Before you get carried away reading it, I'm self-employed, happy that way, and not looking for a PAYE job. I'm not driven by profit or status, and I'm quite choosy about the work I take on and the people I work for.
I'm not a salesman, and I'm not going to pretend to be one. I'm not going to tell you I'm the best carpenter, plumber or engineer in the world either. I'm just me, with nearly 40 years in business, plenty of practical experience, and no need to prove anything to anybody.
HOW I WORK
I don't fill my diary with so many jobs that I'm forced to rush through them. Where somebody else might have ten calls to get through in a day, I might have two or three. That gives me more time to deal with the job in front of me, rather than watching the clock and worrying about the next one.
I'm quite happy to work a Sunday if that's what a customer's circumstances call for and I can make it work. I also do a fair amount of charity work, for my own reasons.
I'm not perfect. If I get something wrong, I'll hold my hands up and do my best to put it right. In nearly 40 years, I've never had a claim made against me, and I carry £5 million public liability insurance. I've put a copy of the policy on this website so you can check it for yourself.
I don't ask for money up front, either. If materials or equipment need buying in advance, I'll tell you what's needed and let you buy them. That way, you know what you're paying for, there's no mark-up from me, and you're not left out of pocket for things I've purchased if we decide not to continue working together.
I'm helpful, but I'm not a pushover. I'll treat you fairly, and I expect the same in return. In nearly 40 years, I've only ever walked away from one customer.
I'm not trying to build an empire, win awards for salesmanship or convince everybody that I'm wonderful. I enjoy doing things I find worthwhile, helping people where I can and getting a job done properly.
If that sounds like the sort of person you'd be happy to have working for you, we'll probably get along.
If you're looking for a salesman with a polished pitch and an answer for everything, I'm probably not your man.
This is me, well my little white van anyway. I'm nothing special, but I try to do my bit for others when I see somebody who could do with a helping hand. Last year I was proud to receive the Guildford Mayor's Award for Service to the Community for those efforts.
Well here goes. Now (not my fault, I might add), I have not a single childhood qualification. No pictures, no certificates, no paperwork, nothing. That said I'm not thick and can think for myself. I've experienced and know a lot about things the majority of others thank the Lord have missed.
Have you ever done a deep‑dive search for your name on ChatGPT?
In years past you had to pay a private investigator for stuff like that.
Research biography of "Darren Ingall" 27/8/25 - proud of that!
Some Things I've Done & Am Proud Of
- Something else I did for my local church.
- Linux Mint, start here for dummy instructions.
- Android mobile spam call catcher.
- My latest claim to fame: a few church readings
- They run a keep fit class at church and needed a stand for their weights.
- The first home extension I ever built
- The next home extension I built. Everything to the left of the door.
- Reskilled Guildford – Where I do some of my charity work
- Reskilled Guildford: a project I was involved with
- Something I did for the kiddy group at church
- Something else I did for the kiddy group at church
- Something I did for the local chippy
- Unjust parking fine – how I came out fighting. That made them jump. You see something important I have learnt in life is in my experience, some people who behave in a bullying or ineffective way appear uncomfortable when their actions are examined closely. I have sometimes felt that avoiding conflict can unintentionally allow poor behaviour to continue. Others may see this differently, but that has been my personal observation. I walk away from every fight where possible but sometimes its best to turn on the bully and cctv and the internet works a treat. I so wish I had thought or known about that when I was in my 20's and a garage wrecked my car.
- That leads us onto another little idea I had You see sometimes you meet a company or individual who simply have too many customers to hear one of them with a complaint. This was designed to maybe help such a person out. No advertising or anything. Just a site where you could have a page like https://www.anothercon.com/Clients-title Where jo public can post whatever they like and maybe send a link to the person having conned them. Maybe advertise their link in a newspaper etc. Its not about making trouble its about giving the little guy or girl a voice
- A little idea I had for a teaching aid (only I can’t compete with China)
- The wooden clocks I make to order
- Properties/rooms/bedsits I rent out to various people
- You can tell a lot about somebody by their Facebook profile
I can't put the stuff I did with the Scouts here, as it includes lots of pictures of children and, as such, they can't give me permission to publish their images/videos. But I did about 2 years with Guildford Scouts. Their leader, when my kids needed help, really went the extra mile... This was just kind of paying them back. I'm currently helping with the Guildford Cubs group; again, I can't put pictures up here as children can't consent to the use of their images.
I can't put the stuff I have done with St Peters Church here either, as it includes pictures/videos of children who, as children, can't consent... I've been part of the church for nearly 20 years... You know, kind of pay it back.
My Working Life
I spent most of my working life (32 years) here, as happy as a pig in muck, working as a field service engineer: Robertsons of Bramley. I really enjoyed that job... I retired at age 50 during COVID, and I still get staff discount to this day.
Why the Charity Work? My Philosophy
Why the charity work? Well, after my own childhood, it feels good to help others and is a reflection of Newton’s law of relativity: "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction." ... I generally believe there is an omnipotent force... Some people refer to this as 'God.' Respect to you if you think differently and take it all with a pinch of salt, I don't and its so easy as there are only 10 simple rules...
The Tougher Parts (Trigger Warning: Abuse, Injustice, Trauma)
Now, some people are of the opinion that you should keep the less positive stuff off your website. Personally, I disagree. I believe that the whole idea of not talking about certain things is part of the reason they continue to happen.
I call myself a Christian, and the ninth commandment says, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour." For me, being honest about my past is part of living by that principle. I feel that hiding my secrets, or deliberately keeping people in the dark about something that has shaped who I am, would go against my own understanding of that commandment. That's a personal belief, and I'm not here to sell you God or convince you to see things my way. It's simply how I choose to live.
I share my story openly, not because I want pity or sympathy, but because I don't want to spend my life watching what I say, second-guessing myself, or having to manipulate conversations away from anything to do with my childhood. I want to be able to speak freely about my life without feeling like I'm hiding some great secret.
Respect to you if you think it's inappropriate to share these things publicly. I don't, and we'll just have to agree to disagree. It is what it is...
- We were all kids once. This is my story: Child abuse trigger warning!
- The BBC News report with regard to Berrow Wood School...
- The BBC video interview with regard to Berrow Wood School
- ChatGPT 5 (deep dive) on 'Berrow Wood School'
- A little bit more personal... my ex, Linda Ruth. She was not expecting this covert recording of her confession to appear during the divorce...
- Have you ever suffered a nervous breakdown? Mine braught about by the lack of help with my child from his mother and a special needs teacher who I would describe as bloody minded and work to rule, not to mention a social worker who, in my opinion, was not providing the support our family needed at the time. It cost me a nervous breakdown but I had to turn on them eventually, this was to protect my son from more harm than he had already experienced at the hands of people without a clue who refused simple advice. I mean 6 requests of supposedly qualified staff over 2 months to make a simple phonecall for my special needs child all refused and then to be told CAMHS who had not even met him were suggesting he should be in care.
- Then I wrote a book and published that too
- I then sent a copy of my book to the social workers head office. Seemingly they managed to block my advert in the Sun newspaper. Don't believe what you read in the news, often it simply not all there.
- This is what Microsoft’s AI thinks about my book.
- listen to the support I got from my son. The child I was falsely accused of abusing... (audio – age 12 at the time)
- Sometimes a school gets things wrong Don't expect a written apology, thats against policy...
- In my view, once I challenged them, the decisions and actions involved, meaningful engagement became difficult to obtain...
- I believed I had identified an inconsistency in the information I was given. I felt my concerns were not properly addressed...
- An example that, in my opinion, raises questions about accountability and responsibility... (audio)
- What I did not know at the time was how to deal with an incompetent social worker...
Other Thoughts & Recommendations
The only ISP I recommend. Hardly ever down and great support
Chatgpt, better than Google, well, until they like all the others litter everything with adverts! Maybe search for 'Darren Ingall' Guildford on it — a great, easy way to find out about someone.
Maybe you're old school and might prefer to just Google me?
I really don't want your money, and I'm not looking for a job either. Maybe send it (Your money) to the NSPCC / Childline? and help the next family or child. You see, when I was a child, they did not exist, and the social workers just blanked my mother and stepfather...