A brief profile
- Producer and Director of award winning films, videos and webTV programmes
- Co Founder and Chairman of The World Happiness Project
- Presenter of NHS Dorset HealthCare series of online Happy Cafes
- CEO Global Media Communications Companies:- Agri-Visual, Video at Work, Video Newsreels, Virtual Media
- Producer conferences, exhibitions, press & public relations, corporate hospitality and team building events
- Freelance Photojournalist for Time Magazine, Riviera Times and various news, leisure and lifestyle magazines
- International travel writer, scriptwriter and social media blogger
- Artist, Sculptor and Designer of Sculpture Parks and Memorial Gardens
- Creator of Arts and Music Festivals, Bournemouth Jazz by the Sea Festival and The World Jazz Jamboree
- Pageant Master for Christchurch River Pageant in aid of local charities
Biography
Gerry grew up in the bombed-out suburbs of London after the Second World War. His ambition was to escape the urban environment and see the world. He joined the local scout group to experience some fun and friendship and quickly discovered the satisfaction of helping other people in life.
Educated at a local grammar school, he then went on to study Agricultural Botany at University in the mountains of North Wales. He took a student vacation job in Canada and travelled across America. It was his first big adventure, stopping off in New York for the World’s Fair before taking a Greyhound Bus across the prairies to Alberta and on to San Francisco and California. His eyes were opened to a big wide world out there beyond the British Isles……..
After graduating, he joined the Commonwealth Development Corporation and was posted to Swaziland as a young trainee manager on an agricultural estate. Never having travelled south of the Isle of Wight before, it was his second big adventure, this time to Africa.
In 1968 he was sent to the West Indies to run a banana plantation in Dominica where he found many of the local workers were indigenous Carib Indians whose ancestors were cannibals and his neighbours were Christian missionaries sent to pacify them. After taking a post graduate course in Tropical Agriculture at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad, he returned to Africa and researched food crops to feed the growing population. He discovered the power of media communications and designed a mobile PA system for the King of Swaziland that enabled him to speak directly to the Swazi people. Gerry’s interest in the use of modern technology to inform, educate and motivate people was awakened.
Whilst in Africa, he created his first sculpture, a giant metal structure depicting the production of sugar.
He then joined the World Bank as Agronomist on a mission to The Philippines and produced a report on the use of modern farming methods to support the Country’s Green Revolution. What he discovered gave him the idea of forming Agri Visual, the company he launched to produce films and training programmes to teach farmers around the world how to grow more food and improve their lifestyles.
During the next 25 years Gerry established his reputation as a film director, creating highly effective films and multimedia productions, working for international organisations, government departments and commercial companies. He travelled to various parts of the world and became a pioneer in the use of modern media technology, founding Video at Work and later Video Newsreels to create innovative employee communications and promote a wide range of products and services. Whilst researching for a video about the Internet he discovered a new way of working and in 2000 he moved to the south of France and launched Virtual Media.
Since moving back to the UK, he developed his unique creative skills: as a photojournalist, writing articles for magazines such as Time International, as an artist and sculptor, creating works of art reflecting nature and the environment, as a director of arts and music festivals generating opportunities for artists and musicians and presenting a series of online Happy Cafes to help improve staff wellbeing in the NHS. 
In 2018 he co-founded the World Happiness Project with a vision to increase happiness and improve mental health and wellbeing in the home, the community and the workplace. The project continued to grow and develop, reaching over 1000 subscribers around the world.
Following major back surgery in 2022, he drafted a book on convalescence and produced a podcast about the Ten Keys to Happier Living. Recently, he has returned to his global travels, visiting new parts of the world and researching for a sculpture park to celebrate the life of Queen Elizabeth ll. Due to the effects of Climate Change and the floods in the UK, he has designed an innovative new multipurpose electric pontoon boat, aptly called Clarke’s Ark. In 2025 he launched the Christchurch River Pageant in aid of local charities.
Listen and watch Gerry’s podcast at: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-p6b6x-115374c or https://youtu.be/Zjzi2L9vXvQ
Rotary and Charity Work
Gerry has been a Rotarian for over 44 years. Initially as a founder member and President of Easthampstead Rotary Club in Berkshire, working with club members on a variety of community and charity projects in the Thames Valley. He helped establish Rotary twinning clubs in France, Ireland and The Netherlands and international exchange visits with Rotarians in other countries. During this period he visited many clubs around the world whilst writing and producing training and documentary films before moving to France at the beginning of the Millenium. He joined Rotary Clubs in Antibes, Cannes and Roquefort les Pins, before returning to the UK and settling in Dorset where he became actively involved as a member of Rotary Clubs in Ferndown, Poole, Wimborne and Christchurch.
He has always been keen to support Rotary activities in the UK giving help and encouragement to the local community and especially to the young, the elderly and those less fortunate in our society. He has been a great supporter of International Projects in Africa and the Developing World and is currently looking at how he could use his knowledge and experience to help build and strengthen Rotary in the District.
As a member of the Christchurch Rotary Club working in partnership with the Rotary Club of Boscombe and Southbourne, Gerry launched a River Pageant in 2025 which raised over £2500 for two local Dragon Boat cancer survivor charities and the Hengistbury Outdoor Activity Centre.
In association with Highcliffe Rotary Club, he helped out with a local Wishing Well Walk that took place from Highcliffe village to the Rotary Wishing Well on Mudeford Quay in Christchurch.
Gerry has helped the club with their Christchurch Living Advent Calendar that featured pop up Christmas music performances at various venues across the town throughout the month of December. Over the past four years the event has raised over £80,000 for local charities. See further details at:- https://christchurchlivingadventcalendar.org.uk/
Gerry was also delighted to lend a steady hand at the Bransgore Rotary Beer Festival, pulling pints behind the bar in 2024. The weekend event was a great success and raised over £33,000 for Rotary Charities
Previously, Gerry was actively involved in the Poole Bay Rotary Club’s Heritage Lottery funded project that celebrated 150 years of Poole Maritime history
For further details visit: https://pirates2codfish.com
And as a member of Wimborne Rotary Club, Gerry was involved in a number of activities, including the annual Santa Fun Run and fund raising events to promote Shelter Boxes and the work of Rotary in the local community.
Working with Ferndown Rotary Club, Gerry organised a Charity Dinner Jazz evening for Poole Hospital and a Young Environmentalist competition for schools to create greater awareness of local environmental issues
Bournemouth Jazz Festival
This is an exciting new Jazz Festival which was specially created to entertain visitors to Bournemouth. Read more…