Testimonials

“Pervez kindly agreed to be our guest speaker at the annual celebration of Achievement for the Royal National College for the Blind. Pervez delivered a remarkable motivational speech lasting the ideal length of fifteen minutes. He engaged the audience of students’ parents and supporters and friends of the college from the outset. The speech had a clear structure and very relevant messages rooted in Pervez’s considerable experience. Thus it was authentic and sincere. Pervez used humour to good effect but did not let it distract from the important points he was making.

There was much positive feedback from our college community following the event and students queued to speak to Pervez after the celebration.”

We felt fortunate in having the services of someone who spoke with meaning and empathy to our invited guests and students alike.”

“I have worked with Pervez on a number of projects over many years. We all face setbacks in life….some more than others. Pervez will share how he has tackled very tough life impacting challenges head on. With his great sense of humour and through his positive can do approach Pervez always promotes a message of living life to the full. If you are looking for a motivational speaker with a difference give him a call. He really is such an inspirational individual with a highly motivating message! ”
Graham Kensett
Guide Dogs Head of Services Midlands Region

“The theme of the conference was rising to the challenge of being one of the six pathfinder trusts and using the new freedoms implicit in that status to assist us in doing a better job despite the organisational, financial and political uncertainties facing the probation service.

“Pervez’s presentation allowed the audience to make the links between his personal story and the organisational issues that we are facing in a very helpful way that avoided the didactic and made the challenges very real. We had a very positive response to the session, which also allowed us to draw lessons from a diversity scenario and employ the learning across the whole organisation,

“A few years ago I asked Pervez to speak at West Mercia Probation’s annual conference. He demonstrated to an audience of around 250 staff how the barriers to his success were overcome with determination, courage and above all humour, despite many operations related to his disability and the poor attitudes of employers.”

“His speech was delivered with such grace and at times had his audience in fits of laughter. If you need a motivational speaker to inspire, then you need look no further as Pervez is your man. I would recommend him to anyone – and have done on several occasions. .”

Debbie BARROW
Business Support Manager
Worcester Community Trust

“Pervez is an inspiration; as a motivational speaker he portrays a colourful picture of his upbringing to depict courage and determination in the face of adversity. Pervez has been well received as a keynote speaker when talking about disability and in promoting the police service to individuals who belong to under-represented groups. He has represented West Mercia Police internal support networks ‘DisAbility ‘and ‘The Minority Ethnic Resource Group’ (MERGe) at Police Headquarters, Worcester’s Royal National Institute for the Blind, Worcestershire County Council and Bromsgrove District Council in support of Black History Month.

Pervez’s resolve to help others has remained strong throughout; he is a role model to people with disabilities and those belonging to minority ethnic groups. It is without doubt that above all else it is Pervez’s unyielding determination and positive disposition which shines through.”

“Pervez very kindly accepted an invitation to be guest speaker at the awards ceremony for our Supported Learning Department. This is a special event for us because the students concerned have overcome notable personal obstacles to achieve their ambitions and goals.  It is therefore especially important that guest speakers can empathise with and relate to the students.

Pervez did not disappoint. Through his own experiences of life, particularly in relation to equality of opportunity, Pervez was able to connect with the students and their families. He spoke brilliantly about the many challenges he has faced and how he has learnt to confront and overcome prejudice. He did this with enthusiasm and great humour but most importantly of all though was that people listened. On occasions guests will maintain a polite silence secretly waiting for the end of a speech. Not so with Pervez. The audience laughed throughout and if Pervez had spoken for an hour he would have finished too soon. His message was succinct, highly relevant and powerful.

“I first met Pervez at a Unison meeting in late 2003, shortly after I became the Chief Constable of West Mercia Police. In his own inimitable style, he asked me a number of searching and highly relevant questions in an open forum at a Unison meeting, an approach that was challenging yet at the same time refreshing.

As I got to know him better, I remained so impressed with his preparedness to raise issues with myself and other senior managers in a non-confrontational yet very effective way that I invited him to become a staff representative on the Strategic Diversity Group which I Chaired.

Subsequently, Pervez was instrumental in securing funding to make West Mercia Police a more accessible place for staff with disabilities and was the founder and Chair of the Force’s Disability Network. He gave an inspiring keynote address at the official launch of the Network and continued to serve with distinction as its Chair for a number of years, never letting his own disability hold him back and always contributing constructively to policy discussions and debates.

Moving away from his own comfort zone he became a Diversity Trainer within West Mercia Police and later a Management Development Trainer. During that time I attended several training events that Pervez either led or contributed to. His naturally warm personality and perceptive comments always made time spent in his presence both worthwhile and enriching.

“Pervez gave a short talk on his life and experiences of living with a disability at the Mike Oborski No Barriers Awards 2010.
He was such a relaxed, informal and engaging speaker that the audience was rapt throughout his story. His amusing insights and ability to inspire anybody with an ‘ability’ whatever it may be, made him an excellent choice of speaker. In fact, when the presentations and ceremony were finished Pervez was the most popular topic of conversation on all of the tables I visited when chatting to the guests.

I would certainly recommend Pervez if you want to engage your audience and inspire them, whoever they are.”

Lucy Bennett
Equality and Diversity Officer
Wyre Forest District Council