Maddog

Well perhaps not a real pirate, but most definitely an ace sailor having captained an 80ft racing yacht half way around the world. Just one of his numerous skill sets and many tales to tell. Maddog puts the Maker in Delight Makers … if it can be made he can make it, and if it hasn’t been made yet he might be inventing it at the moment; he’s an engineering genius.

“Without our Maddog we would never have been able to create our Beautiful Things for Beautiful Causes Initiative. When we put the idea together, to restore discarded and overlooked objects my initial thoughts had been around a few antiques. We had a small budget … the last thing I imagined was a car! But that is the nature of our Maddog, nothing by halves.”

Samantha, Founder

In his own words …

“This gift of engineering and restoration comes with a price of a kind, Aspergers Syndrome, more commonly known these days than in the past. It created a childhood filled with challenges and a deep sense of not belonging or being understood in any way. Being able to absorb and remember such detail of everything that is going on around you, things that most people do not even have an awareness of, can unnerve others.

John singing Strawberry Fields resonates so strongly with me …

No one I think is in my tree
I mean it must be high or low
That is you can’t, you know, tune in, but it’s all right
That is I think it’s not too bad

John Lennon, The Beatles, Strawberry Fields

My mind just doesn’t shut off very easily. There is a constant stream, overload really, of information pouring in. In the end I found the best thing to do was pour my capacity for extreme focus into cycling; I became a cycling champion, and had an obsessive need to understand how everything works.”

He started my training in antique restoration at the age of 9. Restoration requires an element of time travel and a connection to the item far beyond that of a normal repair job.

“The ability to connect to the thoughts, dreams and energies of the original creators is the key to a successful restoration. The spirit of the creator and the item are connected and to bring something back to life entails bringing the dream of it, its physical and spiritual blueprint, back to life. I tune in to every piece, dent, cut, bump and break …. they all tell a story. I can feel it singing to me. I get electricity and goosebumps that tell me I have connected with it. It feels alive.”

He is a passionate motorcyclist … but has been banned from riding until the caravan is finished … so when he isn’t working on the caravan he is inventing, working on green energy systems.

“I love nature. I love animals and I can’t stand to see what humanity is doing to the natural world. I feel sadness and rage and a desperate need to find solutions to stop the madness and heal the Earth. As I restore each piece of the caravan I see another person or part of the world being restored. The promise of Peacing Together, the chance it brings to reach people and touch their heart and inspire the minds brings an even greater level of importance to making sure the energy of love pours into the healing of the caravan.”