A life worth
looking closer at.

John Ryder is a Portsmouth author whose story brings together experiences often kept apart: childhood adversity, youth offending, imprisonment, fatherhood, education, community leadership and frontline family support. His writing is rooted in the conviction that a person is more than a label, while remaining honest about responsibility, harm and the consequences of decisions. The story begins in difficult circumstances; its later chapters are about the sustained work of living differently.

Growing up around domestic violence, poverty and instability shaped John's early understanding of safety, belonging and survival. His autobiography does not use that background to excuse offending. Instead, it asks readers to look carefully at how a life develops, what happens when choices cause harm and what it takes to build a different future. The Boy Who Kept Running opens that journey. The Road to Bobkins continues through relationships, family, loss, education and responsibility, with fatherhood and his daughter Rita - affectionately known as Bobkins - central to the story.

Returning to education gave John a new way to examine lived experience. He studied Media and Journalism at Highbury College, completed a Diploma in Teaching and Education, and graduated from the University of Portsmouth in 2020 with a BSc (Hons), awarded at 2:1, in Criminal Justice and Criminology. Academic study brought theory, research and professional ethics into conversation with personal history. That combination informs The Reality Behind Criminal Justice and Criminology, which considers experience alongside evidence rather than treating one person's life as a universal explanation.

John's work with Portsmouth residents spans more than twenty years. From 2000 to 2007 he was a Play Manager and Lead Youth Worker with Arundel Court Infant and Junior School and Sure Start, developing inclusive activities through sport, arts, music and outdoor play. His community leadership has included Lifestyle Choices, ECASS - Every Caring Act Supports Someone - and Climb Nova Consultancy. Across those settings, his work has involved advocacy, mentoring, service navigation, rehabilitation, employability, volunteering and practical support for people facing difficult circumstances.

His current professional work includes a Family Connections role with Portsmouth City Council, supporting safe, meaningful supervised family time. This involves working with children, parents, carers and professionals, keeping factual records, recognising safeguarding concerns and maintaining clear professional boundaries. His wider approach brings together relationship-based, restorative and trauma-informed practice with practical judgement, communication and respect for confidentiality.

Community projects have included street-art activity in Landport, Fratton, Portsea and the Roberts Centre, with children influencing designs and residents and partners helping bring them to life. John has helped grassroots organisations strengthen their structures and safer working, and created placements for university students and volunteers. He also serves on the Landport Pride in Place Neighbourhood Board, bringing local knowledge and experience of resident-led community work.

As part of the Walk The Island organising team, John has contributed to planning, sponsorship, communication and volunteer coordination across a five-year Portsmouth fundraising programme. The organising team reports that the programme is approaching £200,000 for local causes. Its beneficiaries include the Roberts Centre, Pompey in the Community, Enable Ability, Spark Community Space and Forgotten Veterans UK. This is a collective programme total, not a claim that John raised the money alone.

Recognition for John's work includes the Portsmouth Lord Mayor's Civic Medal and University of Portsmouth Alumni Impact Award in 2026, the International Men's Day Parenting Network Unsung Hero award in 2025, and earlier recognition for community empowerment, organisational leadership and civic impact. His record also includes finalist and nominee distinctions, which are listed separately from wins in this media pack.

The final autobiographical volume, My Eyes Have Seen the Glory, looks back through friendship, football, Army experiences, humour and the people who helped shape his life. You Leave the House, but the House Does Not Leave You examines domestic abuse, childhood memory, responsibility and the work of building a different kind of home. Across all five books, the connection is human: how the past is understood, how change is sustained, and how experience can be used in service of other people.