Artistic Director & Lead Facilitator
Caspar designs and leads our courses and supervises our team of mentors. He founded Rite to Freedom in 2008 initially to support disaffected young men to undergo a rite of passage through nature and myth. His personal journey through addiction recovery for the last 30 years has developed our initial vision to now support those in ‘recovery’ in the widest sense.
Caspar’s schooling at A.S. Neil’s Summerhill has had a lasting influence on his approach to his creativity, learning and teaching. Throughout his career he has worked directly with his life experiences in crime, addiction and mental health, transforming a destructive path into a lasting highly positive and inspiring journey. He has become a respected facilitator, speaker and leader in helping to transform the lives of individuals throughout the world.
His publication history reflects an extraordinary life. His first short story was published in Shenanigans (1999 Scepter). From the success of this, the literary production company, Words Allowed was born in Bristol in 1999, commissioning unsigned writers nationwide to perform alongside the likes of Ian Banks, Clive Barker and Helen Dunmore. Out of Words Allowed came Caspar’s first short story broadcast on BBC Radio 4 followed by two critically acclaimed Radio 4 Radio docu-dramas. His memoir Criminal (2008. Hodder) is the first of three deeply personal, internationally acclaimed works. Blood Road (2010. Hodder), an autobiographical thriller and Tribe Warrior (2014. W2F Press) a work of historical fiction and is part of the Rite to freedom curriculum.
His work with The Guardian and Observer since 2005 includes a three-year online column and freelance contributions. His journalism focusses his dedication and commitment to criminal and social justice and the arts. Following regular articles, stories and comment, he was made film editor for Resurgence and Ecologist Magazine in 2010 and is a regular contributor to Positive News. He has written many articles, features and comment for national and local press.
His two poetry collections include New Ground and Creative Pathways: A Journey Through the Archetypes. As an Artistic Director, Caspar has been directing, producing celebrated live events, films, exhibitions and a range of multi media projects since 1999.
His broadcast work includes appearances on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 2. His television appearances include Channel 4, BBC TV and ITV. He has appeared on local radio and television, UK and Europe wide. His public appearances and speaking engagements include The Hay International Literary Festival; Cheltenham Literature Festival; Oxford Storytelling Festival; Ways With Words. His first TEDx Talk was in Totnes in 2015.
His career working in the UK prison system began in 1988, including voluntary drug support work, writer’s residencies in HMPs’ Parc, Ashfield, Usk and Channings Wood.
His groundbreaking work in rites of passage led to the co-founding of Abandofbrothers, working with young men throughout the UK. This in turn led to the founding of the award winning charity Write to Freedom – now Rite to Freedom.
His continued passion for facilitation and teaching led to the creation of Words from the Earth in 2016, bringing together his life’s’ commitment to community, working with the natural world and the creative word, supporting groups and individuals in their journeys into personal and professional development. He runs regular retreats throughout the UK working with wild nature, creative writing and meditation. He lives, works, walks, writes and rests on his beloved Dartmoor with his beloved partner, Amber and their Bedlington Whippet, Mara.