Neil Hicks

Position: Active Travel Ambassador Coordinator (South East)

Year joined Modeshift: 2024

Career history:

In the early part of my career I used to work as a specialist librarian at ICE Ergonomics, which was part of Loughborough University.  I then worked abroad teaching English mainly in Central and South America such as Costa Rica and Peru.  I decided to leave Peru after an earthquake and I spent the next few years working as a teacher in Chile.  I used to love going cycling when I lived there and cycled across a salt lake at night and I have lost count of how many times I have cycled up the Andes.  It could take up to two days going up the Andes mountain range on your bike, it was such hard work but those were the days I had good calf muscles!  However, the downhills were so memorable as they could last for a couple of hours and they were really something else!  I also taught and lived in Spain, Turkey and Italy and I also taught academic English in Oman.   I have taught a number of academic English courses at universities in the UK such as Loughborough, Reading, Bath and Edinburgh.  They were hard work but immensely rewarding.  Recently, I taught academic English to potential university students at LSI Portsmouth.  At my post here I also taught military English to the Saudi Navy. This work was great fun and I really made some lasting friendships during my time here.

Why did you join Team Modeshift?  

I have always been interested in the environment and sustainability.  However, it was during lockdown that I decided to learn more about this area of study and I therefore signed up to do an MSc in the Green Economy.  This course focused on the threats the environment is facing and how they can be mitigated by people and industry shifting to a more sustainable lifestyle.  After I completed the course I decided that I wanted to work in an area where I could help make a small impact on encouraging people to shift to a more sustainable lifestyle, but I also wanted at the same time to continue working in education.  The result was the ideal position of an Active Travel Ambassador Coordinator at Modeshift!

Outside of Modeshift:

In my spare time I like to go travelling around England.  I am a member of English Heritage and The National Trust, as I love to go and have a look and walk around historic heritage sites.  I also really like to be around water.  I really enjoy coastal or river walks, and I love spending my weekend narrow boating.