Mark Farley

"In 1980 Dad was Headmaster in Sheringham at a residential school for boys who were under functioning educationally but when the school planned to relocate to Lincolnshire Mum & Dad didn’t want to move our family and so, unbeknownst to us children, Dad handed in his notice to the school and started to look for a new job.

That summer he was offered a job in life insurance and I remember going into his office at home to get an Encyclopaedia Britannica for my schoolwork and hearing him saying that he wouldn’t take the job.

Little did any of us know what a huge turning point this time would be in our lives and Dad’s career.

Dad was clear that he didn't want to go back into mainstream education, as his heart was always for those young people who were struggling.

He had concerns about the level of substance abuse that he was seeing. He recognised that Norfolk, as a very rural county, with high levels of social and geographical isolation had very specific issues.

He also didn't feel it would be right for him to continue in a residential school setting.

We were a young family of 3 children 12, 11 & 8, it was clear that something was needed, and fast.

And then one night in June 1981, as Mum recalls, the concept of the Matthew Project came to him in a dream. The aim would be to tackle the growing issue of drug and alcohol addiction. Solutions would come through counselling, rehabilitation, workshops and education.

He spent 3 hours writing everything down.

His original concept was to build bridges within the Norfolk community for young people and to work with schools, the police force, the churches and policy makers.

He also conceived the idea of the Tackle Shop – a drop-in space for young people to go for confidential advice and support, particularly around substance misuse and mental health. This was accompanied by an additional out-of-hours phoneline called the Tackle Line.

Dad also introduced the Tackle Express, a mobile caravan built to travel around the county, visiting schools and providing outreach support to at-risk young people.  Work also expanded into police stations across Norfolk.

I was in my teens by then and pretty much wrapped up in school and football - both playing and watching Norwich of course - as well as working in Chris’s newsagents, delivering papers in all weathers and I remember Dad arriving home in our Citroen BX with the Tackle Express Caravan on the back – it was a big vehicle to bring down Buxton Road just a stone’s throw from where we are today. 

During these years, Dad began work at a national and international level and visited many different countries to speak at conferences and to help those trying to find ways to support people dealing with addiction in places as far away as Kenya, Latvia, Portugal, Russia and South Africa.

It brought Dad so much joy to be able to help so many people and it brings his family great comfort and pride that his legacy lives on through the work that the charity continues to do."