Born in London, to African and Caribbean parents, Chukumeka’s family emigrated back to Nigeria in 1965 but Chukumeka was then evacuated to the UK in 1967 as a refugee from the Biafran civil war. He has also lived in Jamaica and Belize.
Chukumeka has had a very eclectic working life, from training in the hotel industry after school to opening an award-winning delicatessen and later his own catering company; then re-training as a holistic Deep Tissue massage therapist and later as a registered Social worker. (He also studied esoteric philosophy, was a volunteer probationary Christian-Buddhist Monk, worked as an assistant paramedic for the ambulance service, and has been a Criminal Drugs support worker and a Quaker prison Chaplain. Phew!)
A part-time lecturer at the University of Plymouth, Chukumeka is a suicide prevention trainer specialising in Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Trainer (ASIST) and SafeTalk as developed by LivingWorks. He is a trainer, consultant and wellbeing practitioner of Orchid community & Associates underpinned by the teachings of Christian and Buddhist psychology.
Action To Prevent Suicide CIC is committed to making Devon a suicide-safer community by helping to increase knowledge, debate and action on preventing suicide – whether that be within the South West, nationally or even globally. The idea is inspired by LivingWorks – an international organisation based in Canada.