Peg Talks

If life is all about experiences then it’s all the richer for attending the Peg Talks. These are a celebration of Swansea residents’ inspiring stories and occur every two months at the Square Peg Café.

Square Peg opened in the Sketty area of Swansea a few months ago and offers fab coffee, real tea and a glorious range of cakes in a cool and friendly environment. Even better they donate their profits to a couple of local charities.

Last night I rolled up to this hipster social enterprise ready to listen to three locals’ rousing personal talks and I was not disappointed. First up was Sue Kent, who was born with no arms and seven fingers, and was full of infectious energy and positivity. Sue told an entertaining tale that covered foot fetishes, determination, big dreams, the Paralympics and Massage by Feet. The latter is the name of Sue’s successful venture into the eponymous service and she offers her unique service in Swansea and London.

Following Sue, after a short break was, Sean Stillman, the founder and spiritual leader of Zac’s Place. If you have never heard of Zac’s then you are not a Swansea Resident, for Zac’s provides an essential service for the most vulnerable people in the city. Sean was, as always, humble regarding his contribution to the support Zac’s offers to Swansea’s rough sleepers, but I know that keeping this indispensable service running has been a work of love and commitment. Sean complimented his army of volunteers, but keeping the team together is impossible without some spiritual guidance and Sean provides plenty of that.

Sean shared two stories from the street that were both moving and illuminating. They were a reminder that each of us, no matter our circumstances has the capacity to feel and share love. We all felt the love!

Last up, was the no less inspirational and successful, local entrepreneur Nathan John. Nathan’s story of dreams and determination followed his journey from being told at school that he was thick, should leave school (pre GCSEs) and work in the local factory, to establishing his innovative business Rewise Learning. The trick Nathan pulled off was using his own unique study method to first succeed at his GCSEs and then turning his idea into a business.

Nathan was not thick. The school had failed to diagnose his dyslexia. Nathan set his GCSE revision to music, after all we all can remember lyrics to the songs we like, and then passed all his GCSEs. From then to now has seen many successes, including endorsement from the Prime Minister and Richard Branson.

Nathan echoed Sue’s message of hard work and dreams that underpinned his adventure. After all, ‘You’ve got to have a dream; if you don’t have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?’ (as Captain Sensible reminded us)