Barrie joined  the military as a junior soldier and went on to serve in The 1st Battalion Staffordshire Regiment. After over 11 years he returned to live in Londonderry and began work as a youth leader.

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Coming back to the mainland he continued with youth work, in various settings including churches and for Wolverhampton Council.

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After a few years Barrie encountered an unexpected full body meltdown, and was unable to maintain physical activities, so began retraining in Microsoft products, administration and business studies. He became a voluntary trainer and assessor and dabbled in web building as well as managing network infrastructure.

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Having gained new qualifications  he went on to Wolverhampton University and completed a Cert.Ed in June 2000.

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With Cert.Ed in hand he became a supply teacher in Secondary and High Schools, teaching Information Technology and Business Studies. Rest assured Barrie is the IT guru for the Veterans Reconnection Hub and is passionate about supporting veterans with their IT and social media needs.

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