Featuring on TV's Call the Bailiffs

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Lewis in uniform

Lewis Tombs tells us about being an Enforcement Agent who stammers and how he ended up on national TV, raising awareness.

My name is Lewis, I am a 33-year-old Enforcement Agent from Birmingham, and I took part in the TV documentary Call The Bailiffs, which is being aired right now on the channels 5 and 5Star.

I've been in the job for 10 years now, after previously studying criminology at university and recently setting up my own enforcement agency. My day-to-day job involves visiting companies and individuals at their addresses to chase unpaid debt or fines that have been escalated through the court system due to continual refusal to pay. 

As you can imagine, very few people are happy to see me knocking on their door...

With regards to my stammer, I have good days and bad days. On some days, asking for an individual by name and explaining the situation to people can be very challenging, speech-wise. As you can imagine, very few people are happy to see me knocking on their door, and as such they can be quite abusive, sometimes regarding my stammer. 

Over the years, the effect this has on me has diminished, and it's mostly water off a duck's back at this point. I'm not sure if it's just part of growing older, but self acceptance of my stammer has greatly helped me to brush off any abuse. I just remind myself that it says more about the person spouting the abuse than it does about me or the way I speak.

Filming

The documentary came about when I was approached by one of the high court enforcement agencies I do a lot of sub-contracting for. They had been contacted by the production company Middle Child, who asked them if they knew anyone who would like to take part in their show. They asked if I wanted to feature and I was instantly interested, so I met up with the production team.

I told the production team about my stammer upon meeting with them for the first time and they were great, offering me any support I needed. 

They explained the show's purpose, which is to give an accurate representation of the enforcement industry, illustrate how hard the role can be, and also help to squash any negative stereotypes associated with my trade. They were also keen to emphasise that the documentary was to be shot in an ethical way, and would not make the same mistakes that previous documentary makers focusing on our industry have made. I thought all this was important, so I agreed.

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Lewis on 5's website

I told the production team about my stammer upon meeting with them for the first time and they were great, offering me any support I needed. They also thought it would add an extra human element to the documentary by showing that bailiffs are ordinary people, some of whom happen to stammer.

Filming was great. After initially being quite nervous on camera, I can say I am now pretty much at ease with it, and sometimes even forget it's there. We recently finishing filming for season three, which is on 5 on Wednesdays at 8pm, and on 5star, weekdays at 5pm. 

I'm very proud to be doing my bit to improve representation of people who stammer on TV and I'm happy to raise awareness in any way that I can. Apart from the obvious ones in the past like Gareth Gates, there are very few people with stammers on TV or in the public eye. 

I hope seeing me doing this type of person-facing, high-pressure job whilst being filmed for TV gives others who stammer the belief that their speech doesn't have to hold them back. 

Visit 5's website to find out more and to stream the documentary Call the Bailiffs.

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