I started shooting as soon as I could hold a Gat, then went on to airguns, a garden gun, .410 and ultimately the 12 bore shotgun. I’ve shot tin cans, pests, game and small bore targets with Framlingham Rifle Club but clays have always been the most important part of my shooting.

My first experience of clays came at a friend’s laser clay shooting party in the late 1980’s. She had organised the event in her back garden when it was a relatively new game; it was a brilliant evening, I was able to use a ‘proper’ gun fairly well and the clay bug bit.

There followed an introduction to Sporting clays with my side-by-side and within a couple of shoots I’d traded it in for an over and under. Since then I’ve shot at High Lodge, headed by many-times-over World Champion, European Champion and English Open Champion John Bidwell, who also taught me to shoot successfully at his shooting ground on the Henham estate.

From a 3 day charity shoot to one trap and two guns in a field it’s all thoroughly enjoyable entertainment – whatever people want, I’ve probably setup and shot my own version. My clay shooting experiences are based on many years of hands-on experience running regular clay shoots as well as being a qualified CPSA Safety Officer.

Since 2010 I have run my own business, providing private shooting parties for the leisure industry, whether that’s hosting a back garden bar-be-que shoot or teaching global titans of industry, actors and rock stars on the prestigious Wilderness Reserve estates in Suffolk. I specialise in one-to-one and small parties, introducing people with absolutely no knowledge of shotguns to the fantastic world of the clay shooting sports. If any of my guests has never seen a gun before in their life then so much the better, the look on their face when they hit the first target is the reason I started to do all this.

I began as an amateur club shooter hooked on clay shooting and then took a more than average interest in how it all works, sharing my passion with anyone who would listen. Many of the people I have introduced to the sport have gone on to shoot regularly and several have become firm friends. I don’t usually take part in dedicated competition events and scores don’t really matter too much to me, what I do is family and social shooting where my average is around 75%, although there is the occasional exception! All I want to do is introduce people to my chosen sport; to help them find and enjoy for themselves the thrill and excitement that I derive from shooting clays.