Care worker Shaun Moore performs poetry at a range of third sector events, most recently for Community Jobs Scotland at The Gathering

I got into performing at third sector events by accident really. I had been doing a couple of pieces for voluntary organisations in Paisley, where I work in social care.

It all came about through people who I met at these local events. After hearing me perform, they would ask me to come back or do other little things, and this eventually resulted in me appearing at larger events for organisations such as See Me.

What I perform depends on the event really. I sometimes go for work that I have written to fit the event, or the organisers can ask me to write specific material on what issues are likely to be discussed.

For the larger events, I often sit in on a conference in the morning, get a feeling for what the issues being discussed are and meet the people involved. I then write something and perform it in the afternoon, this makes it all a bit more personal.

I am always looking to work with organisations that are inspirational, and that can give me something worthwhile to write about. When I do these type of events for charities there are always emotive issues spoken about and interesting people to feature.

Working in social care, I often have a vested interest in these events and care about the types of issues that are being discussed. It's all about empathy really, and relating to the people involved. Attending these sessions also allows me to meet lots of different people, and helps me in my job by keeping me up to date with the different practices that are going on.

It was about four years ago that I first started performing. I didn’t even know performance poetry existed. I had a lot of mates who were in bands, and I had started dabbling in writing things. My friends encouraged me to get up and perform poems in between bands at their fundraisers, they were just little pieces.

When I started, I then found out more about the different pubs and cafes where people perform. I discovered things like slam poetry, and it developed from there. As well as the events I’ve been doing for different groups, I also go to festivals and comedy nights.

The Community Jobs Scotland event focused on the difficulties young people have in getting into work. I think that a lot of the things that are there to make people’s lives easier often have a bad side to them. There are lots of types of technology that can actually make things harder for young people, socially and career wise.

I work with care leavers and care experienced youngsters. I try to keep my poetry separate from my work, as it is a hobby. It’s a release. But with social networking it’s hard for them not to find out about it!

My next big event is for the Health and Social Care Alliance. It’ll be one where I sit in on the conference, take notes and draw things out. In the afternoon I will do a little retrospective piece, it will be personal and I often focus it around people that have been speaking.

Shaun Moore is a care worker and performance poet. More information on his work can be found on his website.