the criteria of 35. 14 rejected us outright. 18 have not yet decided or replied either way. 3  have said yes, we will help. 

We're truly grateful to Harborne Parish Charity, Harborne Parish Lands & Zurich Community Trust Local Programme for backing us. We'll be making some noise along the way about what we're doing & where we've been. Onwards!

Angel of strength Big Dave with Fr. Graeme Richardson of St. Peter's Church Harborne.

Big Dave's Buddy Scheme adopted in Sandwell School.

Following the success of Big Dave's visit to Newtown Primary School (Sandwell) on 18th November last year, headteacher Karen Godwin has engaged the Angel of Strength to introduce the buddy scheme to year four over the coming term in a number of weekly sessions. Building on the successful model Dave has piloted elsewhere, pupils will be encouraged to become positive contributors during lessons that encompass health, wellbeing, citizenship, exercise, nutrition which are all components of the ongoing anti bullying campaign. 

Dave says: "Big Dave's Buddies is a scheme where young people in a school, community or youth club act as leaders/peer mentors, leading by example. The buddies have a special status & are expected to be pro-active in prevention of bullying & anti social behaviour. Both Karen Godwin & I believe the school should be the heart of a community where good things emanate outwards."

For more information on how the buddies scheme could be implemented in your school or organisation please get in touch:

Pitching to the World.

Guinness World Records colouring book featuring Big Dave.

The picture above is a good metaphor of how it feels to pitch to the world. Whatever the benefits & opportunities offered, even the best ideas are often glanced over with a cursory frown. If presented over the phone or in an unimaginative setting on a grey January Monday morning when it's raining, we're really up against it. Luckily the enthusiasm Dave has to exert his muscles & help influence the young people of the world has not diminished since his anti bullying campaign began & the colourful effect he has on the young people can be seen in dozens of photos like this:

"It's my crusade," he told me a long time ago. "I'm in constant unrelenting competition with myself." His passion to make a difference is something that has always impressed me, from the day when I first saw the picture of him pulling Concorde to this morning when he called me with the latest update. It's easy to see why he's achieved so much.

There are over 180 testimonials if anyone cares to download the file & many more could be added, enough to make a replica telephone directory for Dave to tear in half on the days like today when we're waiting for the due process of multiple bureaucracies to catch up with his enthusiasm.

Dave keeps himself in shape, ready to pull a bus this afternoon if needed. With the weekend looming the offices are winding down & on Monday morning at 9am people might look at our paperwork again. If the sun is shining, maybe they'll see our vision in colour, rather than as a black & white line drawing:

If you would like Dave to make an anti bullying presentation to your school or group please email:

 or

Councillors, Members of Parliament & local authority officials who would like to lend their support are also encouraged to get in touch. 

Wrestling with technology & the forgotten plane pull.

Those who have followed Big Dave over the years will know that there have been a few websites & social media accounts. Dave doesn't spend a great deal of time on the internet, the gym being his favourite place to be between meals. Communication is vital though. If you're going to TALK TALK TALK, then some sort of electronic medium needs to be maintained. One of the challenges of the last few months has been to pull together some of the resources & pages. Passwords have been lost & some of the login email accounts had been deleted. Big Dave says: "Never Say Can't," so with some perseverance our previous domains - www.bigdavesworld.co.uk & the Tumblr account have been rescued, redirected & updated. There are a few twitter & youtube accounts floating about, but gradually they'll all be reigned back & pointed back to here. Have a look at a few of the videos found here.

In the meantime more archive material has emerged - pictures from the bus lift, Edinburgh military tattoo, airplane pulls, vehicle lifts & even more bus pulls. There have been a few surprises too. We often talk about pulling Concorde, the Boeing 747 & the B52 stratofortress, but Dave also pulled an RAF tornado, Vulcan bomber, Boeing 707 & an airbus that he'd forgotten all about until he clipping was found. With over a thousand vehicle pulls, the holding back of planes, motorbikes, cars, vans & horses, & the various lifts of vehicles completely off the ground there are a lot of stories to tell. We'll be putting these into some sort of order over the next few weeks so please check back again regularly.

The forgotten plane pull

Anti bullying campaign relaunch - Holly Hall Academy, Dudley. 13th January, 2016

The anti bullying campaign has been going a good many years now. It's easy to reel off the numbers - over a million children engaged, over 1050 vehicles pulled. There have been some real successes too, with many positive stories coming back via evaluations, anecdotes & testimonials. Relaunching the campaign today to a new audience at Holly Hall Academy in Dudley was no less special than the first presentation. 

Children have questions:

"Could you lift that table?" 

"What was the hardest lift you ever did?" 

"What's the most you've ever bench pressed?" 

"Would you have been a strongman if you weren't bullied?" 

"How much do you eat?"

"Which world record is your favourite?"

Questions flow back & forth, scenarios are discussed & the conversation develops. The magic of youth, their enthusiasm & ambitions unfold. "Never Say Can't," is a message that can be carried forwards. "Talk, Talk, Talk," similarly reminds the importance of communication. 

A report by Childline last week suggested that children are increasingly becoming lonely & unhappy. Sharing ambitions & talking about concerns is the start of teamwork, friendship & ultimately success. One child, one class, one school at a time.

The work goes on.

Help Big Dave beat Bullying!

Have you ever been bullied at work or at home?

If you or your loved ones have ever been affected by bullying you can empathise with the plight of its victims.

Angel of Strength Dave Gauder is a Multi World Record holder for feats of strength. He was bullied at school. With hard work, determination & self belief Dave went on to pull planes, trains, trucks, military hardware, lift enormous weights & restrain vehicles, boats, aircrafts & draught horses. Instead of competing for prizes or personal gain, he used his strength to start an ongoing campaign against bullying.

Dave inspires young people to believe in themselves & spreads his positive messages in all of his good work. Dave has a flair for empowering people, channelling confidence & inner strength.

Dave's anti bullying roadshow has successfully taken on some of the countries toughest schools in the most deprived areas. Children respect & listen to him. Schools community leaders, police & most importantly children rave about his anti - bullying campaign. There are hundreds of testimonials, some can be viewed here. 

Companies have supported Dave's work as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy (CSR) allowing us to continue the good work & raise awareness of the trauma bullying can cause. Looking in our own back yard, The Portrait of the West Midlands Document, (produced by the Office of National Statistics by Angela Medlan*) suggests that 15% of households are victimised at least once, so a presentation to a school of 500 pupils is potentially addressing 75 victims. This is based upon reported crime for the household. Of course, a lot of bullying is never reported. 

Big Dave Community Interest Company is a social enterprise that has successfully devised & developed programmes that support children & young people. Our work takes place wherever a need is identified. Dave has established Buddy Schemes in a cluster of Primary Schools which allow children to take personal responsibility (with support structures in place) to eradicate bullying amongst their piers. 

Dave won an Oyster Award, presented by the Home Secretary of the time (David Blunkett) for his work & is currently an ambassador for Birmingham #SU4BRUM. These accolades strengthens the platform as a community figure that Dave has established over many years. 

Dave Gauder has a proven track record for eradicating bullying. To continue his good work WE NEED YOUR HELP! Work that was previously funded by Community Safety Partnerships, police & local authorities has ceased under the cuts imposed on budgets. We now rely on grant funding & corporate backing to sustain the campaign.

Latest news from the NSPCC Childline suggest that the problems that face children & young people are not improving. Parallel articles in the Daily Mail Daily Telegraph The Times BBC Newsbeat & thirty other media outlets carry the story today (7th January 2016). We're trying to do something about it.

If you can help & would like to find out more, contact us now to discuss how we can integrate supporting our programme into your CSR Strategy. 

email: 

Thank you. 

*We take our population figures from publications produced by the Office of National Statistics which relates to the 2011 census & the 2014 estimates. Local council statistics are also used where needed for specific local information.

Lifting a Bus

One from the archives - often mentioned, but this is a fuller account:

 http://bigdavegauder.blogspot.co.uk/p/lifting-bus.html

Funding the roadshow.

The roadshow has to be funded. In the past the Community Safety Partnerships between Police, Schools, Local & national government made funds available to carry out the work. Many of these initiatives don't exist anymore. The work continues, but funding has to be sourced. Those reading this could help by voting for the grants where available.

We'll keep everyone updated here on what we're doing, where we're going & if there are other funds you can help us get by the click of approval from the links we provide. 

Thanks in hope of your assistance.

Vote here for our bid to the Galaxy Hot Chocolate fund:

https://www.galaxyhotchocolate.com/fund/profiles/angel-of-strength

Opening the Angel of Strength Archives.

Being on the road with the Anti bullying campaign has produced a lot of results. A few crates of paper in the garage contain hundreds of testimonials, newspaper clippings & a lot of nostalgia. It's been a habit to file these away - there is no need to read thank you's more than once when there is more work to be done. The crates in the garage, regularly added to for a number of years, have been kept for when there was time to sort them out, if the need ever arose: it has. 

The economic climate of the last few years has meant that many of the organisations & agencies that made funds available to police & education partnerships have been dissolved. Cutbacks have had to be found in all areas & with no easy way to measure prevention many good projects aimed at building futures for youngsters have gone. 

New avenues have to be explored. Grants for specific projects are still available but a bid has to be made. 

Each panel have a number of questions to be answered usually starting with "Is there a need for this project?" The news headlines suggest that there is. Children in schools are affected the most by bullying. Technology has provided the bully with the means to continue their campaigns after hours & mass media doesn't appear to be full of positive messages. Adults in the work place fare little better. Those with the most resources & ability to stand up to bullying - celebrities & Members of Parliament - are complaining that they are being targeted. So yes, there is a need for this project.

The need to combat bullying, antisocial behaviour, knife crime, drug culture & promote a healthy way of living has not diminished. Tackling the problem in schools & with young people is a solution for now & the future. Supporting evidence for projects is always asked for. So the crates have been turned out, looked at photographed & some of the photos thought lost have appeared. Odd press clippings provide reminders of special memories - unlikely stunts & lots of happy people met along the way. 

There will be a lot of photos appearing in the gallery & a file of some of the testimonials that will grow as other crates & boxes are found & tackled. Hopefully some of the missing photos of the bus lift & train pulls will appear too. To the funding panels who don't know about the thousand or more bus pulls or the million children that have benefited from the positive message delivered the evidence is here. Please help keep the campaign going - for the future. 

Bullying can be tackled. Positive messages can overcome negative cultures. 

Newtown Primary School Anti Bullying Presentation - 18th November 2015.

Angel of Strength Dave Gauder has continued his Training regimen, sharpening himself up for Anti Bullying Week & the start of another round of presentations to school children. 

 Click here to view the Angel of Strength's latest demonstration (18th November 2015)

It's not all about the stunt - it's about gaining the children's attention & this format - a big physical effort, followed by a motivational talk has proved successful, so much so that during a campaign a few years ago, Home Secretary David Blunkett presented Dave with a prestigious Oyster Award in recognition of his efforts towards anti bullying.

Big Centre TV Interview

Last week Big Centre TV interviewed Dave Gauder about his work with young people & his anti bullying campaign. If you missed it, watch here:

Prevention is better than cure.

An engineer will tell anyone who will listen the benefits of preventative maintenance because fixing something that is broken costs more than spending a little regularly to keep everything running smoothly. Some accountants will tell you that such investment is too expensive & any breakages can be worried about in the next accounting period. Kick the can down the street far enough for someone else to worry about & the books might balance this year & bankruptcy may be averted. 

Can we measure prevention? How can we justify investing in the what if's when there are other priorities that demand immediate attention? These basic - but vital - decisions are the bread & butter of politics & a blame culture. Who is right? The engineer that tells us that it will cost more later or the accountant who says there is not enough money available to do everything we want to do? Those who inherit the machine will also pick up the bill for the repairs or replacement. They will likely argue that their approach to the problem would have left a perfectly functioning machine operated at half the cost & twice the efficiency. Elections are coming & promises will be made. The only guaranteed not to be cut is the length of the speeches made by those who claim to have the vision of how things could be with them in charge. 

The metaphor of the engine used in this story represents the child who is having a tough time. A combination of circumstances can mean that small things start to go wrong & escalates into a larger problem for families & society. 

Dave Gauder was bullied at school. It made his life a misery & affected his education. Millions of others had the same treatment & some never recovered from it. Dave decided that he would do something about it. Over the years he pursued strength through weight training. He never stopped. Such an improvement in physical power can be the makings of a bully - or a hero. He directed his energies towards improbable feats if strength. Multiple strength records followed, bringing worldwide acclaim & recognition.  

For some this would have been the start of a competitive career. Instead, Dave used this fame to begin his own crusade against bullying & anti social behavior. With a stunt to gain the attention of the youngsters he then gave a powerful presentation which a former Home Secretary stated was the most effective positive message for youngsters he had encountered. The campaign won awards & was presented to over a million children. Dave lived out of a suitcase for a number of years & pulled over a thousand buses or big vehicles - a record in itself. Dave has led many initiatives & changed a lot of lives. SLAMH continues his commitment to making a difference to people with less chances than most. 

How many people stopped bullying others? How many of the bullied found strength to tackle their situation in a way that Dave himself couldn't when he was at school? How many did he inspire to do positive things? There aren't the figures for prevention. I (Dan Earthquake) saw the article about him pulling Concorde when I was thirteen years old & it inspired me. It still does. 

Times change, funding for police & extra curricular educational activities has been cut & looks set to be cut more. The accountants have said that money has to be prioritised to other concerns in the austere times that we find ourselves in. It has been left to the public & the fourth sector to fill in where it can. 

Dave Gauder has the ability to make a difference & the sort of reputation that young people love & respect. Those wishing to help the cause can do so here.

Big Dave explains the SLAM H concept.

This new concept for Birmingham and its young people will target all aspects of the community, male and female, and has the potential to improve the lives of many marginalised people.  As I have already demonstrated and proven with the award winning SLAMH Programme, out of 800 projects SLAMH made it through to the final stage of the National Lottery Awards and was in the last six.  A great achievement as SLAMH has only been going a very short time. 

What is SLAMH?  Ever wished you had a great role model?  Ever wished you had someone to aspire to be?  I know it is massively important for young people to see and be around those who present themselves as positive role models, that is why I devised SLAMH which has already changed several peoples lives for the good.  Now my work has the opportunity to proceed to another level and deliver many more programmes for young people, not just on the physical side, but on the  general wellbeing to deliver programmes such as life skills, money management, time banking, volunteering, plus access to educational programmes.  I will be partnering with colleges etc on these programmes.

The time banking would work on a ‘learn to earn’ basis ie the opportunity to develop a time bank against the hours worked and those hours set aside for access to educational and physical training opportunities and so increase the social capital of those who find themselves in a position to give something back to the community.  As part of their pathway there may be a reward of recognition to the individuals progress, ie a Princess Diane Award, which would have a positive impact on their CV’s and also a positive impact on reducing re-offending rates as individuals learn new skills and coping strategies that enable them to sustain re-integration back into the community. 

The SLAMH programme represents an opportunity to create a positive community based facility which seeks to provide a life altering experience for young people as I have already achieved with SLAMH.  It will be a positive addition to the community, creating jobs or signposting onto further education.  This is a unique and ambitious project and is based on the vision and experience of Big Dave Gauder who has a proven track record in producing positive outcomes for young people.  At its heart is a desire to change young peoples lives in a positive and sustainable way.  This project does not fit traditional or contemporary models working with hard to reach young people, as it is saying that we need to bring the best of what we are and get the best from who young people really are.

And remember, SLAMH reaches the parts the Xbox doesn’t or the can of lager or the line of coke etc, etc.

Big Dave Gauder

Big Dave's Centre of Opportunity film

Watch this video on youtube

Big Dave is the new ambassador for SU4BRUM (Standing up for Birmingham).