Kevin Maxwell

Writer and advocate

Being LGB (Liverpudlian, Gay & Black)

On Mental Health… It was just after July of this year that I decided to really take control of my own life. I learned that a national tabloid was going to publish a story about me, detailing the challenge I was making against my employer on the grounds of race & sexual orientation discrimination. As…

Royal Fail

After avoiding the Post Office (part of the Royal Mail Group), since my last not-so-good experience, today I had the unfortunate reason to visit again. Uncle Billy (97), asked me to go and pay his electricity bill – I know what you’re thinking, ‘do it online’! Being the age he is though, he doesn’t like…

Act your age NOT your shoe size!

This afternoon, Alex and I were getting dressed (I know, we’re lazy) to go and meet one of our friends Luke for lunch, who was down in London from Manchester. Alex was ‘messing about’ as he sometimes does (whilst getting ready) and being as sensible as I am (?), I told him to ‘act your…

Explore, Dream, Discover…

Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do, than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour and catch the trade winds in your sails… explore, dream, discover! This has been a… Mark Twain, ‘View from the Bottom’.…

Living with Depression

On 10 October, the UK celebrated World Mental Health Day, which aims to raise public awareness about mental health issues. This got me thinking – how much do we actually know about mental health at Regent’s College and the stigma that is attached to it? In June last year I was diagnosed with reactive depression,…

Arts Budget Cuts

There is public acknowledgement that cuts are needed in the country to help the deficit, but with the arts budget only one percent of the NHS budget, the arts punch above their weight and support a massive industry. Many students on the MA Writing for Screen and Stage are hoping to write scripts for film,…

Living with Depression

On 10 October, the UK celebrated World Mental Health Day, which aims to raise public awareness about mental health issues. This got me thinking – how much do we actually know about mental health at Regent’s College and the stigma that is attached to it? In June last year I was diagnosed with reactive depression,…

Living with Depression – Page 1

To mark World Mental Health Day, today I start a new series of blogs on depression, to help raise awareness and understanding of the mental illness. This is my story… Denial. It was the afternoon of June 26th 2009, when I first heard the words ‘you’re suffering from depression’. I was at a Central London…

Comment: Black Pride & Prejudice

Despite the wet weather in London, UK Black Pride held its fifth annual event in Regent’s Park last Saturday. The day after, I was lying in bed catching up on the news online when I saw a PinkNews.co.uk article on the festival. The comments from some readers towards the black and Asian community caught my…

Litter Bugs Me!

As Alex and I were leaving our flat today, there were two guys walking along the street past the houses adjacent to us, one with a dog in tow. The first guy without the dog dropped a blue plastic carrier bag on the floor with what I can only assume had rubbish in it and…