Back to the beginning, this is the first photo I have of me and Ga. It was an old double decker bus covered in graffiti and decked out with playstation games, DJ decks and the much used Connect 4 that caused our paths to cross. We both helped out on the ‘Urban Sanctuary’ youth bus that arrived spluttering into St Mellons estate, Cardiff each week. I’d be found pouring way too much sugar into cups of tea and coffee and playing Connect 4 with the local teenagers, whilst Ga would be playing cricket outside, or bringing craft stuff to do that the rest of the team were never quite convinced would go down well but always did (card making, making fimo animals, marzipan sweets to name a few!). The first time I saw Ga the Urban Sanctuary team were having a meal (that week it was a very unhealthy English breakfast!) and as he walked in I thought ‘he’s cute.’ I was pleased when the only empty seat was next to me and over sausages and bacon got chatting, and as he shared stories about his recent time in South Africa, running a kids club with 400 children each week, and teaching them truths about HIV and AIDs using puppets, to break down the social stigma attached to the conditions, I thought ‘he’s interesting too.’ The seed was sown! So from January until May 2006 I only saw him once a week as part of the Urban Sanctuary Team and as I started to realise he was taking up an increasingly growing proportion of my thoughts I had that annoying reaction of then being too shy to talk to him at times in case he realised that the highlight of my week was talking to him! This photo is taken at Munt Beach, South Wales on a team weekend away, when thankfully that shyness was wearing off. Gareth is the first on the left and I’m second on the right.
Under the influence of six... 