South

Joe Crowley

Overall, I’m a very outgoing guy with a ridiculous amount of energy.

I’m at my happiest when I’m trying something new, meeting different people or getting stuck into an exciting project. All that makes working on Inside Out an ideal job for me. It is cliché'd... but I do enjoy rolling my sleeves up and getting stuck in.

From tap dancing to tracking stories...

Going back a few years I 'read' history at Cambridge University and had a fantastic three years studying all kinds of random stuff from British politics to American secret intelligence and Kenyan independence.

But as well as keeping up with the weekly reading lists, I also made the most of my time outside of the library. I performed in a variety of plays and musicals in Cambridge, at the Edinburgh festival and even on a European tour.

And as well as singing, acting and tap-dancing(!) I also fulfilled something of an ego-enlarging fantasy by dressing in a DJ and doing my best Rat Pack impression singing for the university big band.

We gigged all over Cambridge – a great way to get into the Summer Balls for free! - and even toured to the Istanbul Jazz Festival.

Since university I've had a go at most jobs under the sun from acting and directing to selling Christmas trees to tutoring school kids and even 'mannying' (male nannying) in the Caribbean and New York!

Outdoor fanatic

And when I’m not working I enjoy a wide variety of sports and outdoor pursuits including running, rock climbing, tennis and scuba diving as well as camping, hiking and fishing.

But above all football is major passion of mine and I try to play once or twice a week.

While I was waiting for that elusive first presenting job I trained as a broadcast journalist at City University in London. I was lucky enough to get onto the BBC News Sponsorship scheme which helped me through my studies and enabled me to get a placement working for Newsround.

And that brings us up to date. Inside Out is simply the most fantastic first presenting gig. It means I can use my journalism and even my history to tackle a huge range of compelling stories and tricky issues.

It’s all about getting out and about in our region and tackling every story with curiosity and bags of enthusiasm. The great thing about working on this programme is that we get to explore stories in depth and really understand the issues involved.

During the first few weeks of the job I've endured some stomach-churning stunts in helicopters with the Army Air Corps, camped in the woods with dread-locked freegan protestors and I've even been swimming with a German Shepherd dog in the name of hydrotherapy (and trust me, dog hair gets everywhere!)

On a personal note it’s great for me because this job is not just about showing up for five minutes and reeling off a few words to camera, I’m involved in the stories from the beginning: I get to meet the people concerned, try to understand their situations, explore their points of view and, wherever possible, have a bit of fun.

What can I say, it’s a brilliant job and I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing.