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Breaking down barriers between town and country and encouraging youngsters to make the most of themselves are top priorities for Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones. Philip Clarke caught up with him doing just that
Much has been made in the media about the need for inner-city kids to have a male role model they can look up to.
A recent report from the Department for Communities and Local Government concluded that, all too often, young men are inspired by black rappers who glamorise gangs, guns and drugs.
It suggested setting up a scheme, under which professional people act as mentors, to give inner-city kids an example to follow. In this way, they may develop self-esteem and contribute more to society.
If that is the government's aim, then it could find no better example than Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones.
Mr Emmanuel-Jones came to the UK from Jamaica aged four and was brought up in inner-city Birmingham in the 1960s and 70s. He knows about life on the street.
Disruptive at school, then thrown out of the army, his life could have followed a downhill path. But he decided to change things. He went to catering college, talked his way into the BBC as a researcher, and worked his way up to...