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I've been a First Aider (on and off) since University days. I've been a First Aider at Work for quite a lot of the time as well. Never had to treat anything too serious but it's a good skill to have.

The change to my life came when I met my wife, whom I taught in a first aid class. One thing led to another, and a couple of decades on we're still happily married with kids.

Speaking of kids, I went in and helped get a CodeClub up and running at their school a couple of years ago. It is insanely gratifying to pass on my passion for technology to the next generation, and the quality and variety of what they come up with is amazing. It helps it was a lesson/club that they were all interested in attending (it was an optimal club after all) but any time I've done that it has been so rewarding. CodeClub has now merged into the Raspberry Pi foundation and is going from strength to strength - if you're interested in getting involved as a parent or a teacher then check them out.

Finally I also founded the DocklandsLJC user group, with the support of my prior employer. This was a great way of organising technical speakers to head over to the Docklands and lend their time for the benefit of attendees for free - I owe them a lot of gratitude, because if it weren't for those speakers we wouldn't have had anything. It also led to me being a representative on the JCP and ultimately giving a presentation at JavaOne last year, which was well received.

My advice is to be passionate at what you do and do things for the enjoyment of yourself and others. You'll never be able to predict where it will go but the outcome will always be beneficial in the long run.