New Ferry Explosion victim sets up charity to help young people get into drama

Christopher Lee-Power set up a charity called the Power Foundation For Young People in 2015 to give young people the opportunity to gain skills in acting and to work with professional actors.

Christopher wanted to give something back to the young people of Wirral after struggling with his childhood diagnosis of ADHD.

Christopher told the Globe: “In the early 1970’s I grew up in Rock Ferry with my mum, dad, brother and two sisters.

“We were very working class and poor and lived on top of a taxi place with no bathroom.”

One night Christopher’s Dad and his friend was attacked in the hallway of their flat with a knife.

“My Dad was stabbed, and his friend was murdered.

“It has a massive impact on my family and mentally upset us all,” he said.

A year later, Christopher was diagnosed with hyperactivity, a speech disorder, and a lack of co-ordination.

Christopher was sent to a specialist hospital where he underwent speech therapy at a specialist school.

“It was a difficult time I couldn’t pronounce a lot of words and stringing sentences together was a task.

“There was not a lot of medical knowledge around ADHD in the 70’s so I was put in a special restraint jacket which was horrific for me.”

Actor Christopher Lee-Power is using his childhood experiences to help young people get into drama

Christopher managed to leave the hospital and attend a mainstream school after his parents found out about the harsh treatment inflicted on him.

He said: “School for me was interesting because I hated sport but I loved the creative subjects.

“I would do my best to miss break time and go to the hall ad meet my friend where he would play piano and I would get up on stage and sing and act.

“For me that was where I belonged.”

When Christopher reached 19 he decided he wanted to do something practical with his life and enrolled himself at Withen’s Lane College in Wallasey to do drama.

“On the college coach I met a man who sat next to me and introduced himself as Ron Gittins and we became friends,” he said.

One day Ron asked Christopher to help him practice his lines for a Midsummer Night’s Dream.

“That was the moment that changed my life.

“It was like a revelation,” he said.

“Ron took me under his wing and for many years helped me work on my voice and gradually as the years went on he managed to refine my voice.”

Christopher decided to continue to pursue his career in drama and moved to London to apply for drama schools.

“I was rejected from nearly every drama school.

“I felt like giving up.”

Despite the rejections, Christopher managed to secure a place at Richmond Drama School where he graduated with an Oxford Diploma.

He then moved back to Port Sunlight where he has continued his acting career featuring in plays and on television.

Now he has managed to secure funding for The Power Foundation For Young People from Wirral Together to put on A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Gladstone theatre in Port Sunlight.

Speaking of setting up the charity he said: “Because of what I went through with my hyperactivity as a child and understand what it’s like to leave school with no qualifications I wanted to give back to the community.

“I want to encourage people when it comes to autism, ADHD, hyper activity, whatever it is, and give them the skills and the opportunity to work with professionals in any sphere of the arts.

“It’s been a terrible struggle getting our lives back to normal and after four years I can finally venture out to give something back to support young people and now I want the community to come and see this magical play.”

The play will take Sunday, July 25 at 7.00pm until 9.30 pm.

You can find out more here.