When Julian was 13, I remember coming home from school with my friend. I entered the house and was stifled with a choking gas (which I realised later on was hydrogen) coming from the kitchen. I rushed through to the garden and saw my brother and his school mates gathered around our pond.

I noticed a fish lying on the side of the pond still flapping, it must have jumped out of the pond.

“What’s going on?” I demanded.

“I got some potassium from school today”, Julian replied. “I wanted to see how it reacted”.

I was flabbergasted and speechless! I found out later that he had stolen the potassium!

The following day, the head of Chemistry spoke to us in morning assembly and informed us that the potassium had been taken and it was an extremely reactive metal which would explode on contact with the air. There was a newspaper article in the local paper too. From that day, everyone called Julian Mr Potassium!

When Julian was 14 he made a bomb and blew up the boys cloakrooms. When he was 15, he made a laboratory at the bottom of the garden (our Mother had banned him from conducting experiments in the house). To teachers he was a nightmare, to me he was incredible!

Many times I wonder about his contribution to the world, if only he was given a chance to use his gifts.

The purpose of this charity is to support children with Bi-polar disorder through to tertiary education as we believe early detection and diagnosis will enable individuals suffering from this condition to live long and fruitful lives, having the benefit of fantastic job opportunites through sustained education.

We have a commitment to facilitate all students and their success in education.