Arthur Williams (presenter)

Last updated
Arthur V Williams
Personal information
Full nameArthur Vaughan Williams
NationalityFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Born (1986-06-18) 18 June 1986 (age 36)
Cheltenham, England, United Kingdom
Employer Channel 4
Website arthur-williams.co.uk

Arthur Williams (born 18 June 1986) is a British television presenter and former Royal Marine. He uses a wheelchair as a result of a severe car accident.

Contents

Early life

Arthur was brought up in Eckington, South Worcestershire and played rugby for Prince Henry's High School in Evesham. He also swam for Pershore. A runner from an early age, Arthur also took part in the Army Cadet National Athletics finals after winning the Midland 1,500m.

He became a Royal Marines Commando in 2004 after passing the rigorous training required and was awarded the King's Badge. Being posted to 42 Commando, Lima Company in Plymouth, Arthur spent 18 months as a general duties Marine before specialising in signals and joining 6 Assault Squadron on board HMS Albion. [1]

In 2007 when returning to duty from leave in Pershore Arthur's car went off the road – an accident that severed his spinal cord and left him paralysed from the waist down. Arthur returned to the Marines but later left in 2009.

Television and media career

Williams has featured on numerous television programmes as a presenter or guest, particularly for Channel 4. Arthur's media career began after he sent in a three-minute clip on wheelchair racing for the channel's search for disabled presenters for its coverage of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. [2] [ self-published source ]

In 2013, he was selected by BAFTA for mentoring as a "breakthrough Brit". [3] He continued working with Channel 4 and presented the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and Rio 2016 Summer Olympics. He has also presented documentaries on aviation and military history including WWI's Forgotten Heroes, D-Day As It Happened and The Plane That Saved Britain – a documentary that focused on his love of the unheralded World War II aeroplane, the de Havilland Mosquito. [4]

Williams is currently at work on a new documentary for Channel 4 and has also teamed up with Clemency Green and Adam Buxton to front The Great Escapists, a show that highlights the best things to do at the weekend. [5]

Charity work

One of the original Band of Brothers after rehabilitating at Tedworth House in Wiltshire, Arthur became a patron for Help for Heroes. [6] He also works with the aviation charity Aerobility. [7]

Hobbies

Arthur is a keen pilot, having taken up the hobby – a childhood dream of his – after leaving the Marines. He learnt to fly through the disabled flying charity Aerobility www.aerobility.com [8] He holds both a National and International Private Pilot's licence.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Snow (journalist)</span> English journalist and television presenter

Jonathan George Snow HonFRIBA is an English journalist and television presenter. He is best known as the longest-running presenter of Channel 4 News, which he presented from 1989 to 2021. On 29 April 2021, Snow announced his retirement from the role; his final programme aired on 23 December 2021. Although Channel 4's news programming is produced by ITN, Snow was employed directly by the broadcaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clare Balding</span> English broadcaster, journalist, TV presenter and author

Clare Victoria Balding is an English broadcast journalist and author. She currently presents for BBC Sport, Channel 4 and BT Sport and formerly presented the religious programme Good Morning Sunday on BBC Radio 2. Balding was appointed as the 30th president of the Rugby Football League, serving a two-year term until December 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ade Adepitan</span> British television presenter and sportsman

Adedoyin Olayiwola "Ade" Adepitan is a Nigerian-born British television presenter and wheelchair basketball player. As a presenter, he has hosted a range of travel documentaries and sports programmes for BBC television. Adepitan is a disability advocate and one of the first physically disabled television presenters in the UK, with a career of over 20 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Throckmorton, Worcestershire</span> Human settlement in England

Throckmorton is a small village and civil parish in the administrative district of Wychavon, in the county of Worcestershire, England.

<i>Baa Baa Black Sheep</i> (TV series) Television series

Baa Baa Black Sheep is an American television series that aired on NBC from September 23, 1976, until April 6, 1978. It was part period military drama, part comedy. In the final seven episodes, the character list was revamped, dropping some squadron pilots, adding a 16-year-old pilot and four nurses.

Bruce Parry is an English documentarian, indigenous rights advocate, author, explorer, trek leader and former Royal Marines commando officer. He employs an ethnographic style and a form of participant observation for his documentaries.

The depiction of disability in the media plays a major role in molding the public perception of disability. Perceptions portrayed in the media directly influence the way people with disabilities are treated in current society. "[Media platforms] have been cited as a key site for the reinforcement of negative images and ideas in regard to people with disabilities."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sophie Morgan</span> English television presenter

Sophie Morgan is a British television presenter and disability advocate who is paraplegic. She became a presenter after appearing on reality television. In 2021, she was a lead presenter for Channel 4's TV coverage of the Summer Paralympics in Tokyo. She has been voted one of the most influential disabled people in the UK, and has been working on television for almost twenty years.

Paraorchestra, sometimes referred to as British Paraorchestra, based in Bristol, is an integrated orchestra of professional disabled and non-disabled musicians - the first ever orchestra of its kind in the United Kingdom. The Paraorchestra was formed by conductor Charles Hazlewood in 2011 as a project to create a platform for the top disabled musicians, with the hope that its success would lead to better integration of disabled people into music and performing arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siân Welby</span> Presenter

Siân Welby is an English television presenter and radio host, best known for her work with Channel 5, BBC, ITV and Channel 4. Welby used to host her own national radio show on Heart every Monday to Thursday from 7–10 pm. Welby now fronts Capital Breakfast with Roman Kemp and Chris Stark.

Nikki Fox is an English broadcaster, presenter and documentary maker. She is a Sony Award-winning journalist who presents for television and network radio. Fox appeared on various TV and Radio shows including Watchdog, The One Show, How to Look Good Naked, and Rip-Off Britain. She is one of the first female disabled TV presenters in the world and has been voted one of the most influential disabled people in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Walsh (filmmaker)</span> English filmmaker

John Walsh is a filmmaker and author. He is the founder of the film company Walsh Bros. Ltd. His film work on subjects such as social mobility and social justice has received two BAFTA nominations.

Howard Bentham was born in Bedford in 1965 and is a graduate of Birmingham University. He has worked as a radio presenter since 1997 and a stadium announcer since 1999.

Mik Scarlet is a broadcaster, journalist, actor and musician, as well as an expert in the field of access and inclusion for disabled people. He has been voted one of the most influential disabled people in the UK, and was one of the first television presenters in the world with a physical disability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flyability</span>

Flyability is a UK based charity that works to help disabled people fly hang gliders and paragliders. It is the disability initiative of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, the governing body of hang gliding and paragliding in the UK.

Javid Abdelmoneim is a British-born physician and television presenter. He is best known for his work with Médecins Sans Frontières which has seen him respond to crises in Iraq (2009), Haiti (2010), South Sudan (2014), Sierra Leone (2014), Syria (2017-2018) and also aboard the Aquarius (2016), a search and rescue ship run in partnership between MSF and SOS Mediteranée. Most recently, Abdelmoneim served as a Member of the Board of Trustees and was also elected the youngest serving president and chair of the Board for MSF UK.

Ruth Madeley is a British actress known for her roles in Years and Years and The Rook. She was born with spina bifida and has worked with the charity Whizz-Kidz for much of her life. She was nominated for a television BAFTA in 2016 for her work in Don't Take My Baby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Junior</span> British mental health activist

John Junior, known as The Duckman is a British mental health activist and script consultant. He is known for co-creating the BAFTA nominated documentary series,Hollyoaks IRL. In November 2019, he created the mental health movement "John and Charlie's Journey," to raise awareness for suicide and mental illness.

Jason Fox often referred to by his nickname 'Foxy', is a television presenter, adventurer and a former UK Special Forces soldier and Royal Marine Commando. He is best known as the longest serving directing staff on the popular Channel 4 television series SAS: Who Dares Wins, and the presenter of the investigative documentary series Meet the Drug Lords: Inside the Real Narcos.

Briony May Williams is a British celebrity chef and presenter. She appeared on series 9 of The Great British Bake Off in 2018, finishing fourth. She presents the cooking show Food Unwrapped and the reality housing show Escape to the Country, and writes recipe columns for BristolLife and the supermarket Asda's Good Living.

References

  1. "I may be disabled but I'm game for anything". Worcester News. Retrieved 2017-03-28.
  2. "Arthur Williams - Arthur Williams". Arthur Williams. Archived from the original on 2017-03-31. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
  3. "Arthur Williams | BAFTA". Bafta.org .
  4. "The Plane That Saved Britain - Episode Guide - All 4". www.channel4.com. Retrieved 2017-03-28.
  5. "BROADCAST: Weird weekend planned for C4". Little Gem Media. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
  6. "Bryn's Blog: Arthur Williams - what a Bloke!". www.helpforheroes.org.uk. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
  7. "Aerobility - Our Team". www.aerobility.com. Retrieved 2017-03-29.
  8. "Arthur doesn't let disability stop him reaching for the skies". Worcester News. Retrieved 2017-03-28.

Further reading