Wigan author hopes China trek book will help homeless people

A Wigan author hopes his adventures in China could make a real difference closer to home.
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David Chapman, 37, has published his third book, entitled Beyond The Wall, which was inspired by his week-long trek along the Great Wall of China in 2013.

He focuses on the people he met during his travels in China and the other countries he visited in Asia, where he was struck by the problems facing people there, in particular homelessness.

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That made him think about the work of The Brick - a charity helping people in Wigan and Leigh dealing with poverty and homelessness - and he decided to do something to help.

Author David ChapmanAuthor David Chapman
Author David Chapman
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David has pledged to donate all of the royalties from the sale of the book to the charity.

He said: “My books are all about travelling from a different perspective. People are often used to seeing confident travellers, but I wanted to tell an alternative story and to share my passion for travelling from my own perspective, as someone who is a self-confessed introvert, shy and wary of social interaction.”

David’s first booked was named The Adventures of an Introvert and it regularly tops a number of Amazon Kindle charts.

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He hopes his new book will achieve similar success and raise as much money as possible for The Brick.

It is a charity which David now holds close to his heart.

He became disenchanted with office jobs, which he had been doing for 10 years since leaving university, and was made redundant from his job during the pandemic.

He decided to use the opportunity to do something worthwhile and began volunteering in The Brick’s food bank in 2020.

Just four months later, David was offered a paid position as a part-time retail assistant in one of the charity’s shops.

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It is something he has been able to do alongside continuing his love of writing.

David said: “If anyone else wants to help our community, I would encourage people to volunteer for The Brick, as it really is a satisfying and fun way to help the community and to get yourself out of your comfort zone.

“My next book is about the history of The Brick and will include stories of the people working here and of those who The Brick has helped over the years. I’m hoping to have this finished by next year, so watch this space!”

Keely Dalfen, finance and commercial director at The Brick, said: “At The Brick, we are always so grateful for the help we receive from people in our community, and how David is donating all the proceeds from his latest book is so generous. David really has become part of the family here at The Brick, first as a volunteer and now as an employed member of the team.

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“From everyone at The Brick we want to thank David for his generosity and his continued support.”

David’s book is available to buy from Amazon, priced at £6.99 for a paperback and £1.99 for an ebook.

To find out more, go to theadventuresofanintrovert.com or follow David on Facebook or Instagram by searching for The Adventures of an Introvert.

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