About Andi

.....In the words of his parents, Lin and Bob Bull

Andrew Philip Bull was born in Kettering General Hospital on the 9th August 1985. He started St Barnabus Infant School in his home town of Wellingborough in September 1989 and went onto Freeman’s Junior School, Wellingborough in September 1992. He was a happy child, who was very quick witted, often surprising his parents and two older brothers with his funny little jokes. During his primary school years he also began his scouting experience by attending beaver and cub troupes.
In September 1996, he became one of the youngest pupils at Sir Christopher Hatton Secondary School, Wellingborough. At that time he also began scouting and discovering exciting scouting pursuits, preparing to be a young leader during his time as a Venture Scout and as a member of the Scout Network.

During his teenage years he spent a considerable amount of time in hospital because of chronic stomach pain. Andi spent months in hospital at a time, having tests, scans and examinations daily, to try and find out why he was in so much pain. During much of this time, he was placed on children’s wards amongst babies, children and their accompanying parents.

Being such a tall teenager, the beds on the children’s ward soon became too short for him, so instead of swapping beds for him, they moved him to an adult surgical ward. Here, he would witness sights that no adult should have to see, let alone a young teenager. This was to have a profound effect on his later treatment for cancer. After having two open stomach operations they finally found out that some of Andi’s vital organs were not in the correct place in his body. Once these were stitched back into place he would become pain free and able to move on again with his life, returning to school and gaining his GCSEs.

After leaving school, he worked for some time for John Parkins Ltd, a local furniture distribution company, learning a great deal about wheeling and dealing and the great tapestry of life, Andi then went on to work for PGL at Boreatton Park in Shropshire, a residential activity camp for children. This was a natural progression for him from scouting, where he would run a wide range of adventurous activities including shooting, archery, high ropes, climbing, abseiling and many other highly physical challenges. He wanted to extend his experience of working with children, encouraging them to take part in controlled risky but safe activities whilst having great fun, Unfortunately, he contracted meningitis and had to cut short his first shot at truly independent living.

After taking the time to recover from meningitis, he started a new job at TNT post where he would work towards becoming a project manager, trouble shooting issues for the company, up and down the country. He made a distinct impression on many of the people there, young and old, as they often had little stories of his antics and witty quips.

As well as working full time, he also volunteered to instruct young people in the skills of kayaking, shooting and archery in his spare time, rarely being at home during evenings and weekends. This was recognised by the Northamptonshire Scouting Movement in February 2007 when he was awarded his Chief Scout Award and in April 2007 when he was awarded the Chief Scout’s Commendation for Meritorious Conduct.